Southwest Airlines recently launched service from Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, a result of their buyout of AirTran Airways. This announcement was met with open arms by many business and leisure travelers alike, as Atlanta was the largest metropolitan area without Southwest service prior to launch.

Southwest Airlines will begin their Atlanta program with 14 daily flights, supplementing AirTran’s 170 daily flights from Atlanta. Throughout the year, Southwest plans to gradually absorb AirTran jets into its own fleet.

This will be an adjustment for some AirTran loyalists, who will no longer have assigned seating (Southwest Airlines utilizes an open seating policy). All travelers agree, however, that Southwest’s free checked bags policy is a win-win.

When the AirTran deal was announced in late 2010, Southwest Airlines chief executive Gary Kelly stated, “The major market that we don’t touch domestically that our business customers in particular want is Atlanta.” He went on to say that the acquisition of AirTran “is very clearly a strategic move for us to fill that gap.”

To read more about Southwest Airlines’ service from Atlanta, click on the link below to read the full article from The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.