Crossing the country nonstop without leaving coach is about to get a little easier. Southwest Airlines starts flying between San Diego International (SAN) and Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International (FLL) on November 21, with block times hovering around the six-hour mark aboard an all-economy Boeing 737 MAX 8.
The schedule runs five times a week. Headed west, flight WN2843 leaves Fort Lauderdale at 10:50 AM and lands in San Diego at 1:25 PM local time after six hours and 35 minutes in the air. The return leg, WN3056, departs San Diego at 9:25 AM and reaches Fort Lauderdale at 5:10 PM following five hours and 45 minutes of flying. One practical upside for passengers: neither direction is an overnight red-eye, which is unusual for transcontinental flights of this length — no sleeping upright in an economy seat at 3 AM.
San Diego matters a lot to Southwest. Cirium data shows it ranks tenth among the airline's airports by scheduled departures this month, with 3,573 departures and over 577,000 seats. The airline already flies its longest route from there — the twice-daily 2,614-mile hop to Honolulu — plus daily flights to Boston. Fort Lauderdale is a smaller Southwest base, though still busy with 704 departures, and Baltimore is its most frequent route from the airport at up to five flights a day.
Here's the interesting part for travellers: Southwest won't be flying this route alone. JetBlue launches its own daily San Diego–Fort Lauderdale service on November 19 using a 159-seat Airbus A321, complete with its Mint business class — a genuine premium option on a cross-country flight that most airlines only sell in economy. Alaska Airlines also serves the pair seasonally with a daily 737, restarting on November 21, the same day as Southwest. Alaska's flights notched a solid 84.3% load factor over the 12 months to June, suggesting the demand is there.
So why should a holidaymaker care? If you're plotting a California-meets-Florida trip — theme parks and beaches in Fort Lauderdale one week, tacos and whale watching in San Diego the next — you'll soon have three airlines and plenty of daily options to pick from. Budget travellers can lean on Southwest's approach, while anyone wanting a lie-flat-style upgrade can opt for JetBlue's Mint cabin. More competition on a route usually means better fares, and with all three carriers converging on this city pair in the same fortnight, prices should stay honest.