Southwest Airlines
In 2009, Dallas-based Southwest Airlines announced plans to begin service to a Gulf Coast city. Southwest initially planned to host a competition between Pensacola and Panama City, which was in the process of building a new airport. Shortly after announcing the competition, Mobile, Alabama added its name into the competition for the new service. However, Southwest eventually chose Panama City and Northwest Florida Beaches International Airport. Then, in 2011, when Southwest acquired AirTran Airways, Pensacola city officials were excited about the prospect of Southwest beginning service to the airport. Finally, Southwest announced that Pensacola would be one of the 22 cities to have AirTran service converted over to Southwest service. Service was originally scheduled to began on August 11, 2012, but this date was pushed back to a currently unknown date.
Read more about this topic: Pensacola International Airport