Southwest Airlines is coming to Ford International  Airport.

Through a merger, Southwest Airlines, a much coveted airline in airports throughout the country, will be flying out of Grand Rapids.  AirTran, a popular discount airline, began service to Gerald R. Ford International Airport in May 2010.  A few months later, Southwest merged with the smaller discount airline.  There was worry that Southwest might not want to stay at Gerald R. Ford International as the airline was beginning to cancel service to several Air Tran locations.  However, we got the good news.

Nearly 2.3 million travelers passed through Ford Airport last year, and administrators credit discount airlines for the success.

For now, the Air Tran name will remain, but soon Southwest will faze it out and replace it with the Southwest brand.
Here's hoping Southwest brings more flights to Grand Rapids in the future.

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