Three cities hope to snag Southwest

Three Panhandle cities, Pensacola, Fort Walton Beach and Panama City, are competing to land low-cost, Dallas-based Southwest Airlines. Panama City hopes to get the service at a new airport it plans to open in 2010, while Fort Walton Beach would like to have Southwest to make up for losing AirTran to Pensacola nine years ago. For Pensacola, landing the carrier would coincide with a $78 million expansion. (Source: Pensacola News Journal, 08/30/09)