Southwest announces MSP

[FlyByNight1]

As my Father used to say "Never miss a really good opportunity to keep your mouth shut". That little nugget has served me well. You could benefit from it as well. Or how about "Better to be presumed an idiot, than to open ones mouth and remove all doubt".

 

[GuppyWN]

This message is hidden because Tanker Clown is on your ignore list.

 

[JumpJetter]

This message is hidden because Tanker Clown is on your ignore list.

 

[SplitBar]

UM, usually the customer does decide monica! The cheapest price wins.
What is it with you PFT swa skirts anyway?

It's not always about the cheapest price. There is a huge chunk of the market that will pay the extra $100 or so to fly nonstop between MSP-Wherever and get their frequent flyer perks/miles as opposed to saving $100 and flying 3 legs to get to their destination on the Wal-Mart Cattle Car.

 

[The Victors]

It's not always about the cheapest price. There is a huge chunk of the market that will pay the extra $100 or so to fly nonstop between MSP-Wherever and get their frequent flyer perks/miles as opposed to saving $100 and flying 3 legs to get to their destination on the Wal-Mart Cattle Car.

wow you're clueless. Noone will pay an extra $100.:laugh: :laugh: Sounds like you're a little scared. I would be to if I worked at nwa.

 

[SplitBar]

Noone will pay an extra $100.:laugh: :laugh: Sounds like you're a little scared. I would be to if I worked at nwa.

The majority will pay a little extra if it means going non-stop. Who wants to save a few bucks if it means flying MSP-MDW-MCI-LAS on the Cattle Car when they can go non-stop MSP-LAS and get their frequent flyer miles/perks. IF SWA & NWA are both non-stop then you might have an argument but you have to compare apples to apples and the product you get on NWA is totally different than what you get on SWA. Most people prefer direct flights and thats what you get on NWA and people are willing to pay a little premium for that. We will see who is cheaper as NWA is very ruthless in defending their turf. We saw how long Air Tran lasted on the MSP-MDW route.

 

[HalinTexas]

We saw how long Air Tran lasted on the MSP-MDW route.

Hey, you forgot ATA!

 

[GuppyWN]

It's not always about the cheapest price. There is a huge chunk of the market that will pay the extra $100 or so to fly nonstop between MSP-Wherever and get their frequent flyer perks/miles as opposed to saving $100 and flying 3 legs to get to their destination on the Wal-Mart Cattle Car.

You're right. That's why you'll see us flying nonstops from MSP to BWI, DEN, LAS, PHX etc. by the end of 2009.

Gup

 

[Cobraair75drvr]

Why has swa not done the same out of dtw? For the most part dtw has been a stagnant (non growth) station for years for swa. Not a slam on swa, just the facts. Y'all have a great airline with historically mgmt that actually can be trusted. In the past your advantage was the productivity of the employees with pay about 60% of the legacies. In the post 9/11 world your advantage has been fuel. Now by default, your wages are at the top and there is only so much efficiancy that can be wrung out of an already very efficiant airline. I am not counting you guys out, as swa has always seemed to find an advantage but I think it is going to be much harder and slower growth than in the past.

You're right. That's why you'll see us flying nonstops from MSP to BWI, DEN, LAS, PHX etc. by the end of 2009.

Gup

 

[GuppyWN]

Why has swa not done the same out of dtw? For the most part dtw has been a stagnant (non growth) station for years for swa. Not a slam on swa, just the facts. Y'all have a great airline with historically mgmt that actually can be trusted. In the past your advantage was the productivity of the employees with pay about 60% of the legacies. In the post 9/11 world your advantage has been fuel. Now by default, your wages are at the top and there is only so much efficiancy that can be wrung out of an already very efficiant airline. I am not counting you guys out, as swa has always seemed to find an advantage but I think it is going to be much harder and slower growth than in the past.

We serve multiple cities nonstop from DTW. I think you'll find that in Minnie as well. Not saying we're going to dominate the world, just more than one city pair.

Bottom line. The gigs up on hedging. The only thing we have going for us is one a/c type and a more productive pilot group. The biggie nobody talks much about is the linear route structure. We point the planes east or west and go go go with 25 minute stops in between. The hub and spoke is less efficient by nature. You have to get the customer to the hub to connect to "the big airplane." When you do now you have waves of traffic and you don't make money sitting on the ground. So to that extent I'll think you'll always find at least a small efficiency advantage at WN.

Does all that make explosive growth? Nope. I too think those days are behind us. I'd be happy with positive growth and Gary to stop trying to give our flying away.

Gup