Interesting Article about SWA from Motley Fool....

[General Lee]

That's a great response that only looks to the short term, if I was concerned about the long term, ie my pension, I would look a little further down the road. As the blog mentions, DAL will need 10-13 years of the same performance to meet its...your pension obligations. If the past decade is in any way an indicator of what can happen, I'd say you're screwed. I hope your retirement doesn't turn into a 'sad' situation. It would actually be pretty humorous to the majority on here that think you're a d!ckweed.

Ever heard of Consolidation? Why would that be happening? To increase profit potential. Was that happening in the last decade? No. Will that help all of the remaining airlines? Sure it will. That type of planning is not short term, rather long term planning for the remaining airlines. Airlines like DL are shoring up their defenses, like building new terminals (JFK--$1.2 billion) (LGA---$300 million) and preparing to be huge revenue and profit generators. They are dumping unprofitable segments (like your 50 seaters---sorry, ) and ancillary revenues have helped pay down debt. UAL made $5.2 billion alone last year in change fees and bag fees, with DL making $2.5 billion. Were those fees around last decade? Nope. Now they are the norm. How about buying a refinery? Anything like that happen in the last decade? It will supposedly save 15 cents per gallon of Jet A. Would that be significant? You bet. Big deals are being looked at right now to pick the final 3-4 legacies and few LCCs that will remain for years to come.

Try all you want to disagree, but airlines are making long range plans to stick around and make big bucks. But, you might be worried about next month yourself. Throw in some apps to Spirit or Allegiant, maybe you'll get an interview? Good luck.


Bye Bye---General Lee

 

[General Lee]

40 thousand a year I believe, for 30 years of service at Mother D.


Pretty painful.

PBC??? Idiot. Weren't you critical of me for misspelling the NIC award? Hurry up Red, your fourth leg of the day leaves in 5 mins to Columbus, and then onto MDW. Sounds like so much fun, NOT!


Bye Bye---General Lee

 

[redflyer65]

PBC??? Idiot. Weren't you critical of me for misspelling the NIC award? Hurry up Red, your fourth leg of the day leaves in 5 mins to Columbus, and then onto MDW. Sounds like so much fun, NOT!


Bye Bye---General Lee

Hey Dork, you completely butchered the man's name. Not even close to leaving a letter out. Got you a little torqued? Hurry and call Virginia Ave, sounds like you might need the next size up on the River Boat Jacket. Don't forget your hat!

Full Steam Ahead

 

[General Lee]

Hey Dork, you completely butchered the man's name. Not even close to leaving a letter out. Got you a little torqued? Hurry and call Virginia Ave, sounds like you might need the next size up on the River Boat Jacket. Don't forget your hat!

Full Steam Ahead

Completely butchered by one letter? I then referred to it as the NIC award, which should suffice. Am I torqued? Hardly. While I enjoy my trips flying to places I want to go and think about upcoming retirements, you sit in MAF or CHM and think about stagnation and how many AT guys were put in front of you that will delay your career progression, meaning 5 leg intra Texas days will be prevalent in your future for years to come. Oh, I heard you might announce Branson, MO next week as a SWA destination. Great for you........? Maybe you'll have nonstops to ISP or AMA?


Bye Bye---General Lee

 

[727C47]

Isp rocks !!!

 

[humveedriver]

Completely butchered by one letter? I then referred to it as the NIC award, which should suffice. Am I torqued? Hardly. While I enjoy my trips flying to places I want to go and think about upcoming retirements, you sit in MAF or CHM and think about stagnation and how many AT guys were put in front of you that will delay your career progression, meaning 5 leg intra Texas days will be prevalent in your future for years to come. Oh, I heard you might announce Branson, MO next week as a SWA destination. Great for you........? Maybe you'll have nonstops to ISP or AMA?


Bye Bye---General Lee

There are alot of things I don't like about SWA right now. But their marketing team isn't one of them. I'm sure your bosses feel the same way every time SWA increases fares by 10 smacks. It's almost like they control domestic pricing. Soon Red will be enjoying a nice mojito at the El Caribe Hilton in San Juan, the land lock for SWA is almost over.

 

[scoreboardII]

In business, there has never been a successful merger of two of the smallest competitors in an industry, they always fail and are gobbled up by the larger forces in the market.

 

[redflyer65]

There are alot of things I don't like about SWA right now. But their marketing team isn't one of them. I'm sure your bosses feel the same way every time SWA increases fares by 10 smacks. It's almost like they control domestic pricing. Soon Red will be enjoying a nice mojito at the El Caribe Hilton in San Juan, the land lock for SWA is almost over.

I never thought of it that way Humvee, but you are exactly right. Just finished an article that spells out how domestic fare increases are driven by SW.

DL and others try to raise fares, if SW doesn't go along then the fare drops back immediately.

If SW raises fares, others follow along instantly.

Pretty serious domestic market force.

 

[redflyer65]

Maybe you'll have nonstops to ISP or AMA?


Bye Bye---General Lee

We make money there...............apparantly you don't.

Bye Bye dork.

 

[General Lee]

There are alot of things I don't like about SWA right now. But their marketing team isn't one of them. I'm sure your bosses feel the same way every time SWA increases fares by 10 smacks. It's almost like they control domestic pricing. Soon Red will be enjoying a nice mojito at the El Caribe Hilton in San Juan, the land lock for SWA is almost over.

What's interesting is that they USED TO never go along with fare increases, because they had great hedges. Now that they do not, and they have merger related costs, they HAVE TO have fare increases. Also, they don't charge for bags (more than two they do, and Airtran still does), so they miss out on a lot of ancillary revenue that the others (UAL made $5.2 BILLION last year in fees alone, DL $2.5 billion) make.

As far as Red enjoying San Juan, he may not be able to hold that for years. Thanks to the merger and dropping of 30 738 orders, the stagnation may stick around for awhile. But, he may be in luck if swarms of people senior to him see the light and apply to the Legacies, where true progression can occur with huge retirements in the future. DL's VP of Flt Ops said DL could hire 7000 pilots in 10 years. At SWA, 700 may be hired in 5 years. But for Red, he's happy with Islip and Midland. Good for him! He probably thinks he wins the lottery when he sees BOTH of those in the same day. Good luck Red!


Bye Bye---General Lee