Southwest Scales Overnight Red-Eye Network Into 2026 (simpleflying.com)

Southwest Airlines launched its first red-eye flights on February 13, 2025, with five daily overnight departures from Las Vegas, Los Angeles, and Phoenix into Baltimore, Orlando, and Nashville, expanding to 33 daily flights by June 2025 and 53 daily red-eyes by fall 2026. The carrier says the overnight scheduling and faster turnarounds deliver an operational boost equivalent to adding 18 aircraft without buying new airframes, and nearly 75% of overnight travelers are connecting passengers feeding early-morning banks at hubs like BWI, BNA, and MCO. For spring 2027, Southwest announced a westbound reverse red-eye departing Las Vegas at 2:45 AM and landing in Honolulu at 6:10 AM to position an aircraft for morning mainland returns.