Airtran-Swa. out of seniority?

[Tripower455]

Except for the top 1,000 SWA F/O's who will upgrade years ahead of their stand-alone plans.

A couple of hundred FOs (not even close to half of 1000) might get to upgrade due to the AT deal, at least until we decide to shrink to profitability.

They and the AT folks who make it over to WN are the only ones with anything close to a windfall out of this deal. Unless, IMHO, something major changes, the upgrades will be short lived. Our FO's (other than the few that will upgrade) are (once again) taking the brunt of this hit.....

Except for that whole quick access to the Caribbean and International flying thing (which SWA has realized is MUCH more lucrative than they previously-imagined).

Hopefully, that will save the airline. Forgive me for not buying it.

And also quick entrance into the ATL market which would have been quite difficult and costly otherwise.

Are we making any money in there?

I'm betting things will turn positive quite quickly for Southwest overall come 2nd or 3rd quarter 2015, and the employees along with it. Still have to worry about the Classics retirement schedule (from our perspective) but overall, I'm not too worried about the immediate future (7-10 year period) for Southwest. I believe SWA management sees the problems and is working hard to get rid of the dead weight.

Yeah, they're working hard to get rid of dead weight alright. That's why they're building an annex to the GO across Denton. There isn't enough room in the current one to house all the extra personnel needed to remove the dead weight. Guess which dead weight will go first? It's not gonna be any of the 1000+ "VP of Whatevers" waltzing around the GO, as they are far too valuable producing revenue. Such wonderful decisions like buying an airline, then paying a direct competitor to take 2/3s of their newly purchased airplanes, yet keeping all of the employees..... Or.... reducing the ground ops manning to the point where they can't operate the schedule anywhere near on time... Or... The "fuel saving" procedures that don't.... etc. etc.

This type of brilliance will certainly go a long way to ensure profitability!

That said, as far as the Corporate Culture that was Southwest... I'm not sure it's even still here. I haven't seen it outside the GO. Seems pretty much like any other major airline from my interactions with SWA employees twice a week, every week, and the integration isn't making things any friendlier.

I been here 17 years, and can say without any hesitation that morale is as low as I've ever seen it. It's (almost) as bad as any of the worst commuters I've worked for. And it's not just flight crews, it's every flt/gnd ops employee I've come in contact with in the last year or so. The AT deal isn't the entire reason for this malaise, but it is a significant one.

Gary and Co. are f***king it up by the numbers. They are reading the "Legacy 101" manual and following it verbatim.

As I said, the AT deal is but one nail in the coffin of our once great airline.

I certainly hope something changes, and fast.

 

[canyonblue]

Except for the top 1,000 SWA F/O's who will upgrade years ahead of their stand-alone plans.

I think you may have added one or two too many zeros.

Except for that whole quick access to the Caribbean and International flying thing (which SWA has realized is MUCH more lucrative than they previously-imagined).

Spirit would have been a better deal if thats the case.

And also quick entrance into the ATL market which would have been quite difficult and costly otherwise.

The real reason to KILL the competitor.

That said, as far as the Corporate Culture that was Southwest... I'm not sure it's even still here. I haven't seen it outside the GO. Seems pretty much like any other major airline from my interactions with SWA employees twice a week, every week, and the integration isn't making things any friendlier.

Could be you, just sayin'