Aviation site Aviation A2Z recently published Southwest’s top 20 busiest routes based on Q3 2024 data, and flights either to or from Los Angeles made up all five of the top five busiest Southwest routes. Additionally, flights to or from Los Angeles made up six of Southwest’s top 10 busiest routes.
Below is Southwest’s top 10 busiest routes, including total Southwest passengers and market share:
| Rank | Route | Total Passengers | Market Share |
| 1 | Los Angeles – Sacramento | 1,919,700 | 90% |
| 2 | Los Angeles – San Jose | 1,429,680 | 84% |
| 3 | Los Angeles – San Francisco | 1,185,810 | 47% |
| 4 | Las Vegas – Los Angeles | 997,000 | 50% |
| 5 | Los Angeles – Phoenix | 909,780 | 59% |
| 6 | Sacramento – San Diego | 696,180 | 82% |
| 7 | Denver – Los Angeles | 604,420 | 47% |
| 8 | San Diego – San Jose | 566,840 | 74% |
| 9 | San Diego – San Francisco | 498,400 | 56% |
| 10 | Denver – Phoenix | 405,500 | 50% |
Southwest is showing near total market dominance of the Los Angeles to Sacramento, Los Angeles to San Jose, and the Sacramento to San Diego routes, which is quite impressive.
I’m also very impressed (and honestly surprised) by Southwest having 47% of the market share from Los Angeles to San Francisco — since United has hubs in both cities, I assumed United would dominate this route.
Southwest’s strategy of focusing on West Coast airports where United, Delta, and American don’t have hubs (like Sacramento, San Jose, San Diego, and Las Vegas) appears to be working, at least from an overall market share perspective.
The first time a non-western city appears on the list is Southwest’s Chicago Midway to Denver route at number 12, where the airline has a 47% market share.
Bottom line
All five of Southwest’s top five busiest routes either fly to or from Los Angeles, showing how important Los Angeles is to the airline. Also, Southwest has near total market dominance of the Los Angeles to Sacramento, Los Angeles to San Jose, and Sacramento to San Diego routes.
