Simple Flying
Paul Hartley
28 August 2026
Southwest Airlines has spent decades doing things differently from its largest US rivals, including operating without airport lounges. That is now changing. Less than six weeks after CEO Bob Jordan acknowledged that there was "work underway" on lounges, construction records indicate that facilities linked to Southwest at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport (AUS) and Nashville International Airport (BNA) could both be completed in the first half of 2027.
Nashville has the clearest timeline, with the Nashville Business Journal reporting a contractor schedule pointing to a June 28, 2027, completion date. Meanwhile, a filing for Austin's 20,000-square-foot "Project Oasis" lists March 1 as its scheduled completion date...
