Southwest Airlines' Executive Chairman Herb Kelleher Testifies at Senate Subcommittee

[sf260pilot]

Actually SWA only accounts for about half of all traffic at KDAL. They do account for 97% of commercial airline traffic. The only other carrier is Continental and the fly out of Love Field with Express Jet or whoever.

 

[:-)]

And that idiot is...drum roll...Jim Smyth...

You guys act as if you were "wronged" by the Wright Amendment. You guys sure didn't think so 30 years ago as it helped Southwest then. C'mon, Love is a dump/ghetto and should be closed....

hey furloughed dude, SWA existed for about ten years before the WA came into being. The WA wasn't a part of the SWA business plan, it couldn't have been since it didn't exist when SWA was planned. SWA never asked for the WA, and it can be argued that the WA NEVER helped SWA. So why do you continue to try and spin the WA? I can be won over by a logical, well thought out, well presented argument; I'll never be persuaded by incorrect, unsubstantiated stuff like you write. Are you trying to make a point, or just being difficult?

 

[TexaSWA]

Love isn't a dump located in a ghetto? Have you been there? There is more trailer trash within 2 miles of Love than in the entire state of West Virginia..

Highland Park trailer trash?

Dick Cheney, Ross Perot, Tom Hicks, Trammel Crow, Ebby Halliday, Mary Kay, Mike Modano, Mark Cuban, Lamar Hunt, Don Henley... all with in two miles of Love Field.

Guess you're not from Dallas.

 

[SWA/FO]

TRammel Crow is an actual person?

 

[Jim Smyth]

Like I said, there's always one idiot per thread. This time he came out of the closet pretty quick. He never has anything good to say or anything possitive or constructive. Just "Yawn"................... How orginal. Maybe harboring some deep feelings there, like getting turned down by SWA in the past? Looks like the process works pretty good to me.

 

[SWA/FO]

I guess, it can get pretty boring being on furlough...

 

[sf260pilot]

Trammel Crow is a real person, Highland Park is not even the poshest place around DAL. Preston Hollow is north of the airport west of inwood Rd. and that is where Mark Cuban (Mavricks) and Tom Hicks (Rangers) live. There are many 14000 square foot homes up there. This is where the money comes from for the Love Field citizens action group. The action group only likes to talk about the crap little homes that are adjacent to the airport but who they are really talking about are the money bags who live within two miles of where they keep their private jets. It is like the ultimate fly-in community. 14000 square foot home. 5 minute drive to the G-V. 5 more minutes to the office downtown. OK maybe 10 minutes.

 

[CA1900]

Love is NOT a ghetto or a dump.

Plus, free O.J., coffee, and donuts in the SWA boarding areas. How can you beat that?

 

[chase]

Hamburgler,

You said:

I was impressed with the hearings. They did a good job at keeping everything on track and although I didn't hear Kelleher's comments, they seemed very interesting. He is such a charismatic person. I didn't know that SWA accounted for 97% of all Love Field air traffic! No wonder they're fighting for repeal.

Senator Granger made a good point when she stated that SWA has the option of flying anywhere out of DFW. It doesn't seem like SWA is in such a financially precarious situation that moving flights over to DFW would hurt it.

I would agree the hearing did provide a good platform to see the various sides of the argument the WA generates. I highlighted your quote for the last paragraph. I'm not sure if you meant for your words to come across as I read them so my apologies in advance if I've misconstrued them in how I respond.

SWA isn't in a financially precarious position. We don't wish to get there. One way that has occurred in the past is to make sound business decisions. No other airport that we fly out of has the type of restrictions that Love does. In fact the only other airport of comparable size that does is National. Your statement implies that Southwest should "risk" going against a competitor that has 84% of the flights at another airport, move to airport that had 54M paxs last year vs. 2.5 at Love last year...while SWA does have the vast majority of flights from Love, AA has 3 gates at Love that they aren't using. Why? Because it doesn't find it to be wise from a business standpoint. Regulation or de-regulation shouldn't be based upon the economics of anyone business entity....the consumer would be best served (IMHO) to have lower fares & just as we all have the freedom to decide which neighborhood we wish to move into or where we would like to open our own business, I think it is reasonable to expect the same logic apply to a successful (or unsuccessful) company, not by the fact that Southwest can afford to lose money (my words, not yours).

thanks for your views on the topic....

 

[FlyBoeingJets]

Like I said, there's always one idiot per thread. This time he came out of the closet pretty quick. He never has anything good to say or anything possitive or constructive. Just "Yawn"................... How orginal. Maybe harboring some deep feelings there, like getting turned down by SWA in the past? Looks like the process works pretty good to me.

I think we are all in agreement on this dude.

All I can add is a new name for him.....Oxygen Thief. Seems to fit with the useless comments and constant yawning.