Southwest off the runway in Spokane..

[Longhorn]

GUYS....PLEASE STOP THE PERSONAL ATTACKS. If you have an issues with eachother, please use the PM feature.

 

[joevollers]

SWA is the most reliable airline in the industry. Period. If I can jumpseat on them I will, b/c I know I will get there.

That being said I was on the Taxiway the morning in SFO in early Jan when the wind was blowing 160 @ 45 g 60 with 20 to 25 kt loss reported on the runways.... SWA was the only 121 carrier taking off. 4 of them went, nobody else would go. One of them gave a pirep of "light to moderate below 3000, worse than that above" Given that info the next SWA crew decided it was OK to launch.

Either the 73's as they are outfitted by SWA are "super" planes that can handle adverse wx better, and the rest of us are all pu$$ies who won't takeoff in such conditions, or there is a culture problem.

Don't get me wrong SWA has many attributes I admire and if they have ever offered me a job I would have not looked back(never bought a type), I would have gone in a heartbeat..... but there has got to be some type of culture issue where people are a little too comfortable with adverse conditions..

 

[328dude]

Like it or not SWA has a reputation of taxiing too fast and hustling maybe a little too much in order to get there 1st, or on time, or whatever. Is that what happened this time? I don't have any idea. The NTSB will figure that out and let us know. Until then I suggest we don't make assumptions.

I also suggest to my SWA brethren that where there's smoke, there's fire. Sterling fatality record aside, you guys seem to slide off taxiways and off the end of runways more than the rest of us. At least that's the perception. Whether that's accurate or fair is certainly debatable, but have you ever stopped to consider why some of us may have come to that conclusion?

Your reputation, deserved or not, is that you guys taxi way faster than the rest of us. Add to that perception the reality that you have had several well publicised events over the last few that seems to support that stereotype and you can see how some of us can start to make assumptions. That's not to say stereotypes are accurate, only that they are based on some previous observations.

Can I be your wingman Maverick?

 

[BOYCAPTAIN]

SWA is the most reliable airline in the industry. Period. If I can jumpseat on them I will, b/c I know I will get there. ..

what are you smoking??? i guess u don't watch their TV show...i've done some cat IIIs and heard SWA going to their alternates...just stop it!

 

[skiandsurf]

what are you smoking??? i guess u don't watch their TV show...i've done some cat IIIs and heard SWA going to their alternates...just stop it!

If I am booked on a SWA flight with a noon departure, I can almost guarantee you that I will be sitting on a 737, and pushing off the gate real close to noon.

If I am booked on a UAL flight with a noon departure, I have no idea what type of plane or which spin-off regional, and what time this thing will be pushing off the gate.

SWA may not be the most popular airline with you guys, but they are reliable.

 

[nimtz]

SWA is the most reliable airline in the industry. Period. If I can jumpseat on them I will, b/c I know I will get there.

That being said I was on the Taxiway the morning in SFO in early Jan when the wind was blowing 160 @ 45 g 60 with 20 to 25 kt loss reported on the runways.... SWA was the only 121 carrier taking off. 4 of them went, nobody else would go. One of them gave a pirep of "light to moderate below 3000, worse than that above" Given that info the next SWA crew decided it was OK to launch.

Either the 73's as they are outfitted by SWA are "super" planes that can handle adverse wx better, and the rest of us are all pu$$ies who won't takeoff in such conditions, or there is a culture problem.

Don't get me wrong SWA has many attributes I admire and if they have ever offered me a job I would have not looked back(never bought a type), I would have gone in a heartbeat..... but there has got to be some type of culture issue where people are a little too comfortable with adverse conditions..

I completely agree with all sentiments here. As a qualifier I firmly believe SWA guys can fly the bejesus out of a 737. I don't question how well most guys over there handle the iron. That being said, I've been mind boggled many times at some of the conditions I've seen SWA willingly operate in. I flew into SFO around that time and the fact SWA was the only one going doesn't surprise me one iota.

Never forget time I watched one guy launch with windshear warnings all quadrants in BUF with 65 knot wind gusts. Then of course two SWA guys tried to land only to predictably have all the bells come on at 500 ft. Had to wonder why the heck try in those conditions? If the culture caused those decisions, I would want no part of it.