Southwest to Newark!

[redflyer65]

I don't know if you make better money than I do,


Bye Bye--General Lee

Hey General, I can GUARANTEE you he makes more money than you.

 

[GuppyWN]

Really? I flew plenty of domestic stuff in my first 10 years, including on 3 types of 737s. I think I will do just fine, and most of the 737-800 trips have only one or two legs a day too. Jealous? I bet you are. Throw in first class meals too and now you are darn right angry. Ah, running to Pizza Hut in ELP between 25 min turns is healthy for you guys.....


Bye Bye---General Lee

This is where is say bull******************** as I cough. How many times have we had to hear about first class meals, naps in first and sundaes over Iceland?

I actually chuckle when I think about you flying into El Paso in your super duper Delta has better 737's than the rest of the world - cause you know damn well it's coming.

Too funny,
Gup

 

[General Lee]

"Ummmm what? Can you have a broken APU across the Atlantic? Nope."

Unless Delta's specs. are different from the rest of the industry it is entirely possible to cross the Atlantic without an APU. Just takes a little more fuel.

Not really as simple as that, but if you want to label it that way. It is a big deal to add fuel, fly closer to land incase of an engine problem (The FAA doesn't want major elec problems over the Atlantic at night), etc. In most cases, APUs WORK, which is great. That is the difference. Good catch gomer pile.


Bye Bye--General Lee

 

[Plug]

Ummmm what? Can you have a broken APU across the Atlantic? Nope. Do you even know what an ETOPS check is







YO SKC, clean up your own messes before criticizing others.


Bye Bye---General Lee

Actually, yeah you can as long as you have the appropriate back ups like an HDG. But I agree with the general tone that more stuff is deferrable on the domestic side of things. 180+ minute ETOPS restricts the "licking and sticking".

 

[General Lee]

This is where is say bull******************** as I cough. How many times have we had to hear about first class meals, naps in first and sundaes over Iceland?

I actually chuckle when I think about you flying into El Paso in your super duper Delta has better 737's than the rest of the world - cause you know damn well it's coming.

Too funny,
Gup

DL 737s don't go to ELP, MD88s do. And, although DL does have 737-800s and 737-700s, I don't think they are necessarily better than the rest of the world, but having First Class and the ability to eat some free food that is better than your kibble and bits at SWA, is a good thing. If you don't think so, well, your head must be spinning from your 5 legs yesterday between BWI and TUS. Too funny is right. Do you need a tissue?


Bye Bye--General Lee

 

[General Lee]

Actually, yeah you can as long as you have the appropriate back ups like an HDG. But I agree with the general tone that more stuff is deferrable on the domestic side of things. 180+ minute ETOPS restricts the "licking and sticking".

That's what I mean, less things are allowed to be broken or deferred. You can't be like SWA and fly 47 planes with potential skin problems for months on end.


Bye Bye--General Lee

 

[General Lee]

Hey SWA guys---thanks for taking the EWR slots....

Bloomberg


Delta May Revive NYC Bid on Southwest at Newark, Analysts Say

By Mary Jane Credeur and Mary Schlangenstein - Aug 31, 2010

Delta Air Lines Inc. may revive its bid to bulk up at New York’s LaGuardia airport after Southwest Airlines Co., the largest discount carrier, won the right to add service at nearby Newark, New Jersey, three analysts said.

Southwest’s expansion, announced last week, broadens competition in the busiest U.S. aviation market, said Helane Becker, an analyst at Dahlman Rose & Co. in New York. That opens the door for Delta to renew its case for more LaGuardia flight slots under a swap with US Airways Group Inc., she said.

New York is pivotal for Delta, which uses LaGuardia as a base for domestic flights and has an overseas hub at Kennedy airport. Delta and US Airways said in July they wouldn’t pursue their trade after the Federal Aviation Administration said they had to cede some operating rights to rivals. Southwest was excluded and urged regulators to kill the deal.

“Southwest is happy about Newark,” Becker said. “Now Delta and US Airways could go back to the FAA and say ‘Look, Southwest got what it wanted, so let us try again.’”

A Delta spokesman, Trebor Banstetter, wouldn’t discuss the airline’s LaGuardia strategy beyond saying that the Atlanta- based carrier is appealing the FAA decision. US Airways’ Jim Olson said: “We’re continuing to pursue our appeal.”

What’s new since Delta and US Airways walked away from their plan on July 2 is Southwest’s move into Newark. Dallas- based Southwest said Aug. 27 it would receive slots for 18 daily round trips there as UAL Corp.’s United Airlines and Continental Airlines Inc. scaled back to win approval of their merger.

‘New Fact’

“It’s certainly a new fact that should be taken into consideration,” said Jim Corridore, a Standard & Poor’s equity analyst in New York.

Flights are capped at LaGuardia and Washington’s Reagan National, so carriers must swap slots in order to grow. Delta, the biggest airline at LaGuardia, proposed in March getting 110 new flight slots there in exchange for giving 37 slots to US Airways at Reagan, along with routes to Tokyo and Sao Paulo.

The FAA wanted Delta and Tempe, Arizona-based US Airways to make available 34 pairs of takeoff and landing slots to carriers with little or no service at LaGuardia or Reagan, saying the airports needed more competition. The 2 airlines offered 19 1/2 pairs and chose recipients including AirTran Holdings Inc. and JetBlue Airways Corp. Southwest wasn’t on their list.

Delta and US Airways may seek a settlement with regulators to keep more flights on the grounds that Southwest’s new slots at Newark enhanced New York-area competition, said William Swelbar, a research engineer at Massachusetts Institute of Technology who specializes in airline economics.

‘No Doubt’

“Those conversations will happen, there is no doubt about that,” Swelbar said.

Bill Mosley, a Transportation Department spokesman, declined to comment on the matter because of the ongoing litigation.

Southwest, which has failed to obtain space for more than eight daily flights at LaGuardia, is “still very interested in getting more slots” there should they become available, said Beth Harbin, a spokeswoman. The airline has declined to disclose the terms of the Newark transaction.

Delta rose 9 cents to $10.46 at 4:01 p.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading, while US Airways gained 17 cents, or 1.9 percent, to $9.04. Southwest climbed 6 cents to $11.05.

Swelbar said other airlines are watching the Delta-US Airways appeal because the outcome will set a precedent for future attempts at slot trading, he said.

‘So Altered’

“The terms of the Delta-US Airways deal were so altered that it raised the question as to whether these slots are the property rights of the owners or not,” Swelbar said. “We still don’t know. If Delta and US Airways win that appeal, it would be a tremendous win for the whole industry.”

The two airlines also may argue that while they couldn’t pick which carriers received their divested slots, the U.S. Justice Department let merger partners United and Continental do so with Southwest, said Bert Rein, a partner at Wiley Rein LLP in Washington who specializes in antitrust and aviation law.

Winning a court appeal isn’t a sure thing, he said. Nor is it clear that the FAA would see Southwest’s new slots at Newark as injecting enough competition to temper Delta’s No. 1 position at LaGuardia, he said.

“Even though the two airports compete and overlap, I don’t know if the FAA is going to say ‘Good enough,’” Rein said. “They may still be worried about airport dominance.”


Bye Bye--General Lee

 

[GuppyWN]

Gerneral,

Sucks when you can't pick your "competition", doesn't it?

Your wife just PMed me. She said your skirt is ready.

Gup

 

[StopNTSing]

Frankfurt is a dump compared to Hamburg. Koln is my second favorite city, Gaffel Kolsch is da bomb! But LUV does have the 1-2-3 rule at their layover hotels, the Circus Circus in LAS is so much better after a few bottles of Bud!

1-2-3 went away....almost a year ago.

LAS is a pilot domicile....as of almost three years ago...and SWA does not schedule layovers in domiciles

Beyond that, I completely agree with your post!

 

[General Lee]

Gerneral,

Sucks when you can't pick your "competition", doesn't it?

Your wife just PMed me. She said your skirt is ready.

Gup

Yeah, it does. Can you pick who you want to sell your house to? You can't? Sure doesn't sound fair to me, since DL bought those slots during the last auction, when you were still picking your azzes in ISP, PVD, and MHT. I have a feeling the courts may over-rule this DOT mandate, and then it will be funny. And, that wasn't my wife PMing you, it was your Mom and Sister. They said they were done kissing. Are you from a hillbilly family? Probably.


Bye Bye--General Lee

 

[Plug]

1-2-3 went away....almost a year ago.

LAS is a pilot domicile....as of almost three years ago...and SWA does not schedule layovers in domiciles

Beyond that, I completely agree with your post!

1-2-3 is alive and well at the Circus Circus even though SWA doesn't stay there. Good thing CAL is no longer there starting this month, what a trailer park. We also stayed at the Radisson at the MSY airport where SWA stays and the bar stays open until the last SWA crew gets in and the 1-2-3 rule is alive and well there according to the bar tender as of May. However, we stay at the Hilton airport now.

 

[rajflyboy]

No biggy

just some more military guys will have to go out and buy a job.... oops I mean Type rating and be based in EWR (Have Fun!) Enjoy that!

 

[GuinessGuy]

Not to worry, Southwest is just a flash in the pan.......they won't last.......they don't pay for their aircraft, or maintenance........
OH, wait.......that's us.......

 

[SKC]

Ummmm what? Can you have a broken APU across the Atlantic? Nope. Do you even know what an ETOPS check is before EACH crossing? That is a lot more than just a visual check by an FO. And you shouldn't be bragging about your SWA mx procedures, since the bad press lately points to some "interesting" stuff going on. Didn't you guys keep certain planes flying for months when they were supposed to be fixed? Weren't they older 733s? Should I look up the story for you? Oh wait, here it is:



YO SKC, clean up your own messes before criticizing others.


Bye Bye---General Lee

Since you obviously didn't read my message, it clearly refers to MEL items that are not ETOPS critical (i.e. the reference to a passenger convenience item). Your first message said "nothing broken" which is clearly not correct.

Prior to life here in SWAland, I was with an ETOPS carrier, so SWA mx procedures have absolutely no bearing on what I know about ETOPS (not to mention completely irrelevant to this conversation).

 

[SKC]

Do you even know what an ETOPS check is before EACH crossing? That is a lot more than just a visual check by an FO.
Bye Bye---General Lee

You're right, you have to draw your course out on a plotting chart. Verify your route is within the 180 min range. Check weather at your ETOPS alternates. What else am I missing?

Do you have to actually make the position reports yourselves or are those automatic?

Tough stuff.

 

[redflyer65]

I love it when the General is 0 for 8 within a few days with his arguements. Just doesn't have any solid ground to stand on.

Hey General, the customer service at SW is what keeps bringing the passengers back, and your passengers headed our way.

Just talked to a businessman who said he can't stand how Delta..

Charges for bags

Charges to talk to someone on the phone

Charges for a small reservation change

Charges for curbside check in

it just goes on and on.

 

[Quimby]

You're right, you have to draw your course out on a plotting chart. Verify your route is within the 180 min range. Check weather at your ETOPS alternates. What else am I missing?

Do you have to actually make the position reports yourselves or are those automatic?

Tough stuff.

GL likes to keep the myth alive of how tough that roundtrip to Germany & back is. Don't spoil his party.

 

[SKC]

Now Quimby, hang on a second. GL has to figure out what the "9999" in the vis section of the METAR is across the pond. Do you have to pull out your Lucky Charms magic decoder ring to figure out what the metric equivalent is to 1/2SM?

 

[General Lee]

You're right, you have to draw your course out on a plotting chart. Verify your route is within the 180 min range. Check weather at your ETOPS alternates. What else am I missing?

Do you have to actually make the position reports yourselves or are those automatic?

Tough stuff.

Depends on which plane you have, some have CPDLC and some do not. Also, if your APU is inop, you have to fly closer to the coast incase something does fail (not 180 ETOPS anymore), which means you probably won't get one of the normal tracks, meaning you will be spending a lot more money going out of the way. So, in reality, that just doesn't hardly ever happen. INTL flying really does ROCK. SWA can have it's 5 or 6 leg domestic days to LBB. And being a SWA dispatcher yourself, it must be kinda boring for you too. No INTL cities to check, no INTL coordination when things go wrong, instead---you just have to call Sally in MAF or Duane in LBB and make sure there are peanunts ready to go when the flight from Vegas gets there, and check the local weather-----clear and 100 degrees F. Good for you. Sounds rough.


Bye Bye--General Lee

 

[General Lee]

GL likes to keep the myth alive of how tough that roundtrip to Germany & back is. Don't spoil his party.

The thing is, it really isn't that tough. I enjoy it because it is easier than multi leg domestic flying. That is the point. It is a First Class buffet dinner (lots of choices for meals and desserts on the flights) all the way to Happy Hour in Europe. And, when the legs are over 8 hours long each, think how many LAS to ONT hops could be done within that time? That is the point guys, you will just never understand. Too bad.


Bye Bye--General Lee