19. When will the schedule horizon be extended? Why doesn't Southwest allow me to book 11 months ahead like the other majors do?
a. (nsx) This is probably the single most frequently asked question on the Southwest forum. If you ask it there, don't be surprised if your thread is locked or deleted. The moderator is not fond of answering the same question over and over again when everything we know is right here and in the
Official schedule extension prediction thread.
b. (nsx) The schedule is usually extended on a Thursday morning, around 10 AM Central Time. One tipoff is when the current sale is "through the end of the schedule" rather than having a specific ending date.
c. (BondGuy/Mr. July) Recent schedule extension history:
Mar 13/03 - open to Sep 8/03
May 14/03 - open to Oct 24/03
June 26/03 - open to Dec 13/03
July 24/03 - open to Jan 16/04
Sep 19/03 - open to Mar 6/04
Oct 16/03 - open to April 2/04
Dec 11/03 - open to May 8/04
Jan 13/04 - open to Jun 11/04
Feb 13/04 - open to Aug 7/04
Mar 25/04 - open to Sep 13/04
May 5/04 - open to Oct 29/04
July 15/04 - open to Dec 11/04
July 29/04 - open to Jan 14/05
Sept 23/04 - open to Mar 3/05
Oct 22/04 - open to April 1/05
Dec 9/04 – open to Jun 6/05
Feb 18/05 – open to Aug 3/05
Mar 17/05 – open to Sept 12/05
May 12/05 - open to Oct 28/05
July 15/05 - open to Dec 12/05
Aug 18/05 - open to Jan 9/06
Sept 26/05 - open to Feb 3/06 horizon shrink likely due to MSY replanning
Oct 27/05 - open to Mar 31/06
Dec 20/05 - open to Jun 9/06
Feb 23/06 - open to Aug 3/06
Apr 19/06 - open to Sep 12/06
May 26/06 - open to Oct 27/06
Jul 13/06 - open to Dec 10/06
d. (cabinpressure, Beckles) Based on the above data, whenever the number of days to the schedule horizon drops down to to the 105-135 range (as low 101 Dec 20/05 and as high as 142 Oct 16/03) the schedule is then extended to be in the 150-175 range (144 Aug 18/05, 179 Dec 9/04).
e.(nsx) Knowing when the schedule will open up is often your best chance to secure the lowest fare for a peak travel time such as Thanksgiving. But Southwest is getting better (from its point of view) at blacking out discount fares on peak flights right from the start.
f. (nsx) By limiting its schedule horizon, Southwest virtually eliminates the need to cancel or reschedule flights before the date of travel. Those changes cost the other airlines a lot of money to handle, and they annoy customers. Once Southwest publishes a schedule, it is nearly cast in stone. Even after the 2001 terrorist attacks, Southwest did not immediately drop flights as the other majors did.