LUV Will Grow Little Or None In 2009

[Captzaahlie]

A contingent of Southwest pilots was the ones that got the ball rolling on Age 65 over a decade ago and kept the issue alive all these years. It wasn’t until the bankruptcies post 911 that the legacy pilots starting selling out the junior guys and jumped on the Age 65 bandwagon.

Now the timing couldn’t be worse. The Age 65 legislation will needlessly destroy the careers of many, many junior folks as the industry massively downsizes over the next few years both in furloughs and reduced career earnings.

Instead of fixing their pension problems, retiree medical or worthless stock options themselves via their own contract; Southwest pilots have left a path of destruction in their wake. Now their junior pilots will start paying a price like the rest of us.

Again, great job Southwest.

AA767AV8TOR

Naughty SWA!

:laugh:

 

[Hose A. Jiminez]

word I got from the head of hiring yesterday was 400+ next year.

 

[nimtz]

Actually you can thank ALPA. Those clowns at SWA were bogged down until ALPA joined the party and had it passed inside of a year. Where was all the pull at APA? Thanks yourself! uke:

:smash:

Spin worthy of the Clinton adminstartion, but Age 65 garbage all started with clods from LUV that had neither a life nor retirement to get them away from 6 leg days. ALPA joining certainly hurt (bite me JP!), but the early shots came right from your house. What union was it that was the PRO 65 when everyone else was firmly against? What company did the president of APAAD work for again?

 

[airlinepilot]

I think Gary said the same thing about this year....and look at all the classes .......

 

[shagadelic]

June 17 (Bloomberg) -- Southwest Airlines Co., the only big U.S. carrier that's still profitable, may expand its fleet next year as competitors shrink operations to blunt surging fuel bills, Chief Executive Officer Gary Kelly said.
The largest low-fare airline may keep as many as 10 older planes set to be retired in 2008 and then add 14 new jets in 2009, Kelly said. As United Airlines and others prepare to pare flying in the fourth quarter, Southwest has delayed deciding on next year's expansion, he said, without giving a time frame.
``We're all curious to see what the effects of the cutbacks in the fourth quarter will be,'' Kelly said yesterday in an interview. ``We're willing to grow the fleet, and that's very different than what's going on with most of our competitors.''
Southwest is benefiting from its strategy to lock in fuel prices in advance. About 70 percent of its fuel needs this year are hedged at prices equivalent to oil at $51 a barrel, less than half of yesterday's $134.61 closing price in New York.
After Frontier Airlines Holdings Inc. filed for bankruptcy, Dallas-based Southwest said May 20 it would increase service in Denver, which is Frontier's home airport and a hub for United.
``That certainly has been Southwest's historical pattern,'' Standard & Poor's credit analyst Philip Baggaley said in an interview. ``They have the financial strength to exploit opportunities, more so than any other airline.''
Profit Outlook
Net income will be $196 million in 2008, the average of three analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg. While that would be the smallest profit since 1995, Southwest would be bucking industrywide losses that may reach a record $7.2 billion this year. The airline earned $645 million in 2007.
Southwest gained 46 cents, or 3.3 percent, to $14.46 at 1:55 p.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. The shares rose 15 percent this year through yesterday, compared with a 37 percent plunge for the Bloomberg U.S. Airlines Index.
Kelly said Southwest would keep promoting its policy of not charging fees for services such as checking an extra bag or non- alcoholic drinks, as other airlines are doing to help counter the 81 percent surge in jet fuel in the past year.
``Every company wants to differentiate itself from the pack,'' Kelly said. ``This is a great opportunity. It's been handed to us on a silver platter.''
Southwest has added a charge for preferred boarding as part of its effort to boost revenue from sources other than ticket sales by $1.5 billion annually by 2010. Last year's revenue was $9.86 billion.
Shrinking Fleets
Adding more planes to Southwest's 534 Boeing Co. 737s would expand the second-biggest U.S. fleet, behind only AMR Corp.'s American Airlines. U.S. carriers led by United and American have unveiled plans since April to ground as many as 378 planes through next year and cut at least 10,300 jobs. Most of the 2008 reductions will occur after the summer travel season.
Michael Boyd, president of consulting firm Boyd Group in Evergreen, Colorado, expects ``zero'' opportunity for Southwest as other carriers cut back. Large airlines aren't dropping any major markets, and ``only marginal capacity is going away,'' he said in an interview.
Kelly said deciding where to put new service is ``a real balancing act because we are in the midst of managing our own change.''
``I'm very comfortable that we have a solid plan and we are making good progress,'' he said. ``But it's just not an environment that pays to be overly aggressive.'' Southwest is now the fifth-largest U.S. airline by traffic.
The industry and Southwest both may suffer should the carrier speed its growth, said James M. Higgins, a Soleil Securities Corp. analyst in Solebury, Pennsylvania.
``Southwest needs to get their overall pricing up, too,'' said Higgins, who advises buying the shares. With Southwest's prices lower than those of its rivals, having a bigger supply of those fares would undercut the industry's efforts to get rid of its cheapest seats and cover more of its costs, he said.
To contact the reporter on this story: Mary Schlangenstein in Dallas at

 

[Whataburger]

A contingent of Southwest pilots was the ones that got the ball rolling on Age 65 over a decade ago and kept the issue alive all these years. It wasn’t until the bankruptcies post 911 that the legacy pilots starting selling out the junior guys and jumped on the Age 65 bandwagon.

Now the timing couldn’t be worse. The Age 65 legislation will needlessly destroy the careers of many, many junior folks as the industry massively downsizes over the next few years both in furloughs and reduced career earnings.

Instead of fixing their pension problems, retiree medical or worthless stock options themselves via their own contract; Southwest pilots have left a path of destruction in their wake. Now their junior pilots will start paying a price like the rest of us.

Again, great job Southwest.

AA767AV8TOR

I will pass on a lesson I learned at 22 years old when I started in the airline business. A wise old man once told me, "Only one thing is guaranteed in the airline business - nothing."

This bit of advice might promote some responsibility and accountability in your career choices, and it could reduce the amount you blame everyone else for your personal troubles.

By the way, if you don't like your stagnation and QOL at AA, we are taking applications.

 

[iflyhigh]

Age 65 may have been started at one carrier, but in the end alot of senior pilots at all carriers wanted it.

At my airline alot of guys I have talk to in the past that were close to 60 were so hoping for the rule to change.

Look even pilots at carriers with a pension still, IE FEDEX, UPS, are not retiring. In the end, its all about me and you get your later attitude.

So in the end, so sense blaming one airline, all are guilty.

 

[Headfake14]

Why is SWA to blame.

Fellas, they are the only ones who haven't taken a pay cut which will help the rest of our rates return to what they should be eventually.

 

[canyonblue]

Southwest pilots have left a path of destruction in their wake.

And just what have you done lately? Go find a dog to slap, you need some serious help.

 

[canyonblue]

:smash:

Spin worthy of the Clinton adminstartion,

adminstartion? What are ya, frickin' drunk? Those "clods" were going nowhere until ALPA gave them credibility. Have another beer, whackjob. uke: