LiveFreeorDie
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SWA TidBits
- Thread starter chase
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qxeplt
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Question???
Chase,
Just wondering what some of the SWA conservation tips are (SE taxi, Earlier shutdown, Altitude selection, Reduced power cruise, Approach profiles)? If you can divulge the recipe Id be interested in knowing. If not I'm sure I'll find out soon enough in Dallas.
Thanks Chase
Chase,
Just wondering what some of the SWA conservation tips are (SE taxi, Earlier shutdown, Altitude selection, Reduced power cruise, Approach profiles)? If you can divulge the recipe Id be interested in knowing. If not I'm sure I'll find out soon enough in Dallas.
Thanks Chase
Other items
SWAFO hit some of the big ones, here are some other ones:
- Using 30 degrees of bank vs. 20 on 180 degree turnouts saves several gallons of fuel.
- Reduce using the packs on the ground when the temperature on the ground permits it...uses less fuel
- Two pack operation on the ground for -700 uses less fuel than 1 1 pack operation (most guys were doing this anyway)
- Don't accelerate to cruise speed when at intermediate level offs in anticipation of climbing again, keep it at the climb speed (less drag, computer models shows this saves fuel), same for level offs
- SWA currently does "gate services" at 2 bases, AUS, FLL. This means the APU is off until 5 minutes prior to push. A test was run in AUS last year doing this procedure (APU doesn't get turned on during the taxi in) & while the procedure had some bugs & habit patterns had to be broken it was determined that the fuel savings were significant enough to start doing this procedure at more bases. FLL is the 2nd with more to follow
- The biggest fuel savings though is as SWAFO said, fly the box speeds. Once we get 100% of the folks flying the speeds at cruise instead of the faster speeds, we'll save even more. SWA is placing in the aircraft a system that will allow all engine data to be downloaded to determine all parameters in flight. This will help pinpoint areas where fuel savings can occur. It has already proven invaluable in providing data points justifying fuel saving measures.
I'm sure there are more things but my brain can't recall them at the time.
Some other cost saving measures from article in FW paper
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Posted on Mon, Nov. 04, 2002
Southwest quietly tightens its belt its way
By TREBOR BANSTETTER
Star-Telegram Staff Writer
DALLAS - While the major airlines have launched dramatic and painful cost-cutting plans in order to compete with their low-fare counterparts, discount king Southwest Airlines has quietly been paring down its own already-tight cost structure.
So far this year, Southwest has renegotiated key contracts with suppliers, changed the way airplanes are fueled at some airports, and enacted a hiring freeze at the airline's Dallas corporate headquarters. So far, the carrier has cut about $120 million in annual costs, airline executives say.
"This has been a real theme since Sept. 11, a real focus," said Gary Kelly, Southwest's chief financial officer. "It's always been part of our culture to constantly attack costs, but we've stepped it up even more."
For two years, the industry has grappled with a severe downturn in travel, particularly among lucrative business travelers. The big carriers have lost billions because their expenses far exceeded revenues. Southwest has been the only large airline to post profits this year.
Nonetheless, since the Sept. 11 attacks, the pace of cost cuts at Southwest has beaten the average operating expense cuts at the largest airlines. And Southwest's cost-cutting campaign - which so far has been achieved without laying off a single employee has become a key component of the carrier's ability to remain the nation's largest profitable airline, airline executives say.
The top carriers - American, Delta, United, Northwest and Continental - have cut their operating expenses for each mile of capacity by an average of 2 percent since the third quarter of 2001. Southwest has slashed about double that figure, with a 3 percent decrease in operating costs.
Two big airline - Fort Worth-based American and Houston-based Continental - have been ahead of Southwest in ratcheting back expenses during the last year. American, which has been the most aggressive of the big airlines in slashing expenses, has reduced its costs by about 7 percent. Continental, based in Houston, cut its expenses by about 4.7 precent.
Delta, which operates a minor hub at D/FW Airport, has increased its costs by nearly 7 percent since the third quarter of 2001. United has cut its expenses about 3 percent - the same level at Southwest - while Northwest has slashed expenses by about 2 percent.
Aside from the numbers, the reductions at Southwest have been very different from cutbacks at the majors. The largest airlines have laid off thousands of employees, cut flights and parked airplanes, and United is looking to employees for $5.8 billion in wage concessions.
Southwest, meanwhile, has been adding flights and has kept all of its employees. It recently moved up delivery of more airplanes next year. And the carrier even forged a new contract with pilots that gave them 20 percent to 24 percent raises.
The airline's efficient structure is one reason Southwest remains the top moneymaker in the industry and can dole out raises despite the downturn, analysts say.
"Revenues (at Southwest) have continued to recover at a sluggish pace," airline analyst Susan Donofrio of Deutsche Bank Securities recently told investors. "Unlike the other airlines, however, Southwest managed to fly through the quarter with a profit."
The drive to slash expenses has included:
* The airline began doing many of inspections of aircraft frames in its own maintenance facilities instead of contracting the work out. During the past year, Southwest's costs for maintenance materials and repairs has dropped 8 percent thanks to the reduction in outsourcing, according to the carrier's latest quarterly financial report.
* Southwest re-negotiated its telecommunications contract for "a substantial savings," according to Kelly. Because Southwest has traditionally sold a large percentage of its tickets over its toll-free lines, telecommunications has always been a major expense.
* The carrier recently installed underground fueling systems at its gates at several airports, including Hobby Airport in Houston. That has cut manpower costs, because workers no longer have to transport fuel out to airplanes.
* A drive to improve efficiency in baggage handling has reduced the number of lost bags, "and that has meant fewer claims," Kelly said.
* The airline forged a new contract for its credit-card processing at a much lower rate.
* A freeze on hiring at the company's Dallas headquarters has kept the payroll and office expenses stable, Kelly said. While the airline will hire a new employee when absolutely necessary, "we really have to justify bringing on somebody new." Southwest is even resisting replacing employees who quit, he said.
The airline has also taken the same moves many of its competitors have enacted this year, including cutting commission rates to travel agents, increasing the use of electronic tickets and installing automated check-in systems at airports.
Together, the cost-cutting initiatives enacted in the past year have saved the airline about $30 million each quarter, or about $120 million annually. And Kelly said he hopes costs will continue to go down.
While Kelly is hopeful the carrier will continue its downward push on costs, he acknowledges that the fourth quarter will be tough, primarily because of projected increases in fuel costs.
The drive to reduce expenses will become even more important if big competitors like American are able to reach their own costs-cutting goals. American executives have set a goal of slashing $3 billion in expenses to be able to compete with low-fare carriers like Southwest.
But Kelly doubts that American and other major airlines can reduce their expenses to the same level as Southwest. During the third quarter, the carrier's operating expenses were about 7 cents for every mile of capacity in its network.
At American and Delta, in contract, those expenses were 10 cents per mile. United's costs were 11 cents per mile, and Northwest's were about 9 cents.
"You have to be skeptical," he said. "They've talked about cutting costs before, and nothing changed."
But if the major airlines do bring costs down, he said, Southwest will just lower its own costs even further.
"We want to be the low-cost producer, we want to be the low-fare airline, and we want to be profitable," he said. "So that means we need to be lower than anybody else."
An additional website some of you may not know of but is interesting. http://www.swatakeoff.com/
SWAFO hit some of the big ones, here are some other ones:
- Using 30 degrees of bank vs. 20 on 180 degree turnouts saves several gallons of fuel.
- Reduce using the packs on the ground when the temperature on the ground permits it...uses less fuel
- Two pack operation on the ground for -700 uses less fuel than 1 1 pack operation (most guys were doing this anyway)
- Don't accelerate to cruise speed when at intermediate level offs in anticipation of climbing again, keep it at the climb speed (less drag, computer models shows this saves fuel), same for level offs
- SWA currently does "gate services" at 2 bases, AUS, FLL. This means the APU is off until 5 minutes prior to push. A test was run in AUS last year doing this procedure (APU doesn't get turned on during the taxi in) & while the procedure had some bugs & habit patterns had to be broken it was determined that the fuel savings were significant enough to start doing this procedure at more bases. FLL is the 2nd with more to follow
- The biggest fuel savings though is as SWAFO said, fly the box speeds. Once we get 100% of the folks flying the speeds at cruise instead of the faster speeds, we'll save even more. SWA is placing in the aircraft a system that will allow all engine data to be downloaded to determine all parameters in flight. This will help pinpoint areas where fuel savings can occur. It has already proven invaluable in providing data points justifying fuel saving measures.
I'm sure there are more things but my brain can't recall them at the time.
Some other cost saving measures from article in FW paper
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Posted on Mon, Nov. 04, 2002
Southwest quietly tightens its belt its way
By TREBOR BANSTETTER
Star-Telegram Staff Writer
DALLAS - While the major airlines have launched dramatic and painful cost-cutting plans in order to compete with their low-fare counterparts, discount king Southwest Airlines has quietly been paring down its own already-tight cost structure.
So far this year, Southwest has renegotiated key contracts with suppliers, changed the way airplanes are fueled at some airports, and enacted a hiring freeze at the airline's Dallas corporate headquarters. So far, the carrier has cut about $120 million in annual costs, airline executives say.
"This has been a real theme since Sept. 11, a real focus," said Gary Kelly, Southwest's chief financial officer. "It's always been part of our culture to constantly attack costs, but we've stepped it up even more."
For two years, the industry has grappled with a severe downturn in travel, particularly among lucrative business travelers. The big carriers have lost billions because their expenses far exceeded revenues. Southwest has been the only large airline to post profits this year.
Nonetheless, since the Sept. 11 attacks, the pace of cost cuts at Southwest has beaten the average operating expense cuts at the largest airlines. And Southwest's cost-cutting campaign - which so far has been achieved without laying off a single employee has become a key component of the carrier's ability to remain the nation's largest profitable airline, airline executives say.
The top carriers - American, Delta, United, Northwest and Continental - have cut their operating expenses for each mile of capacity by an average of 2 percent since the third quarter of 2001. Southwest has slashed about double that figure, with a 3 percent decrease in operating costs.
Two big airline - Fort Worth-based American and Houston-based Continental - have been ahead of Southwest in ratcheting back expenses during the last year. American, which has been the most aggressive of the big airlines in slashing expenses, has reduced its costs by about 7 percent. Continental, based in Houston, cut its expenses by about 4.7 precent.
Delta, which operates a minor hub at D/FW Airport, has increased its costs by nearly 7 percent since the third quarter of 2001. United has cut its expenses about 3 percent - the same level at Southwest - while Northwest has slashed expenses by about 2 percent.
Aside from the numbers, the reductions at Southwest have been very different from cutbacks at the majors. The largest airlines have laid off thousands of employees, cut flights and parked airplanes, and United is looking to employees for $5.8 billion in wage concessions.
Southwest, meanwhile, has been adding flights and has kept all of its employees. It recently moved up delivery of more airplanes next year. And the carrier even forged a new contract with pilots that gave them 20 percent to 24 percent raises.
The airline's efficient structure is one reason Southwest remains the top moneymaker in the industry and can dole out raises despite the downturn, analysts say.
"Revenues (at Southwest) have continued to recover at a sluggish pace," airline analyst Susan Donofrio of Deutsche Bank Securities recently told investors. "Unlike the other airlines, however, Southwest managed to fly through the quarter with a profit."
The drive to slash expenses has included:
* The airline began doing many of inspections of aircraft frames in its own maintenance facilities instead of contracting the work out. During the past year, Southwest's costs for maintenance materials and repairs has dropped 8 percent thanks to the reduction in outsourcing, according to the carrier's latest quarterly financial report.
* Southwest re-negotiated its telecommunications contract for "a substantial savings," according to Kelly. Because Southwest has traditionally sold a large percentage of its tickets over its toll-free lines, telecommunications has always been a major expense.
* The carrier recently installed underground fueling systems at its gates at several airports, including Hobby Airport in Houston. That has cut manpower costs, because workers no longer have to transport fuel out to airplanes.
* A drive to improve efficiency in baggage handling has reduced the number of lost bags, "and that has meant fewer claims," Kelly said.
* The airline forged a new contract for its credit-card processing at a much lower rate.
* A freeze on hiring at the company's Dallas headquarters has kept the payroll and office expenses stable, Kelly said. While the airline will hire a new employee when absolutely necessary, "we really have to justify bringing on somebody new." Southwest is even resisting replacing employees who quit, he said.
The airline has also taken the same moves many of its competitors have enacted this year, including cutting commission rates to travel agents, increasing the use of electronic tickets and installing automated check-in systems at airports.
Together, the cost-cutting initiatives enacted in the past year have saved the airline about $30 million each quarter, or about $120 million annually. And Kelly said he hopes costs will continue to go down.
While Kelly is hopeful the carrier will continue its downward push on costs, he acknowledges that the fourth quarter will be tough, primarily because of projected increases in fuel costs.
The drive to reduce expenses will become even more important if big competitors like American are able to reach their own costs-cutting goals. American executives have set a goal of slashing $3 billion in expenses to be able to compete with low-fare carriers like Southwest.
But Kelly doubts that American and other major airlines can reduce their expenses to the same level as Southwest. During the third quarter, the carrier's operating expenses were about 7 cents for every mile of capacity in its network.
At American and Delta, in contract, those expenses were 10 cents per mile. United's costs were 11 cents per mile, and Northwest's were about 9 cents.
"You have to be skeptical," he said. "They've talked about cutting costs before, and nothing changed."
But if the major airlines do bring costs down, he said, Southwest will just lower its own costs even further.
"We want to be the low-cost producer, we want to be the low-fare airline, and we want to be profitable," he said. "So that means we need to be lower than anybody else."
An additional website some of you may not know of but is interesting. http://www.swatakeoff.com/
Last edited:
Sierra-Hotel
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