Gary Kelly announces the next SWA city is...

[FlyDouglasJets]

1. Last 3 new cities announced have been UAL hubs....coincidence? Things that make one go hmmmm
3. Weather/ATC delays were problems in PHL....those have been minimized when folks said they couldn't....the same challenges exist in SFO...are they fixed? We'll see but obviously folks with a lot more information on the "big picture" than anyone of us believe it is worth the risk....we're getting more gates in PHL and I suspect there are some options for further growth in SFO if SWA needs it.

UAL has a marketing staff fresh w/ MBAs that are still popping pimples. They are fairly big push overs these days. Other than the INTL flts to Asia and a few to EU, the domestic pig is stuffed. SWA knows that. It's easy pickens and the yields @ IAD/DEN/SFO are still low-hangin' fruit.

SFO now has an improved PRM approach, arrival rate is about 20% higher these days w/ similar cig/vis.

 

[LeonPhelps]

Yeah, Ummmmm....

....so when is SWA going to ATL? And how? I mean, there are a lot of ladeeth down there that are in desthperate need for Leon!! And asth far asth Nanthee Pelothee...I would need to be at least half a bottle of courvossier down for that one!

 

[REK]

As soon as we buy Airtran.

 

[Murphy]

As soon as we buy Airtran.

now play nice

 

[chase]

The hole in the SWA system in the ATL area is a glaring weakness but iit is fixable, but some questions need to be answered. I spoke to a former pilot who flew out of ATL routinely and filled me in on some observations that makes sense, please comment with what you know.

1. The new runway is completed in ATL, the new terminal that would feed that runway is nearing completion. Originally it was designed for the RJs; now the majors want to keep the RJs closer because they feed so many paxs to the mainline.

Question: Can anyone confirm that observation and has any airlne been promised the new facility there adjacent to the new runway?

2. If the above answer is "no one has spoken for it", the answer would pretty much open up the opportunity for SWA to operate independent and autonomously out of a new facility and off a runway they could use nearly exclusively....a large leap of faith I know so please spell out the error of my logic.

If the above does occur then SWA could find itself in ATL in the near future. Airports worthy of our entry are still out there but nothing would be as enticing as to fill our current hole in our map as it would be to go into ATL with that type of insulation against the other delays at other terminals and runways. Would DAL allow that to happen without a major fight? Absolutly not....certainly the Hartsfield folks will listen very closely to the complaints of favoritism toward SWA (not really but I'm sure DaL would raise the flag regardless).

Don't know about landing fees or costs there but I would think there would be some nice incentives that both sides might like to see in order to both get something they'd like; SWA into a ATL and Hartsfield to get the largest lowcost leader in the country flying from its airfield. The growth potential would be huge....not sure what fares have been doing in ATL in the last year but Chicago latest results show that even large airports can have declines in fares to major points if they open their doors widely to SWA...the last numbers show this has happened in MDW but not in any other markets closes to that size.....Hartsfield would luv to have the same thing said of them in 18 months if SWA was to go in there, albiet under the conditions of operating from a separate terminal (new) and a runway that would be dedicated to their operations.
We'll see what happens, it will be interesting.

 

[mad691]

There is no new terminal near the new runway. After Delta went bankrupt the city said no. There is an expansion of the international terminal but I don't when that will be finished. Only suppose add a few gates I think 8. The new terminal at the earliest would be built decade from now. But there is no reason why SWA can't build the terminal themselves and fly out of ATL. I can guarantee you the city would LUV them in ATL.

 

[Heavy Set]

The hole in the SWA system in the ATL area is a glaring weakness but iit is fixable, but some questions need to be answered. I spoke to a former pilot who flew out of ATL routinely and filled me in on some observations that makes sense, please comment with what you know.

1. The new runway is completed in ATL, the new terminal that would feed that runway is nearing completion. Originally it was designed for the RJs; now the majors want to keep the RJs closer because they feed so many paxs to the mainline.

Question: Can anyone confirm that observation and has any airlne been promised the new facility there adjacent to the new runway?

2. If the above answer is "no one has spoken for it", the answer would pretty much open up the opportunity for SWA to operate independent and autonomously out of a new facility and off a runway they could use nearly exclusively....a large leap of faith I know so please spell out the error of my logic.

If the above does occur then SWA could find itself in ATL in the near future. Airports worthy of our entry are still out there but nothing would be as enticing as to fill our current hole in our map as it would be to go into ATL with that type of insulation against the other delays at other terminals and runways. Would DAL allow that to happen without a major fight? Absolutly not....certainly the Hartsfield folks will listen very closely to the complaints of favoritism toward SWA (not really but I'm sure DaL would raise the flag regardless).

Don't know about landing fees or costs there but I would think there would be some nice incentives that both sides might like to see in order to both get something they'd like; SWA into a ATL and Hartsfield to get the largest lowcost leader in the country flying from its airfield. The growth potential would be huge....not sure what fares have been doing in ATL in the last year but Chicago latest results show that even large airports can have declines in fares to major points if they open their doors widely to SWA...the last numbers show this has happened in MDW but not in any other markets closes to that size.....Hartsfield would luv to have the same thing said of them in 18 months if SWA was to go in there, albiet under the conditions of operating from a separate terminal (new) and a runway that would be dedicated to their operations.
We'll see what happens, it will be interesting.

Chase,

As the above stated, no new terminal at ATL. SWA will have a very hard time finding any new gates at Hartsfield, period. Try Macon.

 

[ASADFW7]

Charlie Brown?

 

[Saluki Dawg]

I agree with the no new gates at ATL anytime soon. I think the same could be said for CLT as well. SWA would like to fly to both of those cities, but is unable to find any suitable gate space. There are available gates to be had at both BOS and MIA if I'm not mistaken. I'm not saying that we will fly to these cities in the near future, but you do have to go where you can get available gates. These 2 large cities fit the bill in that regard. Time will tell I guess.