{"id":257594,"date":"2026-04-08T13:25:56","date_gmt":"2026-04-08T13:25:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/257594\/"},"modified":"2026-04-08T13:25:56","modified_gmt":"2026-04-08T13:25:56","slug":"my-favorite-flight-between-sf-la-returns-after-2-year-disappearance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/257594\/","title":{"rendered":"My favorite flight between SF, LA returns after 2-year disappearance"},"content":{"rendered":"

Last month, Southwest brought back daily service from San Francisco International Airport to Hollywood Burbank Airport, a popular route that was unceremoniously dropped<\/a> in the spring of 2024.<\/p>\n

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Chris Perry, a media representative for the carrier, told SFGATE that the SFO route is part of the airline\u2019s increasing investment into Hollywood Burbank in 2026: Santa Rosa in April and Honolulu in August. He said that the SFO route is operating three times a day from Sunday to Friday and twice on Saturdays.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a welcomed revival for so many of us who bounce between LA and SF, with round-trip fare on weekend trips totaling between $200 and $250. The revived service is a dip from its bygone peak before the pandemic when there were five daily flights between the two airports. Perry offered hope for a deeper commitment after Southwest runs an analysis on the SFO route\u2019s initial returns.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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\u201cThat cadence carries through October of this year, which is as far as we\u2019ve published our schedule for now,\u201d Perry wrote in an email.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

A Southwest Airlines plane takes off from Hollywood Burbank Airport on Jan. 29, 2026.<\/p>\n

Mario Tama\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

The former\u00a0\u201cBob Hope\u201d Airport<\/a> is constructing a new terminal<\/a> that\u2019s expected to open later this year. The process has not disrupted my frequent flying experience there this year \u2014 it\u2019s still the best way to move in and out of the region, especially since LAX recently approved a price hike for arrival and exits in taxi or ride haul.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Within California travel, Southwest cornered an bustling intersection in the lucrative market. Perry told me that a fourth of its total routes at SFO are to major Southern California airports: LAX, San Diego and Burbank.
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\u201cWe\u2019re very proud to provide more intra-California service than any other airline for nearly 25 years,\u201d he explained. \u201cWe see Burbank-SFO as a bellwether on the strength of intrastate business travel and the pandemic forced us to pull it down, so it\u2019s very exciting for us to return this route to our robust nationwide and intra-California network.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

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When I flew from SFO to Hollywood Burbank Airport a couple of days after the route was reinstated on March 5, the vigor of the network seemed modest as my Saturday evening flight was about half full.<\/p>\n

Southwest has assigned seating these days<\/a>, and there\u2019s a new two-lane waiting area divided between even- and odd-numbered groups instead of classic lettered ones. Unlike the days of yore, panic-setting an alarm to check in exactly 24 hours before a Southwest flight to secure a better seat, that method might not work anymore. On both flights of my round trip, my 17D seat was assigned to boarding group 8 whether checking in exactly 24 hours ahead or 21 hours ahead.<\/p>\n

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Part of Southwest Airlines\u2019 transformation includes larger overhead bins.<\/p>\n

Courtesy of Southwest Airlines<\/p>\n

The flight was turbulent enough that the pilot decided that the flight attendants should stay seated and warned that we might not get drinks or snacks. Turns out, Southwest has started sacrificing its snack and beverage program<\/a> in the name of safety for a while now. I\u2019ve found that there\u2019s a high probability of at least a little bit of turbulence coming in and out of Burbank. Landing at LAX, which is close to the coast, can also be bumpy, but seems to happen less often.<\/p>\n

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Speaking of snacks, another reason I fly Hope is that food is unlikely to be messed with, especially if it\u2019s in a bright yellow Porto\u2019s Bakery bag<\/a>, which is at least anecdotally the most frequent bag seen at the facility. The last time I departed from LAX, my honey yogurt and farmers market strawberry lavender jam were confiscated \u2014 supposedly for being liquids.<\/p>\n

\u201cAre these really liquids?\u201d I retorted, only to be told that anything that can be poured out and not hold its shape is considered a liquid. Damn, that jam was expensive.<\/p>\n

When we landed in Burbank, passengers were once again offered the choice to exit from either end of the plane, which is an amenity that you won\u2019t find on Alaska or United.<\/p>\n

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A Southwest flight takes off.<\/p>\n

Courtesy of Southwest Airlines<\/p>\n

When it was time to fly home from Burbank, it was a breeze, until it wasn\u2019t, when I flew on March 19. Temperatures were in the 90s, and I was wearing loose shorts in what was a rookie move for a flight to the Bay Area. I wasn\u2019t asked to take off my shoes during any of my other three flights there over the past two months, so I wore sandals instead of socks and sneakers. Big mistake, huge.<\/p>\n

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Unfortunately, my fit caused problems in the TSA X-ray, which threw up a giant red square in my lower area. A gloved woman asked to search my private area and kindly offered to do it in a separate room. I usually show up really early, but my boarding time for this flight was less than 10 minutes away, so I basically told her to touch me where you need to, right here in line at airport security. It was shocking and mortifying. They also ran my sandals through the conveyor, and I had to stand there barefoot, which was absolutely disgusting.<\/p>\n

My summery clothes in line for TSA at Burbank revealed a disparity between LA and SF, but as I slid my begrimed toes back into the sandals, I remembered it could always be worse: I could be flying out of LAX.<\/p>\n

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