Southwest Airlines permanently cancels some daily flights | Official Website of Louis Velazquez, entrepreneur, finance guy and tech innovator

Southwest Airlines has made numerous changes recently as it overhauls its business model. These include:

Ending its famous free checked bags policy
Starting to charge passengers for extra seats when they cannot fit into a single seat
Ending its open seating policy
Prohibiting portable batteries from being kept in passenger bags

Many of these changes have not been very popular with passengers, especially the end of the airlines’ free checked bag rule, which had previously been one of Southwest Airlines’ signature policies that set it apart from competitors.

The airline is also shaking up its flight routes. Unfortunately, this means it will cancel some daily flights on which travelers had depended.

Southwest revealed the canceled flights when it published the upcoming schedule for bookings through September 26, 2026.

Here are the key changes Southwest is making to its flight schedule, along with the dates when flight cancellations will take effect, so passengers can be better prepared to explore alternatives.

Southwest Airlines is making flight cuts.

Image source&colon; Shutterstock

Southwest Airlines cancels multiple flights, including daily trips

Southwest Airlines will actually cancel multiple flights, including some daily trips as well as some weekend trips.

The flights that will be canceled include:

Baltimore and Ontario, California. This was previously a daily flight.
Burbank, California, and St. Louis. This was previously a weekend flight.

AirlineGeeks reported on these changes, indicating that a Southwest spokesperson had confirmed the flight cuts.

However, AirlineGeeks indicated, the spokesperson also said the total number of trips run by Southwest is up slightly year over year, even after accounting for these cancellations.

When is Southwest Airlines canceling flights?

While flight cancellations are always bad news for people who rely on these routes, the good news is that this announcement was made fairly early, giving travelers plenty of opportunity to find an alternative carrier.

The flight cancellations from Southwest Airlines will not go into effect until this summer, with Cirium Diio schedule data showing the following dates when flights will be cut:

The Baltimore-to-Ontario route will operate until Aug. 3, 2026.
The Burbank-to-St. Louis route will operate until August 2, 2026.

This gives passengers several months to make sure they have a way to get to their chosen destination.

Southwest Airlines will still maintain a large presence in California

Despite cutting these California routes, the airline will maintain a large presence in California.

As Travel Agent Central reported, “Southwest Airlines is continuing to increase its footprint in San Diego with an all-time high of 139 scheduled departures on peak days during August and September 2026.”

New flights the airline will offer in the California region include flights between:

San Diego and Santa Barbara, CA
Burbank, CA, and Honolulu
Ontario, CA, and Honolulu
Long Beach, CA, and Portland
Long Beach, CA, and Seattle

The airline will also double the number of daily flights traveling between San Diego and Portland, Salt Lake City, and Seattle.

Of course, these additional flights won’t help passengers who regularly fly the Baltimore to Ontario route or the Burbank to St. Louis routes.

Why is Southwest Airlines canceling flights?

The specific reasons for the August Southwest Airlines flight cancellations have not been disclosed as of December 2, 2025.

However, airlines, including Southwest, regularly update their schedules to account for changes in demand or for other strategic business reasons.

More Airlines:

Passengers should keep tabs on changes to airline routes, especially if they travel regularly between specific destinations on Southwest Airlines or other carriers.

This will allow them to make adjustments accordingly as schedules change over time.