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HARLINGEN — Fifty years ago, when Southwest Airlines’ legendary “Texas triangle” took a sharp turn south, Valley International Airport started growing along with the fledgling air carrier.

On Tuesday, city leaders and company officials celebrated Southwest Airlines 50th anniversary in Harlingen, which became the airline’s fourth hub on Feb. 11, 1975.

Today, Southwest Airlines’ flights make up about 54% of Valley International Airport’s market share while pumping as much as $200 million a year into the Rio Grande Valley’s economy through visitors’ spending, job creation and tax revenue, officials said.

”Their presence fuels regional tourism, drives business growth and enhances the connectivity of the RGV to the rest of the U.S.,” Marv Esterly, the airport’s aviation director, said, adding Southwest Airlines carried 530,000 passengers to and from the Valley last year.

Southwest’s anniversary marks “a monumental milestone” for the Valley, Mayor Norma Sepulveda said.

“Southwest’s commitment to Harlingen has been instrumental in connecting our region to the world and fostering growth and opportunity for our residents and businesses,” she said. “We proudly share this legacy and look forward to many more years of collaboration and success.”

The maverick air carrier that Herb Kelleher, a San Antonio lawyer, founded in 1967 helped turn the airport into the Valley’s “gateway,” Esterly said.

“Southwest Airlines’ arrival at Valley International Airport 50 years ago was a turning point for air travel in the Rio Grande Valley,” he said. “Their dedication to providing affordable and reliable service has made a lasting impact, helping Valley International Airport become the gateway to the Valley that it is today. We are deeply grateful for their partnership and look forward to continuing to work together to serve our community and travelers for decades.”

In 1967, Kelleher launched Southwest Airlines, with its original hubs in Dallas, San Antonio and Houston, the storied “Texas Triangle” sketched on a cocktail napkin at San Antonio’s St. Anthony Hotel bar the year before.

Then in 1975, David Allex, Harlingen’s longtime Chamber of Commerce president and chief executive officer, helped lure the air carrier to Valley International Airport.

“My grandfather used to say, ‘There goes Herb,’ when a LUV jet would overfly his house in Laurel Park,” Brad Hawkins, the airliner’s spokesman, said. “Seventeen years in my Southwest career, I now know generations of people across the Valley who have relied on us to connect them with important moments, places and people in their lives, with our best-in-the-business employees at Valley International Airport ushering their every journey.”

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