As part of our effort to investigate the possibility of assigned seating, Southwest will conduct a two-month test to analyze how various boarding methods will affect our aircraft turn time. During this time, Customers on select flights will be assigned a specific seat, and then will be asked to board the aircraft using a specific method. We will test a variety of methods to see the impact that each one has on our boarding times.
Our SAN Station was selected due to their wonderful Employees, strong Station Leadership, a variety of business and leisure travelers, isolated facility layout, and an appropriate mix of high-demand shorthaul, mediumhaul, and longhaul flights. This test in SAN is only focusing on the operational efficiency of the turn, and not the computer functions that go along with it, including the actual assigning of seats.
No decisions have been made to move forward with assigned seating, other than our desire to investigate the opportunity. (My emphasis, not SWA's) It is a matter of being prepared to offer our Customers the best value in the airline industry. Southwest Airlines will not be able to offer assigned seats anytime before 2008, and the decision will be made only after extensive testing and analysis.
Our Customers may have questions about the tests. Please continue to emphasize to them that this is simply an effort to maintain our operational efficiency and enhance the Customer experience.
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This will give SWA a good chance to test various methods of assigned seatings that will hopefully result in no changes to the turn times. That is the fly in the ointment that is always a concern when new procedures are discussed for boarding. Adding assigned seating in terms of revenue generation may become a no brainer if turn times are affected and with a projected increase in business pax who bypass SWA for the lack of assigned seating. With load factors lower than other carriers, SWA has the capacity to absorb these additional pax & the good thing is these are higher paying customers adding more to the bottom line than what the average ticket buyer adds.
While other carriers are charging additional money for items they have taken for granted in the past, in this case an enhancement (in the minds of some) will cost a current passenger $0 and it will meet the needs of many who wish to have this enhancement. From a marketing standpoint an excellent selling point but more importantly a revenue generator....kind of like adding winglets to save money, we add assigned seatings to increase revenue and keep fares low....we'll see how the test runs and where it leads from there.
Our SAN Station was selected due to their wonderful Employees, strong Station Leadership, a variety of business and leisure travelers, isolated facility layout, and an appropriate mix of high-demand shorthaul, mediumhaul, and longhaul flights. This test in SAN is only focusing on the operational efficiency of the turn, and not the computer functions that go along with it, including the actual assigning of seats.
No decisions have been made to move forward with assigned seating, other than our desire to investigate the opportunity. (My emphasis, not SWA's) It is a matter of being prepared to offer our Customers the best value in the airline industry. Southwest Airlines will not be able to offer assigned seats anytime before 2008, and the decision will be made only after extensive testing and analysis.
Our Customers may have questions about the tests. Please continue to emphasize to them that this is simply an effort to maintain our operational efficiency and enhance the Customer experience.
_____________________________________________
This will give SWA a good chance to test various methods of assigned seatings that will hopefully result in no changes to the turn times. That is the fly in the ointment that is always a concern when new procedures are discussed for boarding. Adding assigned seating in terms of revenue generation may become a no brainer if turn times are affected and with a projected increase in business pax who bypass SWA for the lack of assigned seating. With load factors lower than other carriers, SWA has the capacity to absorb these additional pax & the good thing is these are higher paying customers adding more to the bottom line than what the average ticket buyer adds.
While other carriers are charging additional money for items they have taken for granted in the past, in this case an enhancement (in the minds of some) will cost a current passenger $0 and it will meet the needs of many who wish to have this enhancement. From a marketing standpoint an excellent selling point but more importantly a revenue generator....kind of like adding winglets to save money, we add assigned seatings to increase revenue and keep fares low....we'll see how the test runs and where it leads from there.
