Atlanta still world's busiest airport; Beijing passes Heathrow as No. 2

[GuppyWN]

I just can't wait to meet General Lee!

Gup

 

[jonjuan]

The Southwest Effect is gonna help the A-T-L blow the doors off everyone for years to come.

Well it certainly will have the oldest cockpits per turn.

 

[nimtz]

Some of us aren't lucky as you to be based in wonderful airports like, EWR, CLE or IAH.

Yep all 4 suck which is why I don't live in any of them. But they all have something in common; u have 2 be retarded to take pride in any of those cities. Congrats bro, ur town is the most diverse pile in all of Dixie.

 

[jonjuan]

I would guess SWA will do about the same in ATL as MSP by way of comparison. I don't fly there either, so I don't have a clue. How did SWA do when they jumped into MSP? Did they dramatically increase the numbers there?

And SLC- they really knocked the ball off the cover there.... LOLOLOL.....

 

[GuppyWN]

Or Denver.
Or Philly.
Or Baltimore.
Or Chicago.
Or Phoenix.
Or Los Angeles.
Or Houston.
Or Orlando.

Gup

 

[Kharma Police]

Yep all 4 suck which is why I don't live in any of them. But they all have something in common; u have 2 be retarded to take pride in any of those cities. Congrats bro, ur town is the most diverse pile in all of Dixie.

I'm sorry, you live where? I promise to not make fun of you if it's Flint or anywhere in Michigan for that matter............

 

[Whataburger]

Well it certainly will have the oldest cockpits per turn.

point?

 

[Whataburger]

I just can't wait to meet General Lee!

Gup

Good luck, he'll be in Cabo eating fresh seafood off a naked busty mermaid that leaped out of the sea when she saw his gold uniform bling.

 

[Whataburger]

How's that "Southwest" effect work when you are #42 in line for takeoff? I thought SWA's business model was based on high productivity and quick turns? i haven't flown into ATL for a long time so I am just making the assumption they would have some pretty long lines during the peak travel times. (and, I don't think you can get ahead by taxing faster than the "Professionals", although it is NASCAR country!)

Unless you're in Austin or Midland or the L-B-B, there are no quick turns. Have you seen that we go into LGA, BOS, PHL, and are about to go into EWR? Any smart company evolves with what their enviornment demands.

 

[Whataburger]

Yep all 4 suck which is why I don't live in any of them. But they all have something in common; u have 2 be retarded to take pride in any of those cities. Congrats bro, ur town is the most diverse pile in all of Dixie.

Texans have pride. We made Texas it's own country...Twice!

Yall can I'll go to hell, I'm going to Texas. - Crockett

 

[waveflyer]

Where they don't teach US history- they teach Texas history

 

[General Lee]

I would guess SWA will do about the same in ATL as MSP by way of comparison. I don't fly there either, so I don't have a clue. How did SWA do when they jumped into MSP? Did they dramatically increase the numbers there?

Dan,

They are limited by the number of gates they have at every airport they go to. MSP's LCC terminal, the Hubert Humphrey terminal, houses Airtran, Southwest, and Sun Country, and that limits growth potential. It's not really that big of a terminal from what I have seen, although I guess they could try to expand it. In ATL, Airtran has about one terminal's worth of gates (spread over two total terminals shared with ASA and some other airlines). Those gates are currently used to the max anyway, and if the SWA blowhards on here think they can increase turn times while at the same time increasing airplane sizes (717 and 737-700s up to larger 738s), then that will be interesting to watch. They don't have 737-800s now, but they state that they already know how they WILL do it, with more passengers to deplane and board, more FREE bags and cargo to off load, more time needed to clean the plane via the flight attendants, etc.

But, they say they can do it...... And Dan, watch out for them coming to Hawaii sometime within the next decade.


Bye Bye---General Lee

 

[Dan Roman]

Dan,

They are limited by the number of gates they have at every airport they go to. MSP's LCC terminal, the Hubert Humphrey terminal, houses Airtran, Southwest, and Sun Country, and that limits growth potential. It's not really that big of a terminal from what I have seen, although I guess they could try to expand it. In ATL, Airtran has about one terminal's worth of gates (spread over two total terminals shared with ASA and some other airlines). Those gates are currently used to the max anyway, and if the SWA blowhards on here think they can increase turn times while at the same time increasing airplane sizes (717 and 737-700s up to larger 738s), then that will be interesting to watch. They don't have 737-800s now, but they state that they already know how they WILL do it, with more passengers to deplane and board, more FREE bags and cargo to off load, more time needed to clean the plane via the flight attendants, etc.

But, they say they can do it...... And Dan, watch out for them coming to Hawaii sometime within the next decade.


Bye Bye---General Lee

Thanks, That sounds reasonable. Delta has a solid hub there so obviously anything SWA does will have to be done around that. It's a lot easier to create a market somewhere that didn't have a lot of service than it is doing it where a lot of service already exists. Which is why they bought AT rather than try and do it themselves I guess. I did a stint at PeopleExpress so I have seen how quickly a successful business model can be turned south. SWA is in way better shape than PE ever was but there are some similarities in trying to expand the successful LCC model into new types of markets and the potential pitfalls. Some of the SWA folks on here sound exactly like some of the PE guys did....."we are going to go everywhere!" It's not that easy.

As far as Hawaii goes, you probably are right. When they first announced the 800's they said it was a potential market. However, I have to agree with the analysts quoted in the local paper.They pointed out they will bring there own market to Hawaii rather than be a threat to the current carriers flying here. But if SWA comes here they will bring more tourists which is good for the State, which in turn is good for Hawaiian.
Fortunately for us, we are pretty well established here and people really like Hawaiian Air. People like to start their Hawaiian vacation on Hawaiian Air. It's a pretty solid marketing advantage. Obviously our costs are much lower than a 737 using 767's and A330's. For SWA to try and gain market share by offering a cheaper ticket they would have to operate at a loss. I do think if they tried to be the airline that doesn't charge for bags (we already allow 2 free bags) they could end up with the travellers that carry lots of bags, which could be a real nightmare using a 737 ETOPS.

 

[GuppyWN]

Dan,

Have you checked your fares lately? Dude OUTRAGEOUS comes to mind. I just bought RT tickets on Alaska for less than the 1-way fare on Hawaiian.

It's all gonna be a moot point when we buy Hawaiian but.........

Gup

 

[Dan Roman]

Dan,

Have you checked your fares lately? Dude OUTRAGEOUS comes to mind. I just bought RT tickets on Alaska for less than the 1-way fare on Hawaiian.

It's all gonna be a moot point when we buy Hawaiian but.........

Gup

......OK just keep us separate in Guadalupe ( I tried to insert a little smiley face here, didn't work)
Actually we have plenty of cheap tickets, I saw some 378 RT tickets advertised. As I said, a 737 can't compete with a 767 on cost to Hawaii, but we get whatever yield our market bears and still fill up our airplanes. I have to call BS on your fare analogy with an AK flight. We are very competitive, perhaps you are comparing last minute ticket prices. But if it were true, that just proves how much more people are willing to pay to fly Hawaiian Air to Hawaii. We have our own little niche, it works and there is plenty of room for plenty of other airlines in the market. I do worry that Hawaii itself could be reaching it's saturation point as to how many tourists it can actually hold.