Southwest Is Backing Out Of These Airports In 2026, Leaving Travelers With Fewer Options

So far, 2026 has been a tricky year for low-cost air carriers. Spirit Airlines announced a complete shutdown that's causing some pre-summer chaos, and various Canadian and U.S. airlines decreased their flight routes to Las Vegas earlier in the year. Even big international carriers like Air Canada, Lufthansa, and Norwegian have cancelled routes, largely due to rising fuel costs due to conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East.

Now, Southwest has announced that it is planning to pull out of two major airports in the summer of 2026. As of June 4, 2026, Southwest will no longer have a presence at Washington Dulles International Airport (IAD) or Chicago O'Hare International Airport (ORD) — one you might want some tips and tricks to navigate. This news is a big shock for passengers who have already booked flights on Southwest to these airports, although the airline has said it will offer refunds to everyone affected by this decision.

The withdrawal from O'Hare and Dulles will obviously leave travelers departing from or arriving in D.C. or Chicago with fewer options, particularly when it comes to affordable flights. But Southwest is adamant that they are not abandoning either area. The airline will continue to fly to both Baltimore-Washington International Airport and Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, so passengers will still be able to get to D.C. Chicago Midway International Airport has been one of Southwest's hubs for 41 years.

Airlines across the U.S. and around the world have been cutting back flights and stepping out of established routes in the last year due to rising fuel costs, in an attempt to balance their books. But budget airlines have actually been endangered for longer than you might think, with increased competition and a lack of staff making it harder for them to break even. However, Southwest says that this change is a strategic one, not one forced by financial issues.

Southwest is launching a slate of new routes, including flights to Alaska from Denver and international routes to the Caribbean and Central America. As a result, they are focusing on this expansion and looking for ways to cut back in other areas. According to a Southwest spokesperson, "Operating at Chicago O'Hare continues to be challenging, and we are confident we can serve Chicagoland through Chicago Midway."

Southwest is actually a relative newcomer to O'Hare, as the carrier only started flying from the airport in 2021. Ben Schlappig from One Mile at a Time thinks that moving into O'Hare was an experiment to see if Southwest could compete with bigger airlines like United and American, and that it makes sense that the airline is now focusing on its core hubs like Midway.

While Southwest's backing out of Chicago O'Hare and Washington Dulles does leave travelers with fewer options, it isn't all bad news. For passengers flying to or from D.C., Avelo Airlines, a newcomer to the low-cost carrier scene, began flying to Washington Dulles in 2024. New routes to Halifax and Quebec City in Canada have been announced over the summer. And for international travelers, United has announced that it will begin daily non-stop flights to Reykjavik, and Air Premia, a budget carrier from South Korea, has just started non-stop flights from Seoul Incheon to Washington Dulles!

Chicago O'Hare Airport isn't missing out either. United has announced that it is expanding the number of flights from the airport per day to 750, and its low-cost wing, United Express, has launched a new route from Chicago O'Hare to Kearney. Not to be outdone, American Airlines is launching five new destinations, including Allentown, Columbia, and Maui.