Summer Surcharge Fees from Major Domestic Carriers

[redflyer65]

Can't believe I have to point this out to you General, but the 'Bags Fly Free' campaign is all about increasing Southwest market share, and apparently is starting to pay off big time. This will be a hugely profitable year for Southwest because of the new passenger that have never thought about flying them.

The 100 dollar plus bag rip off that other carriers are imposing is starting to lead to people voting with their feet, and they are headed to Southwest.

 

[General Lee]

Can't believe I have to point this out to you General, but the 'Bags Fly Free' campaign is all about increasing Southwest market share, and apparently is starting to pay off big time. This will be a hugely profitable year for Southwest because of the new passenger that have never thought about flying them.

The 100 dollar plus bag rip off that other carriers are imposing is starting to lead to people voting with their feet, and they are headed to Southwest.

Seriously, why do you care about so and so campaign? You and I fly airplanes. We should care about things that affect us, not what marketing does. Both of our carriers will be full this Summer, and then both will have fare sales in the Fall. Do you really care about the 100 dollar rip off? Legacy airlines are making a mint doing that, and most people don't seem to care, especially if there aren't any LCCs on the route. You guys are probably doing that because your game plans have changed. You now have to fly to places your original game plan avoided, like LGA, BOS, PHL, etc. You have to keep those planes full just to pay the higher landing fees, extra gas to long taxi there, etc. But, I won't have to worry about any of that next week when I go to Copenhagen. Ever been there? It is FANTASTIC. Talk about nice and cool. It's like a few extra large ice cubes in a fresh Coca Cola. Ahhhhhh!


Bye Bye--General Lee

 

[slaquer5]

Seriously, why do you care about so and so campaign? You and I fly airplanes. We should care about things that affect us, not what marketing does. Both of our carriers will be full this Summer, and then both will have fare sales in the Fall. Do you really care about the 100 dollar rip off? Legacy airlines are making a mint doing that, and most people don't seem to care, especially if there aren't any LCCs on the route. You guys are probably doing that because your game plans have changed. You now have to fly to places your original game plan avoided, like LGA, BOS, PHL, etc. You have to keep those planes full just to pay the higher landing fees, extra gas to long taxi there, etc. But, I won't have to worry about any of that next week when I go to Copenhagen. Ever been there? It is FANTASTIC. Talk about nice and cool. It's like a few extra large ice cubes in a fresh Coca Cola. Ahhhhhh!


Bye Bye--General Lee

HA thats a good one. Hi pot this is kettle. GL , all 20k posts of yours are slamming SWA and/or giving your opinion of what management should/could/would, do.


On a side bar. I think the same way you do that SWA should charge all the hidden fees, it called bait and switch, and has worked for over 2000 years. Only difference is that I hope SWA proves me wrong. I think the public is to stupid to realize they are being had, where as SWA thinks the pubic is smart enough to figure out bait and switch. Time will tell and like I said before, I hope I am wrong. JMO

 

[chase]

?

We should care about things that affect us, not what marketing does. Both of our carriers will be full this Summer, and then both will have fare sales in the Fall. Do you really care about the 100 dollar rip off?

Marketing directly affects you...it is one of the key elements that brings in the revenue!!!

Yes we will both be full this summer but what will be the attitude of the passengers and will they want to return the next time they fly? If there are no other choices, then they will stick with your airline or others. However, DAL is not exclusive to the vast majority of places. You make it sound like the DAL strategy is "we're banking on all airlines to be as bad at treating its passengers as we are so there is no difference." Now that is a marketing strategy!!!!

When employees of any company, not just airlines, takes this type of attitude toward its customers and acknowledges a "rip off", is it any wonder the public will eventually, not today, tomorrow or next month necessarily, make another choice and go somewhere else.

I don't know what the majority of DAL employees are like but considering the turmoil within their ranks, the distrust they have toward management and other factors I'm not privy too, other competitors like the new UAL will always have the chance to turn things around as long as they listen to their customers and are willing to take a different path...whether they will or not is up to management and the employees...I wish them well.

GL, you are correct we don't compete to Copenhagen or overseas....yet....you give me great encouragement though for SWA one day to go into that market and others overseas considering the customer service vacuum that exist....it makes a difference at some point and your disinterest in how your company is perceived by the very people who pay your wages is pretty amazing...you appear to be more concerned about your overnights and your tales of travel then trying to build a reputation for your company that will last long after you retire but I presume you don't care what happens to DAL after your retire since you have yours, correct? Should management be blamed for getting their golden parachute as is often done if you as current employee seem to have a similar motivation?

I'm sure there are many great DAL employees who don't share your disdain for their customers and I wish them all good luck in keeping the jobs they have worked so hard viable and profitable. You are a piece of work my friend, you truly are . Good luck to you and your travels and yes, yours is bigger than mine....for now

Cheers.

 

[General Lee]

?



Marketing directly affects you...it is one of the key elements that brings in the revenue!!!

Yes we will both be full this summer but what will be the attitude of the passengers and will they want to return the next time they fly? If there are no other choices, then they will stick with your airline or others. However, DAL is not exclusive to the vast majority of places. You make it sound like the DAL strategy is "we're banking on all airlines to be as bad at treating its passengers as we are so there is no difference." Now that is a marketing strategy!!!!

When employees of any company, not just airlines, takes this type of attitude toward its customers and acknowledges a "rip off", is it any wonder the public will eventually, not today, tomorrow or next month necessarily, make another choice and go somewhere else.

I don't know what the majority of DAL employees are like but considering the turmoil within their ranks, the distrust they have toward management and other factors I'm not privy too, other competitors like the new UAL will always have the chance to turn things around as long as they listen to their customers and are willing to take a different path...whether they will or not is up to management and the employees...I wish them well.

GL, you are correct we don't compete to Copenhagen or overseas....yet....you give me great encouragement though for SWA one day to go into that market and others overseas considering the customer service vacuum that exist....it makes a difference at some point and your disinterest in how your company is perceived by the very people who pay your wages is pretty amazing...you appear to be more concerned about your overnights and your tales of travel then trying to build a reputation for your company that will last long after you retire but I presume you don't care what happens to DAL after your retire since you have yours, correct? Should management be blamed for getting their golden parachute as is often done if you as current employee seem to have a similar motivation?

I'm sure there are many great DAL employees who don't share your disdain for their customers and I wish them all good luck in keeping the jobs they have worked so hard viable and profitable. You are a piece of work my friend, you truly are . Good luck to you and your travels and yes, yours is bigger than mine....for now

Cheers.

So wait, you think SWA will go to Copenhagen too? Kinda like Ryanair and Easyjet coming to the States, right? Well, you guys said originally that you would never go back to DEN, or go into a place like LGA or PHL, so maybe you guys will change your minds SOMEDAY. But first, your mangement has to trust you enough to fly to Hawaii or Mexico/Canada. Initially they wanted Westjet and Volaris to do it, thinking I guess that those guys could handle it. With you guys slow learning VNAV and the new PFD, they thought it would be overwhelming for you probably. Good luck in achieving those lofty dreams.

As far as product goes, I would think DL is ahead of the curve in some areas. After JB introduced LiveTV, good ole Song put a Dish Network product out there, and that is still in use today in most of the DL-S 767s, 757s, and 738s. I am sure they will go over to the N fleet soon. That product is miles ahead of any inflight SWA product, including your goofy jokes by the stews. That can't compete with watching South Park live on Comedy Central, sorry. The internal turmoil you talk about really isn't evident as you say. Most people are happy with the merger so far, and the flight attendants are still working out their differences with the votes on a union. You guys should know about unions, you have more than anyone.



Bye Bye--General Lee

 

[NEDude]

So wait, you think SWA will go to Copenhagen too? Kinda like Ryanair and Easyjet coming to the States, right? Well, you guys said originally that you would never go back to DEN, or go into a place like LGA or PHL, so maybe you guys will change your minds SOMEDAY. But first, your mangement has to trust you enough to fly to Hawaii or Mexico/Canada. Initially they wanted Westjet and Volaris to do it, thinking I guess that those guys could handle it. With you guys slow learning VNAV and the new PFD, they thought it would be overwhelming for you probably. Good luck in achieving those lofty dreams.


Bye Bye--General Lee

Hmmm, SWA to Copenhagen huh? Hey more options to commute to/from the states.

 

[General Lee]

Hmmm, SWA to Copenhagen huh? Hey more options to commute to/from the states.

According to Chase, YES. Of course he also thinks SWA will get Space Shuttles and Sonic Cruisers.....all for Intra Texas flying. It's ON! AUS to HRL in 4 mins! IT'S ON! ELP to DAL in 6 MINS! IT'S ON!


Bye Bye--General Lee

 

[GuppyWN]

Delta has a 40 year head start. Southwest will go to places that even make the General sound cool but it'll be after I'm gone.

Which is fine by me.

Gup

 

[NEDude]

According to Chase, YES. Of course he also thinks SWA will get Space Shuttles and Sonic Cruisers.....all for Intra Texas flying. It's ON! AUS to HRL in 4 mins! IT'S ON! ELP to DAL in 6 MINS! IT'S ON!


Bye Bye--General Lee

Well as of today NASA does have one shuttle available (a great 25 years of service Atlantis!) and two more available in around 5-6 months. How about taking the Atlantis to Copenhagen. lol

 

[relief tube]

Hey, how about the airline charges what it actually costs to fly!

or better yet, more than it costs to drive.

On any given day, we transport people in a faster and safer way than driving a car, not to mention pax have the time to themselves......yet pilots willing to work for pithy wages and work rules allow "bargain airlines" to charge less than the real value of it.

 

[Hose A. Jiminez]

Someone please do the General a favor and throw a tarp over him. He's embarrassing himself and doesn't even realize it.

 

[chase]

GL,

39 years ago Braniff and Trans-Texas airlines attempted to prevent a small upstart airline to begin operation. With only 3 airplanes Southwest Airlines began operations with a pretty simple schedule.

If anyone had predicted SWA would grow to 537 airplanes and become the largest domestic carrier they would become.....should we say skeptical...kind of like some are toward SWA expanding into international flying...again, not today, tomorrow or this year....I'm just saying, there are great opportunities for any airline that treats their customers well while at the same time treating their employees as good while finding the operational efficiencies with a pricing model that is profitable.

The airline analysts out there believe the consolidation airlines and alliances are the wave of the future to accomplish all of that. They maybe right.... there maybe a different way to accomplish that goal and that model may not even exist right now but could blossum from an unexpected source. Could it be SWA? Could it be Virgin Air/Virgin America? How about AA/JB?

Who knows but anyone who underestimates those airlines that have a track record of success is similiar to what has allowed those same airlines to prosper.

Ironically, the biggest naysayers of the SWA experiment are no longer around. I have no crystal ball but do believe there are lessons to be learned from airline history.

 

[General Lee]

GL,

39 years ago Braniff and Trans-Texas airlines attempted to prevent a small upstart airline to begin operation. With only 3 airplanes Southwest Airlines began operations with a pretty simple schedule.

If anyone had predicted SWA would grow to 537 airplanes and become the largest domestic carrier they would become.....should we say skeptical...kind of like some are toward SWA expanding into international flying...again, not today, tomorrow or this year....I'm just saying, there are great opportunities for any airline that treats their customers well while at the same time treating their employees as good while finding the operational efficiencies with a pricing model that is profitable.

The airline analysts out there believe the consolidation airlines and alliances are the wave of the future to accomplish all of that. They maybe right.... there maybe a different way to accomplish that goal and that model may not even exist right now but could blossum from an unexpected source. Could it be SWA? Could it be Virgin Air/Virgin America? How about AA/JB?

Who knows but anyone who underestimates those airlines that have a track record of success is similiar to what has allowed those same airlines to prosper.

Ironically, the biggest naysayers of the SWA experiment are no longer around. I have no crystal ball but do believe there are lessons to be learned from airline history.

Sure, history is something we can all learn from. How did People's Express do? Originally they were a domestic LCC out of EWR, and they grew quickly. Before anyone knew it, they decided to leave their comfort zone and grow into something they had little understand of, INTL travel. They thought their own LCC model would work across the Atlantic, providing cheap travel over long distances. How did that work out? The whole airline went bust, and merged into present day CAL. Your 737-700s will NOT be flying across the ATLANTIC, and if you get away from your "derivative" aircraft model (staying with one type for advantageous cost reasons---parts, training etc), your costs will soar. Your service is tollerable for maybe 5 hours without inflight entertainment or bigger meal service, but across the pond will require a lot more, which means more costs. When was the last attempt at a pond crossing LCC? I think it has been awhile, and even though Ryanair has threatened it (mainly in their futile attempt to buy Aerlingus which the GOV'T said a big NO to), they still haven't tried it, and for good reason. But, I would love to see you guys try it! Go for it, it will be FANTASTIC.



Bye Bye--General Lee

 

[General Lee]

Someone please do the General a favor and throw a tarp over him. He's embarrassing himself and doesn't even realize it.

Thanks Dad. BTW, please take your hand out of your pants and get away from the computer. Go do something productive.


Bye Bye--General Lee

 

[Bringupthebird]

It's like a few extra large ice cubes in a fresh Coca Cola. Ahhhhhh!
Bye Bye--General Lee

I encourage you to enjoy one of those on your next trip to Mexico City. :laugh:

The bag rip-off will end just as soon as someone sells Expedia, et.al on the software necessary to calculate the total fee-inclusive price as soon as you select a city-pair. Right now they can get away with it, but technology always fills the ignorace gap. Sometimes with more ignorance, but that's another issue.