A question was asked in the webcast in Apr the impact of the pilot wages on the bottom line. CFO responded the cost savings in the closing of the 3 res centers & the loss of 1100 employees more than offset any gain that might have been caused by the pilot pay increase.
The number of persons on property at the end of 2003 were fewer than the number of folks on property end '02. CFO expects the #s to remain flat or actually smaller at the end of '04 than end of '03....more internal hiring for FAs & a freeze on external hires....bodies are being shuffled around throughout the system in an attempt to fill holes with overmannings...previous communications from HHQ indicates cost savings are paramount so overmanned areas can expect to have voluntary (first option) moves to undermanned areas, then expect the next round (next 6 months to 1 yr) to have announcements stating that folks will be relocated to a new location, same job if there are slots or to a new location & new job if the situation requires it. Failure for enough volunteers will result in forced moves which may result in folks saying goodbye to SWA....it is a fact of life & even SWA can't avoid it but is attempting to make the pain as little as possible. We'll see how it all plays out but I believe we will continue to do well & grow at the 10% range that has been planned for but with larger profit margins in the '05, '06...capital expenditures are expected to decrease in the next coming years as the investment in infrastructure has been occurring over the last few years (ISP, HOU, MDW, etc), this will set SWA up for some solid growth in the future. cheers,
The number of persons on property at the end of 2003 were fewer than the number of folks on property end '02. CFO expects the #s to remain flat or actually smaller at the end of '04 than end of '03....more internal hiring for FAs & a freeze on external hires....bodies are being shuffled around throughout the system in an attempt to fill holes with overmannings...previous communications from HHQ indicates cost savings are paramount so overmanned areas can expect to have voluntary (first option) moves to undermanned areas, then expect the next round (next 6 months to 1 yr) to have announcements stating that folks will be relocated to a new location, same job if there are slots or to a new location & new job if the situation requires it. Failure for enough volunteers will result in forced moves which may result in folks saying goodbye to SWA....it is a fact of life & even SWA can't avoid it but is attempting to make the pain as little as possible. We'll see how it all plays out but I believe we will continue to do well & grow at the 10% range that has been planned for but with larger profit margins in the '05, '06...capital expenditures are expected to decrease in the next coming years as the investment in infrastructure has been occurring over the last few years (ISP, HOU, MDW, etc), this will set SWA up for some solid growth in the future. cheers,
