SWA MDW Meltdown

[PCL_128]

Herb may still wander around HQ on occasion, but he's definitely not running the show. That's the purview of the beancounters now.

 

[Daddy]

True dat. The luv is definitely gone now. We just need basic management in a VERY favorable business environment for airlines right now. Our current mgmt can't do that. Herb is gone and this is definitely Gary's airline. The guy just doesn't see past the numbers.

 

[PCL_128]

We had the same problem on the AirTran side when Joe left and was replaced with Bob. Joe was a scumbag, unlike Herb, but he at least knew how to run and grow an airline. Bob was just a bean counter, and he knew nothing of operations, marketing, etc. Gary seems to be just a slightly smarter version of him, unfortunately. He speaks the propaganda quite well about "LUV" and such, but at heart, all he knows is numbers. That's fine for a CFO. Not so much for a CEO and a leader.

 

[Daddy]

He was a great CFO. He is definitely out of his depth trying to run an airline. He just does not understand a lot of the basics of how airlines work. The disconnect with this knowledge as well as his alienating virtually every labor group has caused countless problems. Every holiday season he or VDV poke the employees in the eye with threats of furlough and reminding them of the fact that each one of them is just a number on a spread sheet. It is such a stark contrast from Herb.

 

[scarlet]

At Airtran, Mgt would walk out on the ramp and watch for about 30 mins. Fire 4 to 5 people on the spot that was dragging as@. Amazing how quickly the others fall in line. Rampers are upsat they are outsourcing at some locations. Like every airline out there.

But you can't get a 175 PAX jet and do a 45 minute turn. ITS impossible. That aircraft needs 1:15 on the ground. They need to go to all 45 min turns. Not every flight is going to go smooth and without some MX, 30 wheelchairs, weather. Its not hub and spoke so you cause that aircraft to be late all day and the spares and crewmembers aren't in other cities to help get back on time. This is not rocket science, but you wonder when they get 737-800 and schedule 30 minute turns=who is running the show. 757 at United and Delta are on the ground for at least an hour and half.

this is only my opinion!!!

 

[nimtz]

Patience, people. Patience. Get through this-

Warrior spirit will save the day!

 

[humveedriver]

At Airtran, Mgt would walk out on the ramp and watch for about 30 mins. Fire 4 to 5 people on the spot that was dragging as@. Amazing how quickly the others fall in line. Rampers are upsat they are outsourcing at some locations. Like every airline out there.

But you can't get a 175 PAX jet and do a 45 minute turn. ITS impossible. That aircraft needs 1:15 on the ground. They need to go to all 45 min turns. Not every flight is going to go smooth and without some MX, 30 wheelchairs, weather. Its not hub and spoke so you cause that aircraft to be late all day and the spares and crewmembers aren't in other cities to help get back on time. This is not rocket science, but you wonder when they get 737-800 and schedule 30 minute turns=who is running the show. 757 at United and Delta are on the ground for at least an hour and half.

this is only my opinion!!!

It's square pegs and round holes. A -700 doing strictly point to point, never passing through BWI, HOU, MDW can turn in 25 mins all day. This is the operating system that SWA makes money on. The effiency of schedule that allows them to run the operation using economy of force. But they aren't doing that kind of flying. And more importantly. They haven't admitted that they don't do that anymore. Once the "senior leadership" matches the operation to the flying schedule, things will run more smoothly.

 

[Daddy]

Only problem: SWA senior leadership will NEVER admit they made a mistake.

 

[waveflyer]

I hope for your sakes it changes. Hate to see bean counters ruin a great company. I think Herb said "take care of your employees and they'll take care of your customers".

Yeah, except they gave dispatchers topped out FO money- that still pisses me off

Do THAT for every group and we're in trouble

 

[dicko]

Van de Ven

"There's only two things I hate in this world. People who are intolerant of other people's cultures and the Dutch." - N.Powers esquire.