Southwest Airlines’longest flights by block time take almost seven hours. The thought of spending that much time on a narrowbody twinjet from the Boeing 737 family, and particularly one operated by a low-cost airline, might be more than some passengers can bear. However, others are more than happy to snap up the cheap seats. But where exactly do Southwest’s longest routes go, and why?
In this article, we will use current scheduling data from Cirium, an aviation analytics company, to answer this question, based on Southwest’s filings for July 2026 to December 2026. While one particular market dominates the top 10, other additions elsewhere still raise eyebrows. All of these flights are more than six hours long, but only one serves a foreign destination.
Most of the longest domestic flights in the US serve Hawaii, and Southwest Airlines is no different, with the Aloha State accounting for seven of its 10 longest corridors. Phoenix to Honolulu sits at the top, maxing out at six hours and 45 minutes, while Las Vegas to Lihue and Honolulu also occupy the podium, respectively maxing at six hours and 30 minutes and six hours and 25 minutes.
Six hours and 25 minutes is also the maximum duration between Phoenix and Kahului, while the trips from Las Vegas to Kahului and Kona top out at six hours and 20 minutes. Ranking joint ninth, the seventh and final Hawaiian route on this list is the relatively new link between Las Vegas and Hilo, with a maximum block time of six hours and 10 minutes. Andrew Watterson, Southwest’s COO, commented on the carrier’s Hawaii operation in a statement last December.
“All of our aircraft in Hawaii offer enhancements that show where Southwest is going: in-seat power, improved space for carry-on bags, rows of seats that offer extra legroom, with even more enhancements to come.”
Away from Hawaii, the longest domestic routes on the US mainland tend to be transcontinental corridors between the East and West Coast. This is true for Southwest, with two of its 10 longest routes falling under this category. Of this pair, the longer is from Boston Logan International Airport (BOS) to San Diego International Airport (SAN), ranking joint-third at six hours and 25 minutes.
This route launched relatively recently, with the first service departing on June 4 of this year. According to Cirium, Southwest will serve this route daily, with a total of 211 rotations penciled in for 2026. Of these, 152 will be operated by the 737 MAX 8. Meanwhile, the remaining 59 rotations will be split between 51 on the popular 737-800 and 8 on the smaller 737-700.
Elsewhere, Southwest’s eighth-longest route by maximum scheduled block time in the second half of 2026 originates in Baltimore. The destination of this particular transcontinental odyssey is San Francisco International Airport (SFO) in northern California, with a maximum block time of six hours and 15 minutes. Southwest also serves this route daily.
The airline is evolving, but it still holds onto the core values that define its operation.
The only international route to crack the top ten among Southwest’s longest corridors by maximum scheduled block time in the second half of this year originates at Juan Santamaría International Airport (SJO) in San José, Costa Rica. Its destination is Harry Reid International Airport (LAS) in Las Vegas, Nevada, and, with a maximum block time of six hours and 10 minutes, it ranks joint ninth overall.
This route is another new one, with Southwest first revealing its plans to operate itin February of this year. These flights will mostly operate daily from October 1 onwards, with 91 rotations penciled in between then and the end of the year. Of these, 51 are set to be operated by the 175-seat 737 MAX 8, with the 137-seat Boeing 737-700 accounting for the remaining 40 rotations.
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