SWA SEC 8-K 19Sep07 . . . thoughts?

[SELFloadingCRGO]

As I've asked before, why on earth would SWA want anything to do with ATL?
I also think that merging or stapling over 1600 pilots would put the whole SWA culture at stake. Not that the AirTran guys and girls aren't a great bunch of people, but it would be a bit risky imo.

Instead of an acquisition of another carrier my guess could be they may be getting ready to fit all their planes with Direct TV and or WiFi? I think that WiFi will be the next big thing for airlines to capitialize on for revenue streams. Not sure what a retrofit of over 500 aircraft would cost though.

Just my .02 cents...

SLC

 

[atafan]

United. DEN, IAD, and now SFO. Especially for Int'l ops.

Not like there's any corporate culture issues or anything. :laugh:

 

[BobbyB]

Don't forget that SWA is sitting on about $1.5B of stock that they have bought back over the past couple years.

 

[bravodude]

As I've asked before, why on earth would SWA want anything to do with ATL?
I also think that merging or stapling over 1600 pilots would put the whole SWA culture at stake. Not that the AirTran guys and girls aren't a great bunch of people, but it would be a bit risky imo.

Instead of an acquisition of another carrier my guess could be they may be getting ready to fit all their planes with Direct TV and or WiFi? I think that WiFi will be the next big thing for airlines to capitialize on for revenue streams. Not sure what a retrofit of over 500 aircraft would cost though.

Just my .02 cents...

SLC

I was in class a couple of moths ago and we had some finance people come in and talk to us. We asked about ATL, EWR, LGA, JFK. They told us that we would luv to go to all these cities the only problem is no gate space. when asked about satalite airports they said there would be no way to convince somebody from spokane that swf is new york. So i think if there was a way to get gates we would be all over it.

 

[capt. megadeth]

It would nice to see us pick up Alaskan Airlines they have gotten rid of all of the 80's but 4 of them. Also they go to Mexico and Canada so swa could start flying "International" and we would not have to start up issues. And we would pick up Alaska nice stop also I guess the way they route the flights to Mexico no etops. The one issue may be horizon air just food for thought I would like to see swa do some thing so our stock picks up and so we can keep a good thing going.

Well, that might be great for SWA but I'm sure Horizon would be f***ed since they have turboprops. SWA didn't want to codeshare with turboprops before so I am sure they won't want to own any.

 

[Splert]

Sep. 20--Southwest Airlines Co., under pressure from some investors to increase its financial leverage, plans to borrow $500 million against its fleet of aircraft.

Southwest is issuing "enhanced equipment trust certificates," or EETCs, secured by the value of 16 Boeing 737-700 jets delivered between Nov. 1, 2006, and May 31. The appraised value of the airplanes is $634 million, according to disclosures filed Wednesday with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Southwest chief executive Gary Kelly and chief financial officer Laura Wright recently acknowledged that the company's ratio of debt to equity was below ideal levels, although Southwest prides itself on keeping its debt levels far below those of its major competitors.

Some shareholders have been pushing to increase its share buybacks or otherwise increase shareholder return.

Southwest shares rose 6 cents Wednesday to $15.13. They're down 25 cents since Jan. 1 and down $1.64 from a year ago.

Credit: The Dallas Morning News

 

[ultrarunner]

The last time I saw a balance sheet we already had a large amount of CASH laying around. Will be interested to see what/who we buy with all this money!!!

Hopefully they will buy back some stock. Looking at your 5-year chart, your investors haven't had much to brag about.

 

[NuGuy]

Nah, you guys are thinking in the wrong direction. They are going to buy Greyhound, just to make really sure that every trailer park in the country is empty...

Nu

 

[GuppyWN]

Like I said earler, dirtying up the balance sheet.

I like the move. Gary Kelly is in this for the long run, not propping us up to drain the cash and run.

Gup

 

[Skank]

It would nice to see us pick up Alaskan Airlines they have gotten rid of all of the 80's but 4 of them. Also they go to Mexico and Canada so swa could start flying "International" and we would not have to start up issues. And we would pick up Alaska nice stop also I guess the way they route the flights to Mexico no etops. The one issue may be horizon air just food for thought I would like to see swa do some thing so our stock picks up and so we can keep a good thing going.

Bingo! I'm surprised that nobody else has done this.