Southwest Airlines, which has a dominant presence at Chicago Midway (MDW), announced five daily nonstop routes from Chicago O’Hare International (ORD) starting Feb. 14, 2021.

The flights mark the LCC’s first service from ORD, which is used as hub by American Airlines and United Airlines.

Dallas-based Southwest started operating from MDW in 1985 and the Windy City’s second airport has become a critical cog in its network. The airline operates more than 95% of MDW’s departures and has more than 4,800 employees based in Chicago. It announced earlier this month that it would serve ORD—as well as Houston Intercontinental (IAH)—in the first half of 2021 but did not announce specific routes.

The five airports to which Southwest will fly from ORD are Baltimore/Washington (BWI), which it will serve 4X daily; Dallas Love Field (LUV), which the carrier will serve 4X daily; Denver (DEN), which it will serve 6X daily; Nashville (BNA), which the airline will serve 4X daily; and Phoenix (PHX), which it will serve 2X daily.

In addition, Southwest said it will start operating daily flights March 11 to five airports from Colorado Springs, Colorado (COS). These include MDW (2X daily), LUV (3X daily), DEN (4X daily), Las Vegas (LAS) (2X daily) and PHX (2X daily).

All flights will be operated with Boeing 737 aircraft.

Photo credit: Rob Finlayson