Southwest Airlines Cancels 17 Routes From World's Busiest Airport: See Affected Flights

Credit: William Cobb | Shutterstock Published Sep 12, 2026, 3:00 PM EDT Journalist – Aaron is an aviation and travel journalist with 14 years of experience in the travel and tourism industry. His background spans airport operations, aviation infrastructure, and travel consulting, having worked with global organizations across New Zealand, Europe, and North America. Combining industry expertise with firsthand travel experience across more than 52 countries and five continents, Aaron covers airlines, airports, aviation policy, and the wider travel sector. He is based in Canterbury, New Zealand. His work has been published in Simple Flying and featured by MSN, SAM CHUI Aviation & Travel, EIN News, Pakistan Defence, and Climate Depot. Sign in to your Simple Flying account While Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL) remains the world's busiest airport by passenger traffic, it has lost 17 routes from the world's largest low-cost carrier, Southwest Airlines. Since March 2025, the airline has cut 17 routes from the Georgia airport, primarily moving them to Nashville International Airport (BNA) instead. In 2025, Department of Transportation (DOT) data shows Southwest carried 4.8 million passengers to and from Atlanta, with an average load factor of 73.2%. This is a big drop compared with 2024, when the airline carried over 7.7 million passengers with a 75% load factor. Southwest Airlines Cuts 17 Routes From Atlanta Credit: quiggyt4 | Shutterstock Southwest operates the largest Boeing 737 fleet of any airline in the world, with more than 800 active aircraft. The airline's largest hub is Denver International Airport (DEN), where it has over 40 gates and in excess of 170 daily departures. Atlanta, on the other hand, has Southwest firmly wedged in third place, behind hometown airline Delta and Denver-based low-cost carrier Frontier Airlines. Loading map… Drag to explore While 17 routes are now absent from the airline's Atlanta network, the airline still maintains third place with regard to overall operations at the busy airport, ahead of American Airlines, United Airlines, and JetBlue Airways, accoridng to Cirium, an online aviation analytics company. Airline Ranking At Atlanta Airline Total Passengers (2025) 1st Delta Air Lines 81.8 million 2nd Frontier Airlines 5.2 million 3rd Southwest Airlines 4.8 million 4th Spirit Airlines (defunct) 2.6 million 5th American Airlines 2.3 million 6th United Airlines 1.7 million 7th JetBlue Airways 548,000 8th Alaska Airlines 445,000 9th Air France 414,000 10th WestJet 367,000 Atlanta Load Factors Playing A Part In The Airlines' Retreat Credit: Felipe I Santiago | Shutterstock With Southwest quietly axing 17 routes from Atlanta over the last 18 months, load factors have likely played a part in the airline's decision to move its aircraft elsewhere. The most recent route cut was that of Atlanta to LaGuardia Airport (LGA) and Raleigh–Durham International Airport (RDU), where final departures were pushed back in March. The only other route to be canceled this year from Atlanta was to Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport (FLL). Load factors have struggled to get above 80% post-pandemic, and the only year Southwest has managed to get above the healthy 80% mark since COVID-19 was 2022. This was Southwest's largest year of the decade, with more than 7.6 million passengers. Year Ending Total Passengers Load Factor 2020 4.2 million 54.1% 2021 6.8 million 79.5% 2022 7.6 million 81.7% 2023 8.4 million 74.8% 2024 7.7 million 75.6% 2025 4.8 million 73.2% 80% load factor is widely suggested as a healthy target for airlines, and the industry suggests carriers break even between 70% and 80%. Most large airlines target a load factor of 80% or higher to ensure they can turn a profit. 17 Destinations Wiped From Southwest's Atlanta Route Map Credit: HASAN AKBAS | Shutterstock Southwest's full list of axed routes from Atlanta includes New York LaGuardia, Raleigh-Durham, Fort Lauderdale, Jacksonville, Miami, Philadelphia, Milwaukee, Louisville, Cleveland, Jackson, Greenville, Richmond, Fort Myers, Sarasota, Memphis, West Palm Beach, and Omaha. Among Atlanta's top 10 domestic routes, Southwest now remains on just three: Orlando, Denver, and Las Vegas. Frontier and Delta are active on all 10, according to The Frequent Flyer. Top Routes From Atlanta Ranking Destination Passengers (June 2025 to May 2026) Airlines 1st Orlando 1.36 million Delta Air Lines, Frontier Airlines, Southwest Airlines 2nd Fort Lauderdale 1.15 million Delta Air Lines, Frontier Airlines, JetBlue Airways 3rd LaGuardia 1.1 million American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Frontier Airlines, Southwest Airlines (until March 2026) 4th Tampa 988,000 Delta Air Lines, Frontier Airlines, Southwest Airlines 5th Dallas/Fort Worth 967,000 American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Frontier Airlines 6th Miami 951,000 American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Frontier Airlines 7th Los Angeles 917,000 American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Frontier Airlines 8th Newark 883,000 Delta Air Lines, Frontier Airlines, United Airlines 9th Denver 841,000 Delta Air Lines, Frontier Airlines, Southwest Airlines, United Airlines 10th Las Vegas 813,000 Delta Air Lines, Frontier Airlines, Southwest Airlines Southwest continues to maintain bases at Atlanta, Austin, Baltimore, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Houston, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Nashville, Oakland, Orlando, and Phoenix. Denver remains as its largest base.