Note: This story has been updated to reflect that nonstop service to Long Beach was also dropped.
When Southwest Airlines recently announced an extension to its schedule, the most noteworthy aspect for St. Louis is what’s missing.
The dominant carrier at St. Louis Lambert International Airport will no longer provide what was the only regular nonstop service from St. Louis to Little Rock, Arkansas; Des Moines, Iowa; Tulsa, Oklahoma; Oklahoma City; and Wichita, Kansas.
A Southwest spokesperson said the move is intended to better support north-south connectivity at Lambert while utilizing Chicago’s Midway Airport for east-west connectivity.
With the change, what was a quick flight now requires two flights and, in many cases, takes nearly as long as driving.
The airline is also dropping nonstop service from St. Louis to both Burbank and Long Beach, in the Los Angeles area.
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Southwest’s flight to Charlotte, North Carolina, is also removed from the schedule, but that route is deemed seasonal, which means it comes and goes from the schedule, a spokesman said.
The routes will be discontinued in early March.
St. Louis, along with Denver, was one of the hardest hit by the airline’s cuts, according to .
Southwest, known for decades for low fares, open seating and free bags, is in the middle of a massive transformation as it yields to an activist investor in a move to increase profitability.
It . in January. Earlier this year, it for the first time in its history.
Even after the cuts, Southwest provides nonstop service from St. Louis to nearly 50 destinations, far more than any other airline.
“Southwest is fully committed to the Gateway City and looks forward to serving our loyal customers there for years to come,†a spokesman wrote in an email.
Southwest Airlines, known for its 54‑year tradition of open seating, announced flights departing on January 27, 2026 will switch to mandatory assigned seating.
