chase said:Lowecur,
Trying to attach "bond guilt" to all the other burdens SWA has to carry is more than I'll care to concede to....airport managers & government officials need to be held accountable to standards of basic business practices....outprice your product & folks will move elsewhere....just as you do or I do on a daily basis....bond investors (if they are burned) should also realize this fact...betting on a "sure thing" because the lemmings will follow & pay whatever is asked needs to be changed.
SWA has no duty to bondholders but to its shareholders, employees & customers to keep costs low & profits high. The market place (i.e. airports, vendors, etc.) shouldn't be propped up or protected from basic economic factors as SWA or any airline be hampered by governmental regulation in being kept from operating in a sound financial manner. SEA-TAC made an operational & business decision sometime ago, just as DFW did after 911....all airlines had to also...does SWA require another runway at STL now that AA is gone? Certainly not but we're all going to pay for it....there are other options & whether you call it the Southwest effect or not, I call it basic business principles....we have it within our power to save money, why not do it for the consumer & raise profits? The most healthy airline in the industry & one that has
(1) NOT LAID OFF A SINGLE PERSON SINCE 911
(2) HIRED 1200+ PILOTS SINCE 911
(3) HIRED 5000+ NEW AIRLINE EMPLOYEES SINCE 911
(4) Opened 3 new cities, provided billions of dollars in savings to flyers around the country who would not normally be able to fly
I think SWA has done its fair share at adding to the economy & giving folks the freedom to fly (above is not yelling, just an emphasis item to give a perspective to the "whoa is me, SWA is bad" mentality that some folks (not you of course Lowecur ) seem to have....it is nice to work for a company that continues to do this during the roughest patch of economic times for the airline industry....plus SWA expects to add at least 1000 more pilots over the next 2 years...again I don't believe SWA has much to apologize for take grief from folks when it comes to making smart business decisions....maybe if other government entities or businesses followed some of the basic principles that SWA uses we wouldn't even be having these discussions.
just some additional thoughts...cheers,
Oh hail, the mighty Southwest. Giver of life, jobs, and the pursuit of happiness. Hail the mighty Herb & Colleen. Oh Herb, who art at WN, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, at Love Field as it is at DFW.