Southwest changing it's "stance" in ATL. HMMMMMM

[General Lee]

I never said anything about tomorrow's loads General. I said the loads are weak from now past Memorial Day.

Here's your average load for all of next week (7 days).....70%. I wouldn't call that very good in todays environment. So no, I wasn't wrong on the flights NOT being full. They aren't, but thanks for trying to spin this into another DL vs. SW thread, I could care less.

Idiotic....as usual.

Max,

Pension obiligations in the Billions....with a B? That's huge.

RF

Hey Red, our nation has debts in the Trillions, with a T. Did you also crap your pants just now? That's huge....

It's all about servicing your debt, and you probably learned that from your uncle who is huge in the oil business....riiiight.

Hey, can you look up your own loads from LAS to BUR on the 7am dept on Oct 14th of this year? I bet the loads are pretty low.....


Bye Bye---General Lee

 

[General Lee]

Then why the hell buy AirTran. What an epic failure. AirTran's biggest strength was its ATL fortress, that competed well with Delta. SWA comes in swoops up AirTran with 717s and 737s. It's pretty obvious that SWA was not going to operate the 717 (or anything other than a 737) so that was a waste. Result? All leased out to Delta. Goodbye jobs. Next, the AirTran ATL hub. Result? Reduced now to just a SWA focus city. Goodbye more jobs and ATL hub status. So the net result of this merger was a handful of AirTran 737s and slots at various airports through the country. What a stupid non-beneficial merger (if you can even call it a merger).

True Flyer, but the real benefit is one fewer airline choice for consumers, which helps every other airline. Consolidation is key to compete against the next round of giants that have oil money behind them. You have to be profitable and stable to compete and buy new planes, and 6 legacies wasn't cutting it. SWA did everyone a favor by taking yet another one away. It's actually helped DL a lot. AT was a low cost carrier, and SWA really isn't anymore. They have to keep fares up to pay for their more expensive employees (a good thing IMO), and that means higher fares for everyone. I don't think DL management minded at all hearing the news, and they get 88 717s paid for by SWA (over $130 million in refurb costs). Great deal.



Bye Bye---General Lee

 

[Flyer1015]

True Flyer, but the real benefit is one fewer airline choice for consumers, which helps every other airline. Consolidation is key to compete against the next round of giants that have oil money behind them. You have to be profitable and stable to compete and buy new planes, and 6 legacies wasn't cutting it. SWA did everyone a favor by taking yet another one away. It's actually helped DL a lot. AT was a low cost carrier, and SWA really isn't anymore. They have to keep fares up to pay for their more expensive employees (a good thing IMO), and that means higher fares for everyone. I don't think DL management minded at all hearing the news, and they get 88 717s paid for by SWA (over $130 million in refurb costs). Great deal.



Bye Bye---General Lee

That's true, one big airline was still taken out of the equation. Now we're down to just 3 legacies (DL/AA/UA) and SWA. The rest are LCCs. IMO, the next wave of consolidation will be amongst the LCC level. JetBlue, Virgin, Spirit, Frontier (<--- these 4 all have same fleet), Allegiant, Hawaiian, and Alaska. I think in the next 5 years, you will see at least two of these merge.

 

[Phlintstone]

Nah, I ate dinner next to the REAL Eiffel Tower, you know, not in Las Vegas. Maybe someday you'll go there and crap your pants with excitement. You'll be saying "this ain't Lubbock or Midland, and the people's, them people's speak weird......hey Mama (your wife), what's they sayin?"


Bye Bye----General Lee

So it was you! The dud kept talking about flying the ER in from Paris!!! Your assumption that flying to Europe and back is an impressive event fits your little pee pee, big watch personality. It is benign, especially in a 76ER.

Yawn, BTDT in Paris, and many other European cities. I've been to every continent except the cold one down south. Again you think something so small is impressive. It might work on teenage boys but not here.

Phred

 

[redflyer65]

Hey Red, our nation has debts in the Trillions, with a T. Did you also crap your pants just now? That's huge....



Bye Bye---General Lee

You came out of bankruptcy with Billions in debt and you're comparing it to the nations debt to make yourself feel better?

You win!

Your comic relief is legendary.

 

[General Lee]

You came out of bankruptcy with Billions in debt and you're comparing it to the nations debt to make yourself feel better?

You win!

Your comic relief is legendary.

Of course you didn't read the DL Q1 conference call transcripts, but it did tout the erasing of $6 BILLION in debt over 3 years, and reaching the set goal this year of another billion, bringing debt interest payments down over $50 million PER MONTH, which equates to $600 million per year, in interest savings.....
With that kind of debt retirement ability, this thing must be a HUGE revenue and profit producer. You might not be sweating it, but others in your company and the industry are. No wonder DL is a favorite around the analyst table at CNBC. I didn't hear your company mentioned at all for some reason. I guess no news is good news, right? Goodnight Red... (Morning over here). Enjoy the free buffet at the la Quinta in Amarillo....


Bye Bye---General Lee

 

[General Lee]

So it was you! The dud kept talking about flying the ER in from Paris!!! Your assumption that flying to Europe and back is an impressive event fits your little pee pee, big watch personality. It is benign, especially in a 76ER.

Yawn, BTDT in Paris, and many other European cities. I've been to every continent except the cold one down south. Again you think something so small is impressive. It might work on teenage boys but not here.

Phred

Yawn? Hahahahah. You have also been to Mars and The Sun..... These days you get to go to Amarillo, Islip, and other awesome places. But, you don't care, you have already been EVERYWHERE...... So funny! Yawn! Places never change btw, so what you saw 30 years ago is probably the same... Probably... And you're making fun of 767ERs? Wow. Are they better than old 737-300s? Yawn.....


Bye Bye---General Lee

 

[SWA Bubba]

Of course you didn't read the DL Q1 conference call transcripts, but it did tout the erasing of $6 BILLION in debt over 3 years, and reaching the set goal this year of another billion, bringing debt interest payments down over $50 million PER MONTH, which equates to $600 million per year, in interest savings.....
With that kind of debt retirement ability, this thing must be a HUGE revenue and profit producer. You might not be sweating it, but others in your company and the industry are. No wonder DL is a favorite around the analyst table at CNBC. I didn't hear your company mentioned at all for some reason. I guess no news is good news, right? Goodnight Red... (Morning over here). Enjoy the free buffet at the la Quinta in Amarillo....


Bye Bye---General Lee

Wait....

there's a FREE buffet at the Amarillo la Quinta?! (that's all I heard, after "blah, blah, blah..."

Bubba

 

[General Lee]

Wait....

there's a FREE buffet at the Amarillo la Quinta?! (that's all I heard, after "blah, blah, blah..."

Bubba

I think Red said that was the case. Anyway, I just LUV it when new guys like Phred say "I've already seen ALL of Europe, and I would NEVER want to go there again, especially on the Company's dime....." It really makes me laugh. Yeah, he's seen it ALL, and never, ever, had to see anything else outside of Texas or the 48 contiguous States and now San Juan....

I really don't want to get back into the this is better than that layover stuff, but I was just reminding Red about that breakfast that he loves. Have a good one Bubba.


Bye Bye---General Lee

 

[DYLIN]

YOUR flights General. Delta is empty to MCI. I think you might need some simple reading skills.

Need me to post the side by side numbers to shut you up?

You said Delta would be full. News flash. They aren't, not even close. But keep running those 7 empty flights. Maybe RA will need to replace those MD's and 757's with the large RJs that are coming. Haha.

Say whatever you want about GL and his style on here, but you're an idiot if you're actually interpreting those loads in the way you say you are.

Anything a month from today is going to have lots of open seats.

Are you serious?

Or are you just that clueless?

 

[BILL LUMBERG]

Wow, 7% of the FL pilots have filed suit. Does that carry a lot of weight with you?

Almost twice the number of pilots voted against this horrible deal. Why aren't there 1400 pilots a part of that suit?

Good point.

This lawsuit has a snowballs chance in hell. The USAPA page of this book has coffee stains and is a little ripped and torn. The only winners will be the lawyers.

 

[canyonblue]

blah blah blah....

Bye Bye---General Lee

Step away from the keyboard and go wax your car, your Prom date has expectations. Then again, she said yes to you so maybe she doesn't. :laugh:

 

[Dash Power]

Everyone must rememember......

General Lee does not exist. One was the leader of the losing side of the Civil War, one was a made up name for a car in a campy TV show, and the other plays a neurotic pilot for Delta Airlines on an anonymous forum.

You are arguing with a Phantom. It (GL) simply does not exist.

 

[General Lee]

Everyone must rememember......

General Lee does not exist. One was the leader of the losing side of the Civil War, one was a made up name for a car in a campy TV show, and the other plays a neurotic pilot for Delta Airlines on an anonymous forum.

You are arguing with a Phantom. It (GL) simply does not exist.

Dash,

Sometimes I stir the pot, and some people can't handle it. Many need to Chillax and just give an opinion or reply to one. No biggie.


Bye Bye---General Lee

 

[HowardBorden]

You can say all of our flights should be done with mainline, but your airline does do some INTL flights with Volaris. (not as many as DL does with SkyTeam etc, but some none the less) So, not all of your flights are done with your crews, so you do the same thing, at a smaller scale.

WRONG! At least attempt to get the facts straight when you spout off.

Southwest Pilots Praise End of SkyWest Codeshare Agreement

The termination of the SkyWest codeshare agreement with AirTran allows both SWAPA and Southwest Airlines to concentrate and devote their collective energies on the tasks at hand. In late 2009, the Southwest Airlines Pilots' Association ratified its contract with Southwest Airlines that strictly prohibits domestic codeshare and greatly restricts codeshare to near-international destinations. This section of the contract is foundational to the protection of pilots' jobs and careers.

http://www.travelpulse.com/southwest-pilots-praise-end-of-skywest-codeshare-agreement.html

Southwest and Volaris to end partnership

Southwest Airlines and Volaris will end their connecting partnership. Dallas-based Southwest says that the carrier?s mutually agreed to end the relationship.

http://www.aviationbrief.com/?p=11508

 

[StopNTSing]

Then why the hell buy AirTran. What an epic failure. AirTran's biggest strength was its ATL fortress, that competed well with Delta. SWA comes in swoops up AirTran with 717s and 737s. It's pretty obvious that SWA was not going to operate the 717 (or anything other than a 737) so that was a waste. Result? All leased out to Delta. Goodbye jobs. Next, the AirTran ATL hub. Result? Reduced now to just a SWA focus city. Goodbye more jobs and ATL hub status. So the net result of this merger was a handful of AirTran 737s and slots at various airports through the country.

Ah, pilots....we've got all the answers.

Other than eliminating a competitor, gaining big access to the ATL through the only practical means left, and a jumpstart for international ops, you're right: we're getting absolutely nothing out of this deal. I didn't want it as much or more than the next pilot, but it is what it is now, and it's not nothing. The synergies are beginning to be realized. The final SWA presence in ATL was NEVER proposed to be anything like the former ATN operation. SWA does not do hubs and consequently does not need to staff for them (IOW, paying people to do a few banks throughout the day and then sit on their duff's in between), so it is unfortunate that the SWA efficiencies bring a reduction in jobs. Also worth noting, however, that not a single employee will be eliminated....they will all be offered other positions, probably at other stations. Still better than a pink slip.

I agree that it was no secret Gary didn't like 717's either. Happily he now actually has an interested taker for an orphaned airframe with very unreliable engines (thanks General!), so he doesn't have to eat the high costs of having a second narrow-body type in his very homogenous fleet until the 717 leases were up. Now that it is all but a done deal that SWA will be obtaining used 737NG's from the world market to make up the fleet deficit, it looks like a win-win for SWA & Delta, and there should be no pilot furloughs.

What a stupid non-beneficial merger (if you can even call it a merger).

No, you can't call it a merger....it's an acquisition.

 

[Flyer1015]

It was supposed to be a merger.

 

[humveedriver]

It's actually an assimilation, where a few remnants of AT's practices and procedures will still be visible.

 

[canyonblue]

It was supposed to be a merger.

If you believe that the British and Americans merged with the Indians, sure, call it what you want. Hell, we'll even let you have a casino in Atlanta.

 

[Luv2BFlyin]

Hell, we'll even let you have a casino in Atlanta.

I bet you would. If the odds are anything like the lottery we won that you operate, the house would never lose. No thanks.