737-800 question to gary kelly

[Tejas-Jet]

How many Captains at Southwest are retiring prior to 65?

Can't speak for the entire system, but in my corner of the world, had a Captain recently tell me he is going out in January. He is 61 ...I think.

Recently had one under 60 go out early...just because.

 

[737tanker]

Though the -800 would require another FA, therefore messing with the SWA - any crew can operate any aircraft - philosophy, if the price is right I am sure they would do it in a heartbeat.

The problem with the -800s is not the 4th F/A. When I upgraded in 2000 the VP of FltOps my upgrade class that the problem was interchangeability. That is if a full -300 or -700 broke and SWA replaced it with a -200 (we had them at that time) or a -500 you only upset 15 passengers. If SWA had a full -800 that was broken and replaced it with a -700 you would upset 50 passengers. He did say however that if SWA needed to grow at a city and was restricted due to slots (at the time he was talking SNA) or gates then SWA would get -800s for the needed expansion.
Another thing to consider is that Gary has been quoted as saying that you can't make money going to Hawaii in a -700, you need something bigger. The new CBA allows codeshare among then Hawaiian Islands, not to/from Hawaii. So to utilize he provision that allows codeshare among the Hawaiian islands then SWA needs something bigger than a -700, and that probably means SWA will get the -800.

 

[mt2]

FAA.gov says Southwest has 546 737s... I don't know how accurate that is.

Let's say they get 50 737-800s.

The average flight attendant there brings home 30/hr, x 110/mo is about $3300, let's not even throw in per-diem, or open time.

3300x12 is about 40,000

40k x 50 is 2,000,000

2,000,000 x let's say 4 per airplane is 8,000,000.

That's 8 million they save by not having another FA.

My numbers are all just a guess. Not sure if the 8mil would be covered by the increased revenue of having a bigger plane.

I know 8mil really isn't that much money in the grand scheme of things either for an airline as massive as Southwest.

I know it's not this simple but:
With @40 extra seats it shouldn't be too hard to make up for the extra F/A in a LGA or Hawaii market. I don't think they'd need 50 -800's but a smaller number might be a good move.

 

[Ky.BrownBourbn]

I know it's not this simple but:
With @40 extra seats it shouldn't be too hard to make up for the extra F/A in a LGA or Hawaii market. I don't think they'd need 50 -800's but a smaller number might be a good move.

Probably will not happen, They already have a "Bastard" of the fleet, the 25 -500's they don't know what to do with and can't get rid of because no one will take them!

Pilots were just told that the Boeing guys were gonna start showing up in Dallas to ride in the Sim and 5 guys from Boeing were approved by Feds to ride the Jumpseat and rumor has it it's to work on the 73 replacement.

Apparently, SW corporate has been courting the Embraer sales people in Dallas to see their products as well as another manufacturer! Looks like they want a replacement A/C sooner rather than later AND the 787 catastrophe may have SW getting antsy.

KBB

 

[Saluki Dawg]

That one's probably just a rumor, as Boeing published an Article the other day stating they would continue making the 737 into the 2020's. I have heard that Boeing may re engine the current fleet of Aircraft with a more fuel efficient engine until a viable replacement is developed, but that's all I've heard WRT a 737RS.

As for the -800 rumor, I've heard that they actually went and test flew a -900ER, and that's the airplane they're more interested in. I guess we will see.

 

[slaquer5]

There's a famous story about Herb having breakfast with some new hire pilots and stating that without a doubt he was NOT looking at buying Morris Air- Now way, Now how. Well, he left the breakfast and went to the pre-arranged press conference to announce the acquisition of Morris. Go figure....

That was Paul Sterbins (sp) the VP of flt ops at the time not herb.

 

[Mea25000]

900ER is a Joke... I don't think boeing has been able to give them away. CAL bought a few but I don't think they are even happy with them.

 

[Saluki Dawg]

CAL wasn't happy with the original -900 series. The -900ER is the newer version with a higher MATOW and much better range than the original -900 series. CAL loves the -900ER, and is taking quite a few of these deliveries over the next few years. This is the model that SWA test flew and what they were looking at.

 

[nimtz]

CAL wasn't happy with the original -900 series. The -900ER is the newer version with a higher MATOW and much better range than the original -900 series. CAL loves the -900ER, and is taking quite a few of these deliveries over the next few years. This is the model that SWA test flew and what they were looking at.

It's a shiner turd then the original with some cooler instruments. As for performance, nothing like touching down in MCI for gas on a transcon in the summer. Did I mention 2K less thrust per side then the 800? Rough to get those intersection take offs that SW likes in places like Vegas. Well crafted by bean counters at Boeing to meet needs of bean counters at CAL...

 

[StopNTSing]

CAL wasn't happy with the original -900 series. The -900ER is the newer version with a higher MATOW and much better range than the original -900 series. CAL loves the -900ER, and is taking quite a few of these deliveries over the next few years. This is the model that SWA test flew and what they were looking at.

I don't know what model it was (hopefully not the ER), but in LAS this past summer one could often see a lonely CAL 737 holding short of 7L waiting (...and waiting...and waiting....) for ATC to build them a hole in the arrivals while everyone else was launching from 25R. Reminded me of the bad old days trying to get a -200 out of there in the summer.