Swa - etops certification

[GIZMONC]

Is it just me or does GENERAL LEE suffer from " small man syndrome" ? Seems nothing of any value is posted by him and if some one posts something he has to put his TWO CENTS worth in there. Lets take a VOTE, how many members on here have put " GENERAL LEE" on IGNORE ?

 

[scoreboardII]

General Lee This message is hidden because General Lee is on your ignore list.

 

[Secret Squirrel]

Well I guess they are starting to get some stuff finished. Maybe etops is not far behind.

By TERRY MAXON
TERRY MAXON The Dallas Morning News Staff Writer
[email protected]
Published: 17 September 2012 09:11 PM
Southwest Airlines Co. and AirTran Airways will connect their networks in the first quarter of 2013, allowing passengers to buy a single ticket and travel on both airlines, Southwest chairman and chief executive Gary Kelly said Monday.

That means that for the first time, a customer can start a flight in a Southwest city and connect to an international flight departing from an AirTran city, Kelly said at the Boyd Group International’s annual forecast conference in Dallas.

Answering questions afterward, Kelly said the ability to sell tickets for flights of both airlines should boost fare revenue by millions of dollars.

“I think the question becomes what happens to the fees associated with some of the itineraries, so I don’t think we’ll realize quite that much,” Kelly said. “But yeah, there’s a lot of itineraries that we’re going to be able to turn on, and we’re bound to get some incremental traffic in there. It’s not hard to predict that we’ll get hundreds of millions of dollars.”

AirTran now charges a number of fees that Southwest does not, most notably for checked bags. Dallas-based Southwest lets the first two checked bags fly at no charge, while AirTran charges $20 for the first bag and $25 for the second.

Kelly indicated that airline officials must decide how to handle the issue of charging fees on flights, though he said Southwest will not begin charging bag fees. “The net effect of the revenue in passengers vs. the fees, it could be an offset. All that remains to be seen,” he said.

Southwest acquired AirTran in May 2011 and received a single operating certificate covering both airlines this March. However, the two airlines have remained separate brands and operations.

Kelly said the target is to connect the two carriers’ networks in the first quarter.

“We’re very much on track. We had some technical challenges that have been overcome, so I feel pretty confident about that time line,” he said.

In addition to letting AirTran sell tickets to Southwest-only cities, the linkup will let Southwest passengers buy tickets to AirTran’s non-U.S. destinations, including several cities in Mexico, Jamaica, Bermuda, the Bahamas and Aruba.

However, Southwest’s reservation system does not have the capability to handle international itineraries. Therefore, Kelly said, international bookings will be handled on the AirTran reservations systems website until Southwest has a new reservation system in place.

Southwest has begun absorbing AirTran’s fleet and workers into Southwest, a process that will take several years.

 

[General Lee]

My sisters boyfriends aunt was getting her hair done and the lady two chairs down was overheard saying exactly what the jaded Delta guy just posted.

That's funny, your guy "Whatajoke" posted this when I asked him about it in the "Delta" thread (page 3):


"True story. We've been profitable for 40 straight years without ETOPS. I think we can limp thru 3 more. We've got tons of irons in the fire and that one came out. I think it's a smart move considering are fleet and other near intl options. I think it's good that Gary was able to tap the breaks on such a high profile decision if proper infrastructure is not in place."



I guess the main deal here is that NOT EVERYONE WANTS TO BE A CORNDOG. Every airline has it's ups and downs, even yours. That AT merger has turned into a cluster, with plenty of discontent. Let's hope it all mellows out eventually. Cheers!




Bye Bye---General Lee

 

[Dash Power]

That's funny, your guy "Whatajoke" posted this when I asked him about it in the "Delta" thread (page 3)


The SWA Captain I talked to in ATL (looked exhausted by the way, said he was going on to Norfolk, Tampa, Columbus, and Nashville that day) said a few other things that sounded plausible. He also mentioned the "drafting" of pilots in SEA who THOUGHT they were done, but still had time on their 6.5 trip minimum for the day, and had to do a turn to Paine Field to ferry a 737? He said they used to put those on the open time board and pay guys a bunch of money to do it, but now they were just assigning it, for no extra pay if it fell within the minimum guarantee. He and his FO said that was a bummer.

Well, unlike General Lee, it looks like their not in Mom's basement this morning wasting their precious life living on FI.

Oh and your Mom says your Mac and Cheese is ready!!

 

[igneousy2]

A SWA Capt in ATL told me it is on indefinite hold. He stated "we were too late to the Hawaii game anyway." Then he said because of their lack of a required reservation system(?), SWA wouldn't be flying any INTL routes until at least 2015. The current INTL routes would be flown by Airtran, since they have what is needed, supposedly.


Bye Bye---General Lee

The reservation system is a seperate issue.

ETOPS requires much closer part tracking than SWA's system currently allows which is what is holding up the process...at least that was what my super-model girlfriend's agent told me, he's a SWA frequent flyer so he shoud know.


Later

 

[General Lee]

The reservation system is a seperate issue.

ETOPS requires much closer part tracking than SWA's system currently allows which is what is holding up the process...at least that was what my super-model girlfriend's agent told me, he's a SWA frequent flyer so he shoud know.


Later

You're still way too late to the Hawaii game. When you are ready, it will be even tougher. But, good luck anyway, bra! Mahalo.


Bye Bye---General Lee

 

[Whataburger]

You're still way too late to the Hawaii game. When you are ready, it will be even tougher. But, good luck anyway, bra! Mahalo.


Bye Bye---General Lee

"Mahalo?" LOL! Thank you for what?


Do you have your French, and African, and Polynesian, and Hawaiian mixed up again General Queso?

Azul!

 

[redflyer65]

He's trying to equate us not going to Hawaii with some kind of failure. Yet will have another profitable quarter followed by another 41+ years of profits, with no bankruptcy.

Gary's initiatives are hitting on all cylinders with a few to follow. Full cross country 800s. Six more seats on full 700s. Beginning to link systems with AAI. Getting ready to announce near international. Completing a new reservation system. Hawaii and Alaska to follow later.

 

[General Lee]

"Mahalo?" LOL! Thank you for what?


Do you have your French, and African, and Polynesian, and Hawaiian mixed up again General Queso?

Azul!

Mahalo is Thank you in Hawaiian, something you won't hear from pax for years it seems. Hey, it's good to fold the cards if the boss thinks he doesn't have a good hand. By the time you are ready though, there will probably be 3 total legacies who are a lot financially stronger, AK will have a huge portion of the Hawaiian market, and Allegiant will be all over the smaller market to Hawaii flights. You may have missed the boat, bra!


You know I'm just jokin, right bra? Jambo!



Bye Bye---General Lee