Except that SWA operates at LAX, PHX, PHL, BOS, DCA (upcoming),ATL, MIA, MSP, DTW and CLT so operating at a fortress hub doesn't seem to be intolerable.
So does SWA want to be protected from competition at Love, or given the freedom to not be restricted to Love?
As far as your other point goes, those other airports that are hubs aren't as anywhere
near as bad as DFW (2700 daily AA and AE departures alone). LAX isn't really a hub; a zillion airlines fly there from all over, and traffic moves quickly and consistently. BOS, DCA, MSP and CLT are much smaller as far as hubs with enormous banks of departures, and don't seem to offer the same issues. We don't fly to MIA, and DTW is much better than it used to be. O&E traffic at both DTW and CLT is relatively small, so we don't have many flights there; and we try to schedule our few flights there between the banks. That wouldn't be possible at DFW, due to the sheer size of American's operation, and our O&E traffic in Dallas is substantially higher than the other cities that airlines picked as their hubs. Why do you think other airlines picked cities like Detroit, Charlotte, Cleveland, etc. as places to put their big hubs?
I'll give you ATL. That airport can be a pain in the ass, and we take delays sometimes waiting. I suspect the only reason we fly there (aside from AirTran's operation) is that there was too much money to be made there, and there's not another suitable airport to use. Not the case in Dallas or Chicago, etc. But the big point is, why do you care what airport we fly in and out of? You
need enormous airports (regardless of the size of the city) to support your fortress hub concept; we don't. Why don't you fly to the airports that
you want, and stop bitching about Southwest's choice of airports? You work your business model, and we'll work ours. Are you really going to resort to making the "Flopgut argument"?
Bubba
