SWA isn't buying anyone!

[PCL_128]

Um..ok.. so what are they building east of E concourse?

New international concourse. Won't be done for almost two more years, from what I've heard.

 

[capt1900]

Southwest has something that most airlines don't, caring employees!

 

[GuppyWN]

Southwest has something that most airlines don't, caring employees!

Whatever. Why don't you F-ck off!

LOL.... sorry bro. Couldn't let that opportunity pass.

Gup

 

[klr1395]

I don't know where Southwest is going to get gates in Atlanta. AirTran and Delta have their hands full trying to get more gates that don't exist. NO new terminal is going up in the near future in Atlanta, so unless they purchase one of the two big tenants in Atlanta, I doubt they will be doing service there.

Since the NAS closed Dobbins in Marietta is a possibility.......

 

[Foxcow]

Since the NAS closed Dobbins in Marietta is a possibility.......

Interesting... But I would have to see it to believe it. For some reason, I thought NAS still has some time left before it closed.

 

[Idiot Police]

Cock-a-doodle-doooo!!!!!!

 

[Eagle757shark]

Um..ok.. so what are they building east of E concourse?

Like I said...NO new terminal is going up in the NEAR future. I don't know what they are building East of terminal E right now. But currently new green grass is now covering that nice smooth vacant land. This after they put a new tunnel in, not sure what for. I believe that new terminal is on a indefinite hold for right now.

 

[STL717]

Ok....

What happened to Southwest being vulnerable for someone to come in and take over with a LBO.

 

[STL717]

ATL's international terminal expansion will be complete in late 2010 or early 2011.

 

[Andy]

If oil stays around $75, you can expect the long awaited industry consolidation to occur by necessity in 6-18 months. One, maybe two, major US cariers will go away and the remaining will consolidate. AThe government will not interfere this time around and will actually incourage consolidation. No bailouts this time. This will fix the capacity issues for a decade or so.

BS. Unless the commercial paper market gets flowing again, M&A activity's pretty much done for this business cycle. Take a look at how many M&A deals fell through last quarter. Then take a look at how many investment banks took it in the shorts last quarter due to not being able to profitably sell the paper from those deals. Some of those deals (Chrysler/Cerberus) resulted in some pretty hefty losses for investment banks. http://www.portfolio.com/views/blog...07/25/banks-stuck-with-unwanted-chrysler-debt

Due to all of the bad paper that we've floated worldwide with MBSs (mortgage backed securities), buyers of commercial paper are more scarce than a full fare first class passenger. So forget about M&A activity; the last big one was America West/USAirways, and it'll be the last one for quite some time.

As for any consolidation reducing capacity, you are dead wrong. There are near zero barriers to entry into the airline industry. A startup can get going for less than $100 million (not that hard to raise in an IPO when the market's on a roll) and have brand new fuel efficient aircraft to boot. And they can find newhire employees who work for 1/3 of the salaries paid by Southwest. In the future, there will be an endless supply of pilots willing to work for less pay than you and I. Forget about seeing pay raises that keep up with inflation. Established airlines are going to have to continue to pay low wages in order to survive in this environment.
If you think that Skybus and VA wages are bad, just wait until the next 'great' startup pops up with even lower wages. And I always love reading the justifications by those who are willing to whore themselves out for lower and lower wages.

 

[Andy]

TWA, Pan Am, Eastern.....part of the reason those guys are gone is because they also had the attitude of we ain't going anywhere. Everyone is vulnerable.

Very true. It only takes one bad CEO or even one bad corporate decision to knock a highly profitable airline down to mediocre.
Two bad CEOs/decisions/events and you're staring Chapter 11 in the face.
Three bad CEOs/decisions/events and you're praying that your company doesn't go Chapter 7 and become a footnote in the annals of aviation. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_defunct_airlines

The margins in the airline industry are razor thin. If anyone hasn't had a chance to watch the CNBC special about American Airlines, I highly recommend it. http://www.cnbc.com/id/18576787/site/14081545/ It should be required viewing for all airline employees.


No airline is invulnerable to bad times or liquidation; anyone who thinks differently is setting themselves up for disappointment.
I can remember sitting side seat on the 727 when we got C2K at United. I can't tell you how many young FOs were buying their Captain's houses. I was in shock at how these guys thought that the good times would last forever. I guess that I'm fortunate that I got a divorce in early 01, reducing me to a cardboard box for living accomodations. I got off of my probation year on 9 Sep 01 and didn't see year two pay until Oct 01. By that point, it was pretty clear to me that I'd be on the street very soon and adjusted my lifestyle accordingly.
My lesson from all of that is to have a year's worth of wages tucked away in savings. If that sounds excessive, it's well worth the extra sleep I'll get at night during an economic downturn.

 

[Andy]

Whatever. Why don't you F-ck off!

LOL.... sorry bro. Couldn't let that opportunity pass.

Gup

ROTFLMAO! Dude, that was FUNNY!

 

[Kharma Police]

Since the NAS closed Dobbins in Marietta is a possibility.......

NAS Atlanta is slated to be turned over to the Georgia National Guard, the AF Reserve Hercs, Army Reserve and Lockheed will remain open. Cobb county would never let airline service into MGE.

 

[HalinTexas]

SWA won't be able to move all that quickly. Any Int'l market they desire to move into will probably already have at least one carrier in it. The competition will be alerted well in advance. The history with SWA is to go into a city with many flights to many destinations. Use the re-entry into SFO or even RSW as a model.

SWA will have to change their system to accomodate assigned seating, countering their recent decision to stick with a modified cattle-call. This is a governement/immigration requirement. Personnel will have to be trained. And if you think you can turn an airplane in 30 minutes with ICE, you got another thing coming.

ETOPS is even harder to acquire than int'l ops. Look at Alaska. They've been working on it for a year and a half or more for limited ops. to HI. 180 minute ETOPS for the B737 is stupid. (Why hasn't Boeing put a RAT/HMG on these things?) Flying to HI with a -700 is insane. To get any kind of yield you need a larger airplane. The real money is hauling freight to HI from the mainland. Aloha has pretty much showed the limitations of the airplane. If GK pushes for HI/ETOPS with the -700 he should be fired.

The above limitations are not necessarily that difficult to learn for crews, but they can be screwed up readily by them. It'll take about a year to train the crews as they pass through recurrent. The difficulty lies in maintenance, dispatch, reservations, and operations, not to mention government sign-off of all the procedures.

SWA needs to develope new, high yield revenue streams. Their non-fuel costs are rather under control, so their's not much savings there. So the alternative is revenue enhancement. Domestic expansion vis merger/acquisition isn't the best path to that end.

 

[SWA/FO]

the sky is falling.... the sky is falling at Southwest (only). Only our costs are going up.. Our easy ride is over, nobody but SWA will have rising costs. No employee from the other carriers will seek to regain their lost $$$$$. SWA is just like TWA, EAL & PAN AM.....get a clue you HOMOs