RIP to the 'Southwest effect'?

[redflyer65]

That's kind of like what we have going on in this Country with our profession/industry. There is basically one healthy part [Swa] that is rallied for (or who is dealt cards off the bottom of the deck for IMO) while the rest of US carriers are left to die.

Cards dealt off the bottom? I can't believe you seriously wrote that.

Southwest management has made a @ssload of savvy business decisions over 40+ years. But in your world, we were just handed anything and everything we wanted. The difference is we had outstanding management in Herb, and others didn't have even mediocre management. Completely delusional Flop.

It's unbelievable that Smisek could screw things up worst than Tilton, but that seems to be the way things are headed. Everyone else is cleaning up....except United.

PS - he's great at getting planes painted, but that's about it.

 

[Dornier 335]

Parallels?

a sign of things to come?

link

Low-cost airlines in Asia

Too much of a good thing

After a binge of aircraft-buying and airline-founding, it is time to sober up

May 17th 2014 | SINGAPORE



SOUTH-EAST ASIA?S low-cost airlines have gone from feast to famine. Cheap, short-haul, no-frills flying came late to the region, but people have taken to it eagerly. In just ten years, according to the Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation (CAPA), a research firm in Sydney, low-cost carriers? share of the region?s aviation market has soared from almost nothing to 58%. In Europe, where cheap airlines have been flying for much longer, easyJet and its fellows account for only about 40%. Now South-East Asia?s skies are looking crowded.
The rise of low-cost carriers reflects pent-up demand for flying in an increasingly well-off part of the world. This year another 12 such airlines may join the 47 already flying in the Asia-Pacific region. This week it was reported that Beijing is planning a new, $14 billion airport. In South-East Asia growth has been particularly strong: many of its 600m people live in large archipelagic countries, such as Indonesia and the Philippines, where flying is the easiest way to get around. Of the world?s 15 busiest low-cost international routes, nine are in South-East Asia. All this demand requires aeroplanes: CAPA says South-East Asia is the only region where there are more planes on order than in existing fleets.

However, the expansion of airlines? capacity seems to be getting ahead of the growth in demand. Some low-cost carriers are struggling to fill their seats. Plusher airlines are feeling the pinch, too: this week Cathay Pacific said that despite strong long-haul profits, competition from budget airlines was starting to hurt it on short-haul routes. Singapore Airlines expressed similar worries earlier this month. Con Korfiatis, former boss of Jetstar Asia, the low-cost arm of Australia?s struggling Qantas, believes that ?the growth in the market will definitely be there, it?s just a matter of introducing too much capacity too soon.?
On May 2nd Singapore-based Tigerair announced a loss of $177m in the year to March, up from $36m the year before. Several of its national affiliates, notably in Indonesia and Singapore, have fared particularly badly. The company is grounding planes and cancelling orders. AirAsia, usually the most bullish of low-cost flyers, has also said it is deferring deliveries of new planes and concentrating instead on cutting costs. Jetstar Asia says it has suspended all growth plans until market conditions improve.
Tigerair blames the industry?s overcapacity for its difficulties. But another problem is that the carriers? costs are not as low as they would like. Most of South-East Asia?s showy, expensive airports are running at full capacity, overwhelmed by unpredicted millions of passengers. New landing slots are desperately hard to find. Unlike Europe, the region has few smaller, cheaper or disused airports that low-cost carriers can use.
Despite the gloom, part of the market still looks promising. Two of the carriers expected to take off this year, NokScoot and AirAsiaX, both joint ventures based in Thailand, will be offering medium- to long-haul flights (ie, lasting more than four hours). Although the short-haul market is saturated, this business still has plenty of room to grow.
Scoot, the low-cost arm of Singapore Airlines, and Cebu Pacific of the Philippines have also been exploring this business. Campbell Wilson, Scoot?s boss, says that adding just one Scoot flight a day to the existing seven full-service trips between Singapore and Sydney pushed up total passenger numbers on the route by 32% in six months. That is impressive, but margins are tight on low-cost long-haul, because passengers expect more comfort on longer journeys. No one has yet worked out how to make money on these flights. Two new, fuel-efficient aircraft, Boeing?s 787 ?Dreamliner? and Airbus?s A350, could just change that. Let battle commence.

 

[waveflyer]

He's got a good point Wave, SWAPA has had the good fortune of dealing with a management that has been been less adversarial than others and labor has put " culture" ahead of making gains at times (yes it has reaped benefits!) but SWAPA is hardly "carrying the water" for our profession.

A bit of a necro here, but I didn't see these posts.

Facts are facts gentlemen. It doesn't matter how or why it came to be, but Swapa pilots have been the highest paid domestic airline pilots for 10 years now. I'm sorry - for you- that you feel the need to view that as a lessor accomplishment, but I like dealing in facts and have no issue backing up that fact with data.
In other news 15 is greater than 5, and the sky is blue during the day.
Also, hats exists.

 

[Dan Roman]

SWA is very good airline that treats their employees better than most and have influenced other airlines to realize taking care of your employees can help the bottom line more than crapping on them. Bethune took a page or two from that play book to turn CO around. SWA also has been a huge positive to the travelling public and their low fares have helped millions take trips that they otherwise would not have been able. So if the legacies have had to clean up their act to compete, so what. They should have done it anyway......There, I said it!

Happy Memorial Day, remember the sacrifices our vets made and it's going to be a great Indy 500 tomorrow enjoy it. !:beer:

Or do you mean like this Bubba!

 

[livin'thesim]

A bit of a necro here, but I didn't see these posts.

Facts are facts gentlemen. It doesn't matter how or why it came to be, but Swapa pilots have been the highest paid domestic airline pilots for 10 years now. I'm sorry - for you- that you feel the need to view that as a lessor accomplishment, but I like dealing in facts and have no issue backing up that fact with data.
In other news 15 is greater than 5, and the sky is blue during the day.
Also, hats exists.

Be glad for your good fortune. But it had nothing to do with your negotiating savvy. Had your management wanted to shove it in your face, be assured that you would be no stronger than any other pilot group.

And no, you're not carrying anyone's water.

But that statement is consistent with the one where you compared your low-time Cessna self with a low time military pilot.

Um, also, no.

 

[waveflyer]

Um, yes...

And no, those two statements don't have anything to do with each other