Southwest announces MSP

[On Your Six]

At least MSP will offer an exciting alternative to ELP or Jackson, MS for the pilots.

 

[Browntothebone]

Please, for the love of God... I think I speak for all FedEx pilots on the board... please don't come to MEM...

There goes your accepted fares down the toilet.

 

[fiel12]

Okay all you LAS commuters, Don't get any ideas. The MDW commute sucks big time. Really, I wouldn't even think about it if I were you.

 

[fiel12]

I'll have access soon enough.

Dude, What do you mean? I thought you said WN wasn't going to hire anyone for years.

 

[GuppyWN]

Ought to be fun. I'm thinking MDW, LAS, and DEN to start.

Gup

 

[SKYWRJGUY]

CVG will come soon as well.

 

[Frank Lorenzo]

General where are you! I know I know we wont be able to compete with the new Delta.

This is EXACTLY the type of things I said would happen to the "new" Delta. The unforeseen. What will WN grow into in MSP? The state of MN cannot be happy with DAL taking away corporate HQ. Wait until all of the old former NWA leases come up on the gates. I'm sure Delta will be able to compete in a bidding war with Southwest. Not. Not to mention the public outcry over lack of competition in the MSP market. WN can expand into DTW, MEM, CVG......oooohhhhh. The possibilities are endless.

Now we just need the general and SuperKoolAidDrinker92 to come on and tell us how "everything will be fine and dandy. The SLI will create love and harmony, and we will never shrink and furlough."

The new route map is already shrinking.

 

[cjdriver]

Please, for the love of God... I think I speak for all FedEx pilots on the board... please don't come to MEM...

It would do both of you some good. Play well with others.

 

[~~~^~~~]

SWA is toast, Delta's gonna throw those DC9's and some RJ50's at you.

SWA thinks they're all cute with climbs to 410 and direct to fixes half way across the nation. Well, they've not seen the DC9 request a heading until they pick up the VOR and level of at 240. Burning 5,000lbs an hour, hah, the DC9 can top that, try 3,500 a side baby!

Watch our smoke, literally.

Oh' by the way, could you carry our bags? The RJ gets weight limited a lot.

 

[Whataburger]

It wasn't a knock on you guys. The way our accepted fares/deadheading options work, I would rather not see SWA flying into MEM.

I see whaty you're sayin'. However when we go into a city we typically go with lots of flights. Don't know if that helps for Jumpseating or not.

 

[Cobraair75drvr]

Fins,

In the last day or so you have begun to be very negative about NWA. Ya gettin nervous about the sli? As long as the new delta does not cut and run southwest won't be much of a problem. They are a very well run airline but not unbeatable. We have dealt with them in dtw for years and they have not taken over there.

SWA is toast, Delta's gonna throw those DC9's and some RJ50's at you.

SWA thinks they're all cute with climbs to 410 and direct to fixes half way across the nation. Well, they've not seen the DC9 request a heading until they pick up the VOR and level of at 240. Burning 5,000lbs an hour, hah, the DC9 can top that, try 3,500 a side baby!

Watch our smoke, literally.

Oh' by the way, could you carry our bags? The RJ gets weight limited a lot.

 

[General Lee]

Fins,

In the last day or so you have begun to be very negative about NWA. Ya gettin nervous about the sli? As long as the new delta does not cut and run southwest won't be much of a problem. They are a very well run airline but not unbeatable. We have dealt with them in dtw for years and they have not taken over there.

That is true, and they also compete with us out of SLC, and are the 2nd largest airline there. We seem to do Ok I think. They don't have the connections that we do at the hubs, and we just have to compete on a price basis on the direct routes we compete with them on. That is the way it goes.


Bye Bye--General Lee

 

[flint4xx]

I'm gonna' need a bigger Jepp binder...

 

[General Lee]

I'm gonna' need a bigger Jepp binder...

From the Reuter's article:

"At this point our only decision is to have that one pipe to Chicago," Kelly told reporters. "It's a very cautious approach, but it's one that we can defend."



Doesn't sound like too much new space is needed. MSP green pages, and some SIDs/STARs and Apps.



Bye Bye--General Lee

 

[Sluggo_63]

I see whaty you're sayin'. However when we go into a city we typically go with lots of flights. Don't know if that helps for Jumpseating or not.

Not really... if we commute to Memphis, we typically use company aircraft. I'd be worried about what our corporate travel department would start using for accepted fares. I guess it wouldn't matter for the international guys/gals as much as the domestic bubbas.

 

[Scope out RJ's]

How come this isn't on the Southwest press release page? Did he announce this in a bathroom stall or something?

It was. He was in the same stall with bravodude, "(Senator) Larry Craig style."

 

[dtfl]

Gary announced today that Southwest Airlines plans to begin service to Minneapolis-St. Paul (MSP) International Airport in March 2009. While we have not released specific service details or a timeline yet, we are planning a modest opening in MSP with initial service to only MDW this spring.

"Minneapolis-St. Paul’s strategic geographic location complements the vast Southwest Airlines network really well,” said Gary. “We have studied and been interested in serving Minneapolis-St. Paul for quite some time, and we look forward to bringing our low fares and legendary Customer Service to the people of Minnesota.”

Gary also reaffirmed that though we may not grow our overall available seat mile capacity in 2009, we do have new schedule planning tools which provide the ability to manage our fleet and to adjust our flight schedule in response to opportunities that present themselves. “Offering service to Minneapolis-St. Paul is an excellent opportunity for us to expand our service to a very popular market,” Gary added.

From Southwest’s home in the Lone Star State, to our newest city in the North Star State, Customers across America will benefit from Southwest Airlines’ new service to MSP.

I thought SWA tried to stay out of airports that bought them delays, etc. With NWA..soon to be DELTA and the fact that MN is ice-central..I cant see SWA knocking out 25 min turns. I think their team believes DAL will downsize MSP and allow them some breathing room.
We'll have to wait and see....

 

[firstthird]

e fact that MN is ice-central..I cant see SWA knocking out 25 min turns.

and MDW, DTW, DEN are ice free?

the only new thing here is that MSP is a fortress hub. one of the last ones without an LCC in residence.

the old story was that when we went into MDW, Herb made a deal with NWA to stay out of MSP if they wouldn't fight our getting gates in Chicago. Apparently that wasn't the case or the time limit expired. or maybe because NWA is becoming DAL, our lawyers figured the deal was off. In all likelihood, there was no deal and it was just a good story to tell at the bar.

 

[~~~^~~~]

Fins,

In the last day or so you have begun to be very negative about NWA. Ya gettin nervous about the sli?

Just in the last day, or so?

NWA was not mentioned anywhere in my post.

 

[Fubijaakr]

Alaska starts MSP this month. Looks like a lot of CEOs are smelling some Delta pullouts from MSP.