SWA Growing

[airlinepilot]

Next Base will NOT be BNA....last month when one of the MX guys was working on our aircraft....I asked him what was going on in BNA. He told me there were in the process of "down sizing MX in BNA", offering transfers and early retirements. Cutting the BNA MX staff way down......something I have verified with other MX guys.....not something you would do if you planned on making BNA a new base in 6 months.....next base is either LAS (best bet or TPA)

 

[Alcatraz]

Vegas would be a good bet.

Ha! You're so punny!


My nearly worthless guesses on a pilot domicile:
-TPA is too close to MCO, and both would be affected at the same time by hurricanes.
-LAS would be obvious from a narrowsighted viewpoint, but wouldn't be good due to: high cost of living, poor public transportation, and high load factors for commuters.
-PHL would be interesting, especially if we announced service to LGA or EWR. They could try to build trips that would contain east coast delays to PHL crews. I don't really see this happening because of inefficiencies, but not much would surprise me.
-BNA and MCI are pretty small, but remain my [unreliable] prediction. They still have quite a few flights in many directions, lots of RONs (esp MCI), and are centrally located. Either would be nice to live in, too, as many MDW crew members who already live there will attest to. I think there's 350 pilots and FAs that commute from MCI to MDW alone! I also don't think a pilot base needs to be co-located with a mx base.


And I thought Ford Motor had a BBJ or two. Isn't that really a -700 (probably with ETOPS), or am I smoking crack?

 

[K-Mart]

Not only will they announce this as the newest city... it will be the next crew base - Lewiston, Montana.

Sunriver, Oregon!:laugh:

Honestly, I would bet Denver, Kansas City, or Las Vegas.

I would hope it is not Las Vegas. That would suck hard for some commuters.

 

[canyonblue737]

Ford doesn't have a 737-700!

ahhh... here it is... and from German too, so that explains the German/Ford confusion on this board.

[FONT=ARIAL, Helvetica, Geneva][FONT=ARIAL, Helvetica, Geneva][FONT=ARIAL, Helvetica, Geneva]http://www.airliners.net/open.file/0679985/L/[/FONT][/FONT][/FONT]

 

[canyonblue737]

And I thought Ford Motor had a BBJ or two. Isn't that really a -700 (probably with ETOPS), or am I smoking crack?

The BBJ isn't the same as the -700. It is the -700 fuselage with -800 wing structure and -800 gear. The Ford Motor Company has a true -700.

 

[canyonblue737]

With over 200 rooms a night in Vegas you'd have to think it's be Vegas? But, I've been wrong before.

They say there aren't enough flights that pass through mid-day in Vegas to make it a reasonable crew bases for the AM/PM change over from what I heard.

 

[learherkjay]

Great, not only do we have to put winglets on it and plug the eyebrow windows, but we need some extra time to strip all of the good avionics out of it.

 

[canyonblue]

......... but we need some extra time to strip all of the good avionics out of it.

Boeing makes them with avionics? Man now I'm really p!ssed.

 

[Skyboy722]

-LAS would be obvious from a narrowsighted viewpoint, but wouldn't be good due to: high cost of living, poor public transportation, and high load factors for commuters.

You mean it wouldn't be good for pilots: I agree. But I doubt the company is too concerned with this. Given the enormous amount of money spent on hotels, LAS is definitely in the running, but as was mentioned before, it really comes down to the company's ability to build efficient trips. To that point a CP told us that BNA was very close in the running...

 

[Aplus9]

I bet it will be KMCI....but lately the GO has been full of surprises. As for the current schedule through potential new bases, they practically start over when they open a knew base, don't they?

 

[northstar]

Ford doesn't have a 737-700!

Yeah, they do. We bought a -700 from Ford. It's in Dothan now. It shuttled Ford employees around in Europe. It currently holds 128, but will be converted to 137 soon. N471WN has been repaired in Chicago and is now N286WN. Also, where do you guys hear all this crew base stuff? What meeting were you in at the GO? Just curious.

 

[canyonblue737]

Yeah, they do. We bought a -700 from Ford. It's in Dothan now. It shuttled Ford employees around in Europe. It currently holds 128, but will be converted to 137 soon. N471WN has been repaired in Chicago and is now N286WN. Also, where do you guys hear all this crew base stuff? What meeting were you in at the GO? Just curious.

Apparently the chiefs have been saying it at the GO to new hire / upgrade classes the last week or so. Are we keeping 471/286 or trying to sell it, I heard mixed things... I do know the repair is finally underway or near complete.

 

[jball2]

Just heard today that we are getting 21 -700's from Mexicana and they are slated mainly for DAL and DEN growth.

Mexicana doesn't have 700's but AeroMexico Does!

 

[roughneck]

They are merging and going to an all airbus fleet.

 

[Deacon]

Ha! You're so punny!


My nearly worthless guesses on a pilot domicile:
-TPA is too close to MCO, and both would be affected at the same time by hurricanes.
-LAS would be obvious from a narrowsighted viewpoint, but wouldn't be good due to: high cost of living, poor public transportation, and high load factors for commuters.
-PHL would be interesting, especially if we announced service to LGA or EWR. They could try to build trips that would contain east coast delays to PHL crews. I don't really see this happening because of inefficiencies, but not much would surprise me.
-BNA and MCI are pretty small, but remain my [unreliable] prediction. They still have quite a few flights in many directions, lots of RONs (esp MCI), and are centrally located. Either would be nice to live in, too, as many MDW crew members who already live there will attest to. I think there's 350 pilots and FAs that commute from MCI to MDW alone! I also don't think a pilot base needs to be co-located with a mx base.


And I thought Ford Motor had a BBJ or two. Isn't that really a -700 (probably with ETOPS), or am I smoking crack?

EWR and LGA??? Didn't think SWA wanted to fly to big airports (that are prone to delays)

 

[FlyBarneyJets]

The BBJ isn't the same as the -700. It is the -700 fuselage with -800 wing structure and -800 gear. The Ford Motor Company has a true -700.

The original incarnation of the BBJ was identical to the -700. The BBJ1 (the most current version of the -700 fuselage variant) is the one that has the -800 wing and center section. This aircraft is the basis for the -700ER.

Read here.

 

[FlyBarneyJets]

Great, not only do we have to put winglets on it and plug the eyebrow windows, but we need some extra time to strip all of the good avionics out of it.

What is WITH the eyebrow plugs?? I got onto a -700 the other day that only had the captain's side done...and done badly. I swear it looked like the mech's used a 6" wide paintbrush to slap the desert gold onto the patches!

Talk about pounding it to fit and painting it to match!

 

[Juvat]

Talk about pounding it to fit...

Reminds me of a trip to Thailand many years ago...

 

[SWA/FO]

This might be the first time I have ever been wrong? I thought, I knew all of Fords' airplanes... I guess not.

 

[northstar]

This might be the first time I have ever been wrong? I thought, I knew all of Fords' airplanes... I guess not.

Rest asure SWA/FO... you weren't wrong. You just didn't know. You used poor judgement... much like the mistake you made not pursuing your fedex dream.

 

[SWA/FO]

Maybe your right... I'm very sad with my choices.

 

[SWA/FO]

Boeing 737-700

Details

Made in USA

33.6 meters long

35.8 meters span

124 seats

67.13 tons maximum takeoff weight

830 km/h cruise speed
Is Aeromexico and Mexicana getting together? On (aeromexico) their website they are proud of their fleet. Mostly boeings. What gives with this rumor!

 

[Alcatraz]

EWR and LGA??? Didn't think SWA wanted to fly to big airports (that are prone to delays)

We generally stay at the smaller airports. Except for LAX, PHX, LAS, STL (in the old days), DTW, DEN, IAD, and don't forget PHL...

Portions of the business model have changed since 9/11. There's money to be had in the big cities.

 

[Flycatcher99]

-BNA and MCI are pretty small, but remain my [unreliable] prediction. They still have quite a few flights in many directions, lots of RONs (esp MCI), and are centrally located.

I'm pretty sure BNA doesn't have many overnighters anymore. When I asked an ops agent not so long ago, he said we only have five originators there. Shoot, we've got twice that in ISP.

I've been hearing MCI bandied about lately. But I'm still guessing LAS. If so, fine by me...I'll be okay with no more overnights there.

 

[Skyboy722]

Just heard today that we are getting 21 -700's from Mexicana and they are slated mainly for DAL and DEN growth.

Maybe my B.S. detector is MEL'd today but are you pulling our leg with this one or what???

 

[turn&pull]

I know this sounds crazy but I have heard SMF as the next base for
SWA

 

[northstar]

Im hearing Amarillo is our next base

 

[Tejas-Jet]

Just heard today that we are getting 21 -700's from Mexicana and they are slated mainly for DAL and DEN growth.

Are you sure they are coming from Mexicana? Unless I am mistaken, Mexicana committed a few years back to Airbus for their narrow body needs. I've seen them with 727's...but never with 737's. Of course, we have all seen them flying the A-320 family for the past years.

Now, their biggest competitor, AeroMexico does have 737-700's ( with winglets). But that airplane is the backbone of their fleet.

Tejas

 

[cole]

SAN is going to be the next

 

[Fanjet]

Everyone is right, I say mini-domiciles: DEN, SLC, BNA, ISP, SAN, SEA, MCI, TPA, RDU...