Southwest Airlines this fall will add service to Austin, Texas, to its destination offerings from Charles M. Schulz-Sonoma County Airport (STS), according to airport officials and the airline.
Nonstop service to Austin-Bergstrom International Airport begins Oct. 3. The flight will operate on Saturdays and on a seasonal basis, according to Sonoma County officials.
An announcement appeared on the county’s Instagram account over the weekend. A quick search on Southwest’s online site showed bookings available for its nonstop service beginning Oct. 3 with a three-and-a-half hour flight out of Sonoma County departing at 11:10 a.m. and arriving in Austin at 4:45 p.m.
Southwest Airlines will make its debut at the Santa Rosa airport April 7, launching with nonstop flights to Burbank, San Diego, Las Vegas and Denver, the Business Journal reported Sept. 10.
The Austin flight marks the second time the Dallas-based carrier has added a market to its list of flights out of STS before even beginning to operate out of Sonoma County.
The airline on Dec. 19 announced it would bump its Saturdays-only flights to Denver up to five days a week, beginning Aug. 26.
“The demand is definitely there, and advanced bookings have been noticed, and we will continue to work with them to increase beyond that,” Airport Manager Jon Stout said at the time.
When Southwest first announced in September that it would begin service at the Santa Rosa facility, Stout said the partnership with the airline had been in the works for 15 years. It didn’t happen sooner for reasons that included the airport’s runway having been too short for the carrier’s aircraft. That was resolved, and Southwest also made changes in its network and planning.
As people get ready to book flights, there are some important reminders about changes the airline has made in the past few weeks. It announced last month that it was ending its open-seat system and would instead institute an assigned seat process where customers would pay different ticket prices depending on their choice of seat.
The carrier also announced last month that it had changed its policies regarding larger passengers who can’t fit in one seat. The airline said as of Jan. 27 that a passenger requiring extra space would need to buy an additional seat at the time of booking or risk paying day-of fare for a second seat.
In March 2025, Southwest also announced it was ending its “two bags fly free” policy which had been in place for decades. With a few exceptions, beginning May 28 of last year the airline started charging $35 for the first checked bag and $45 for a second checked piece of luggage.
Cheryl Sarfaty covers tourism, hospitality, health care, aviation and employment. Reach her at cheryl.sarfaty@busjrnl.com or 707-521-4259.
