Wanna get away on a Southwest flight in Palm Springs? It's not happening anytime soon

Palak Barmaiya | Palm Springs Desert Sun

Show Caption Hide Caption Top tourist attractions in Coachella Valley Every year tens of thousands flock to the Coachella Valley to take in a variety of popular tourist attractions, from the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway to The Living Desert, Sunnylands, Palm Springs Air Museum, BMW Performance Center, Shields Date Garden and El Paseo in Palm Desert, to name just a few.

Amid the recent announcements made by various airlines to add new connections to and from Palm Springs International Airport, some Coachella Valley residents have been wondering if Southwest Airlines will make its debut.

But the airline has confirmed it has no current plans to bring its services to Palm Springs.

“While we never rule out any city, we have no current plans to add Palm Springs to our route map,” a spokesperson for the airline said in an email.

The Greater Palm Springs Convention & Visitors Bureau jointly works with PSP on air service development, and its staff members have met with Southwest officials. But it may take a while before the airline decides to come to the city.

“We would love to have Southwest in the market. We have shared data with them, we have reached out to them,” CVB President/CEO Scott White said. “But it’s really gonna be up to them when they are ready to consider Palm Springs as an additional market in California.”

Coachella Valley residents have long sought to have Southwest service at PSP. White said in March that he receives "more calls about adding Southwest Airlines than any other airline."

The Southwest spokesperson said the airline has different focuses at the moment and “Palm Springs isn't currently on our priority list.”

According to White, the airline has been focused on Hawaii for the past few months, having recently announced new flights to and from the destination.

Since May, five major airlines have announced expanded services at PSP.

Earlier this month, Alaska Airlines added flights from Palm Springs to New York, Portland and Seattle.

Delta Airlines announced last month that it will begin offering flights from Palm Springs to Atlanta in December.

American Airlines will be offering a second daily flight to Chicago, starting in October. The airline also added a red-eye from Palm Springs to Dallas Fort Worth for the summer season, which began in June and will continue until Aug. 20.

JetBlue announced in April that it will start its season in October – a month earlier – this year, and continue its nighttime nonstop flights to and from Palm Springs and New York City .

In May, United Airlines announced it would offer nonstop flights for New York/Newark beginning in December, making it competitive to JetBlue’s seasonal service to the East Coast.

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More: American Airlines increasing daily direct flights from Palm Springs to Chicago in October

More: United Airlines to offer direct Palm Springs to New York service starting in December

The decision to enter a new market depends on different factors for different airlines.

Southwest looks “at everything from potential passenger demand to whether the local economic conditions would be able to sustain our service,” the airline spokesperson said.

PSP works with the CVB and Palm Springs Bureau of Tourism to market itself to airlines.

"We discuss operational aspects of PSP Airport that make it efficient for them to operate versus the larger congested airports, provide them information about all the positive new things in the Coachella Valley that demonstrate demand is growing, and share our ideas of air service growth potential," PSP Executive Director Thomas Nolan said in an email.

A Monthly Passenger Activity Report provided by PSP shows an increase of 5.1 percent in passenger activity from 2016 to 2017. The upward trend continues this year, with nearly 1.4 million passengers served from Jan. 1 through June 30 – an 8.9 percent increase over the first six months of 2017, according to another report.

"The record passenger traffic at PSP Airport, which is projected this year to be about 2.2 million total passengers, is an indicator that airlines are responding to the passenger demand generated locally and from visitors attracted to this world class destination," Nolan said.

Ailevon Pacific Aviation Consulting, an air service development firm that works for the CVB, in its own study noted a 50 percent population growth in the Coachella Valley over the past 15 years.

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“With many new residents coming from high wealth areas such as the San Francisco Bay Area, we see rapid growth in demand by local residents to destinations both nationally and abroad,” APAC Managing Director Oliver Lamb said in an email.

The firm also found that PSP has seen significant growth in passenger demand every quarter over the last five years.

One of the CVB's goals is to get air services extended to June and started as early as September. The CVB identifies destinations where most passengers are coming from, as well as occupancy and visitation growth rates. This data helps in convincing airlines to add new destinations and increase capacity in existing destinations.

Occupancy rates have been increasing steadily even during the off-season compared to previous years, according to data provided by the CVB. The occupancy rate in the Coachella Valley is running close to 55 percent this summer.

“We really don't have as big a difference in seasonality in terms of number of visitors. Certainly the seasons change in terms of rates at the hotels, but the occupancies now aren't really shifting as much as they used to do back 10 to 15 years ago,” White explained.

More: Alaska Airlines adds flights from Palm Springs to New York, Portland and Seattle

More: Delta Airlines adding Atlanta connection to Palm Springs airport service

More: Visitors in 2017 spent over $5.5B in the Coachella Valley. Here's how tourism managed to rebound from the recession.

Palak Barmaiya is a news intern at The Desert Sun. You can reach her at 760.778.4624 or pbarmaiya@gannett.com.