#Southwest enters new era

America's largest domestic-only airline has finalized an agreement with the city of Houston for international gates at Hobby Airport. The recently merged United-Continental, with the old Continental hub at Bush Intercontinental in Houston, is understandably (and sadly) peeved.

Per one person interviewed for the story,  it's still a duopoly for Latin American travel, but, that's better than a monopoly. And, it's with Southwest, not a legacy carrier, as one of the two companies.

ANd, it doesn't just challenge United-Continental, or benefit only Houston.With Southwest’s major presence at Dallas Love, DFW flyers to Latin America will also hugely benefit. And, American, the American that continues to struggle, with its hub at D/FW International, will be challenged by this move almost as much as United-Continental. And, don't forget that American also has a Latin American hub of sorts at Miami. The Double-A can't be liking this a lot, either.

And, given that Southwest actually has its busiest site at Las Vegas, there’s one other city that could benefit. It’s going to be a while, but low-budget Hispanic gamblers could head to Sin City.