Southwest plans to drop Bay Area nonstop routes to 3 destinations

Southwest Airlines Co. planes stand on the tarmac at San Francisco International Airport (SFO) in San Francisco, California, U.S., on Friday, Jan. 19, 2018. Southwest Airlines Co. is scheduled to release earnings on January 25. Photographer: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg less Southwest Airlines Co. planes stand on the tarmac at San Francisco International Airport (SFO) in San Francisco, California, U.S., on Friday, Jan. 19, 2018. Southwest Airlines Co. is scheduled to release ... more Photo: David Paul Morris Photo: David Paul Morris Image 1 of / 28 Caption Close Southwest plans to drop Bay Area nonstop routes to 3 destinations 1 / 28 Back to Gallery

Southwest is dropping nonstop flights between all Bay Area airports and three destinations the carrier currently connects them to.

Starting January 6, Bay Area residents will no longer have the option to book a nonstop flight from SFO to Austin or nonstop flight to Orlando from SJC and OAK. A route to Columbus, Ohio from Oakland will also be eliminated.

The change comes after the carrier announced plans to expand travel routes from California to Hawaii. By January 2020, Southwest will have routes that connects OAK and SJC to Lihue (on Kauai) and Kona (on the Big Island).

"We are always evaluating our service patterns and performance to ensure that we are offering the right number of seats for the community based on demand from travelers,'' Southwest spokesman Dan Landson said in a statement.

Southwest also plans to end routes between cities at other airports across the country. A total of 17 routes, including the ones in the bay, will get the boot.

According to USA Today, airlines routinely eliminate flights that have a “weaker-than-expected performance” rate but won’t “trumpet the cutbacks like they do new flights.”

Last month, the low-cost carrier announced that it would cease operations to Newark Liberty International Airport after citing a drop in passenger numbers that resulted in a loss of about $175 million in profit.

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Susana Guerrero is an SFGATE producer. Email: Susana.Guerrero@sfgate.com | Twitter: @SusyGuerrero3