SWA starting its INTERNATIONAL FOOTPRINT

[GIZMONC]

The following dates are approximate for WN service to take over from FL

WN ATL-AUA AUG 3
WN ATL-CUN SEP 1
WN ATL-PUJ OCT 1
WN ATL-SJU AUG 3
WN ATL-NAS SEP 1
WN BWI-AUA AUG 3
WN BWI-BDA SEP 1
WN BWI-MBJ AUG 1
WN BWI-NAS OCT 1
WN BWI-PUJ AUG 1
WN BWI-SJU AUG 1

 

[Furloughed80]

Why did you type that in all caps?

 

[Critter717]

It would make sense that the BWI domicile would be doing some of the close international stuff. I guess this assumes the ATL domicile is up and running at that time as well. This does raise a few questions though.

Airtran still has a number of guys who are not Mexico City qualified. If memory serves, it took quite some time for the WATRS flights to be observed before they cut guys loose.

We are now about half way through March. Is the SWA training department able to train all the upgrades, 1100 Airtran guys, and do full time observation flights for all crews from each domicile on WATRS and Mexico City. Seems like a tall order to get all this done by 1/1/15.

Just sayin....

 

[Oakum_Boy]

What in the name of.....is an international footprint? Sounds serious and new!

 

[Ty Webb]

Are these dates in 2014? I don't see any way they could have the WATRS stuff done and approved by Aug 2013, which is what most of the BWI stuff is. BWI-AUA, for example, would be 20-40 minutes longer each way, if they don't have the approvals.

 

[CaptainZero]

Add a year to all of those dates, and you'll be in the ballpark.

 

[GIZMONC]

I cut and pasted

But here is the entire article :

http://www.airliners.net/aviation-forums/general_aviation/read.main/5713152/

 

[Ty Webb]

I cut and pasted

But here is the entire article :

http://www.airliners.net/aviation-forums/general_aviation/read.main/5713152/

[FONT=ARIAL,]Hardly an official source . . . but whoever posted that wrote across the top[/FONT] of it "[FONT=ARIAL,]WN/FL Combined YOY"



If they get the WATRS routes approved for SWA before 2014 I will be surprised.

[/FONT]

 

[Ralph Wiggums]

Go to southwest.com. I picked a random date of Oct. 31, which is selling tickets for two nonstops from BWI to SJU. $172 one-way.

 

[Ty Webb]

Go to southwest.com. I picked a random date of Oct. 31, which is selling tickets for two nonstops from BWI to SJU. $172 one-way.

Yep, they announced SWA is taking over SJU flying in the Fall.

Of course, SJU isn't International, and it doesn't have to be flown WATRS, either . . . hell, you can even do the whole route without a raft . . . it just takes a l-o-n-g time. . . . over DIW, OMN, TRV, Nassau, Grand Turk, etc. it'll just take you 4.5 hours!

 

[Ky.BrownBourbn]

Heard through the grapevine that Costa Rica got announced today out of Houston, Was Costa Rica a AT destintation? Anyone else hear this?

KBB

 

[Ky.BrownBourbn]

Disregard, I found it, it was from the CostaRicanTimes newspaper:

Southwest Airlines Flying Soon to Costa Rica
Posted by Dan Stevens on Tuesday, March 12, 2013 · Leave a Comment
Costa Rica Travel News – This is the thing that all of us in Costa Rica have been waiting on and it is finally going to happen. With what is happening in Houston changes are in the wind for Southwest. It is busy putting together the pieces necessary to venture into international markets.
I do not know about you but I am a bit tired of paying for the expensive airfares from the airlines that currently fly to and from Costa Rica. Combine that with their absolutely terrible customer service and you see why other airlines need to enter this market.
With the lack of companies offering flights to Costa Rica, they know that even with a bad experience you will probably use them again if they have the lowest price for a flight to Costa Rica.
Southwest has set a goal of doubling within five years the amount of overseas flying the airline does. They acquired AirTran as one step toward international expansion as AirTran brought with it short-haul overseas destinations.
Southwest has announced plans to build a new international terminal in Houston, which is currently underway and will offer flights to Costa Rica from the Houston hub. This will be happening in the near future. It is also developing a number of new routes for its AirTran subsidiary – focused mainly on destinations in Mexico – and is eyeing other opportunities in South America.
Delta Airlines has also entered the Costa Rican market. Delta airlines has two flights daily from Atlanta, Georgia to San Jose, Costa Rica. It also has one flight per week from Atlanta to Liberia. JetBlue will also be coming in from Ft. Lauderdale.
We can only hope with this competition that the other airlines will finally start improving their customer service. It has not happened with competition in the telecommunications business in Costa Rica, but perhaps it will with the airline industry.

 

[scoreboardII]

Sweet titty f'ing Jesus, WN is adding a PHX SMF nonstop!

WN PHX-SMF OCT 6>5

 

[c9skytrain]

Houston to Costa Rica? Maybe out of IAH. Point out the Customs facility at HOU. Three year project just for building the int'l terminal.

As for the rest on international, WN has to be able to accept foreign currency, list passports, assign seats, and send all that info to DHS. Who here thinks they will be able to do that by August, in addition to getting the FAA and foreign approval in order to fly the routes?

 

[Flyby1206]

Sweet titty f'ing Jesus, WN is adding a PHX SMF nonstop!

WN PHX-SMF OCT 6>5

Think you're reading it wrong. In OCT it is reduced from 6x daily to 5x (year-over-year change compared to last OCT)

 

[scoreboardII]

Oh the huge manatee...

 

[waveflyer]

You're right c9, they haven't been working on anything in Dallas the last year and a half-
Just paying people to stare at the ceiling

 

[c9skytrain]

Well Wave, What anecdotal evidence from the company do you have that they are on track for int'l by Aug of this year?

 

[waveflyer]

I don't-
Mostly bc I don't care-
I see no reason for pessimism though

 

[humveedriver]

http://www.dallasnews.com/travel/co...hwest-and-airtran-begin-codeshare-flights.ece

Not sure what the hurry for SW to do Intl flying is? They are just rounding the corner with the AT codeshare. Eventually SWA will be the remaining company. Just not anytime soon.

 

[c9skytrain]

Just pointing out the realities of flying int'l.

 

[737tanker]

What anecdotal evidence from the company do you have that they are on track for int'l by Aug of this year?

How about the fact that all the pilots and F/As are going through international, overwater, and Class II training. Everyone is projected to be trained by Aug.

 

[humveedriver]

How about the fact that all the pilots and F/As are going through international, overwater, and Class II training. Everyone is projected to be trained by Aug.

This thread is way off track. The things you just listed are the easiest low hanging fruit parts of SWA of taking over the intl ops. It will happen. It's at least 12 months out before SWA does their first intl flight. AirTran is going to run 32 A/c operation for mostly intl ops for the next 18 months minimum. Having said all that. Who cares? The next 18 months is all about shutting AT down. That's it. So yeah, I hope they have the worker bees trained so that when they decide to throw the switch, they can actually do it. 18 months is not alot of time.

 

[scoreboardII]

Dude, or should I say negative Nelly, every pilot will be International Trained by Sep this year, every FA will be raft overwater certified Aug this year. Flying down South is not rocket science.

 

[redflyer65]

Would coudln't possibly get ETOPS or WATRS approved down the road, not at Southwest!

Guys it's coming. Like wave said, who really cares what the timeframe is from a pilot prespective. One, two years....does it matter?

 

[Ty Webb]

Dude, or should I say negative Nelly, every pilot will be International Trained by Sep this year, every FA will be raft overwater certified Aug this year. Flying down South is not rocket science.

The laws of aerodynamics don't change going South, but everything else does. :laugh:

Seriously, most of the work that has to be done is Company-wide; sitting through a day of classroom training is the easiest part of it, as I think Humvee mentioned a few pages back.

Your Maintenance Planning will have to be updated, to get the right planes with the right equipment in place for the flights they'll be needed for. They will have to have Maintenance agreements in place for destinations and alternates, and have them approved. Dispatch software will have to be upgraded, as will your reservations system. Dispatchers and Gate Agents will have to be trained on the new procedures, as well . . . There will have to be proving runs, the Check airmen will have to get Route qualified, and finally, the Pilots will have to get route qualified for some destinations . . . in other words, mountains of paperwork still have to be climbed.

You, as a line pilot, actually want this to take a while. The worst thing they could do would be to give you one day of training in recurrent, then pat you on the back, and send you out to figure it out through trial, error, and certificate action (or worse).

It will happen, but 2014 is much more likely than 2013. I guess we'll see.

Regds,
Ty

 

[Ty Webb]

From an article published yesterday in CAPA:

"Southwest is also replacing its reservations system, and expects to complete the first phase, which will support international itineraries, in 2014".

 

[scoreboardII]

Ty, trust us, we don't want to be first in the barrel going South. It doesn't change the fact, this ain't no big thing, specially having the ground AT folks who already do it on payroll.

 

[SKC]

Dispatch is completely ready to roll for intl. Can't blame us.

The only thing we can't currently do is ETOPS.