Will SWA bail on San Jose?

[lowecur]

Lowecur,

I personally lived through both RDU and BNA's decline. The difference in both cases is SWA came in a "Saved" those abandoned airports. SWA saw an opportunity to make a smart business move, as we do well.

J3

What a bunch of crap. Airports survive based on demand, and all of the existing capacity would have been picked up by the other legacy's back then. The SW affect certainly helped with dynamic growth over and above that capacity, but the airports would have survived just fine because both cities saw huge economic growth in the last 15 years.

 

[HalinTexas]

Lowcur, you got me on that one, but that is the ONLY place I've ever seen that mentioned, and I think Cox was talking out of turn.

DFW Airport has no money! I commute out of there, and fly into there with ATA. It's turning into an expensive ghost town. Terminal D, the new int'l terminal is huge and expensive. I don't think DFW could find the money to cheaply build anything that would fit SWA's needs.

Read the rest of the article. It's plain to see how DFW won't work. Throw in an additional 200+ flights per day and you got gridlock. There's not enough incentive for SWA to split or move operations to DFW.

The Dallas/Ft. Worth area can handle two airports, it can't handle less or more expensive service, including further contruction at DFW.

 

[lowecur]

Lowcur, you got me on that one, but that is the ONLY place I've ever seen that mentioned, and I think Cox was talking out of turn.

DFW Airport has no money! I commute out of there, and fly into there with ATA. It's turning into an expensive ghost town. Terminal D, the new int'l terminal is huge and expensive. I don't think DFW could find the money to cheaply build anything that would fit SWA's needs.

Read the rest of the article. It's plain to see how DFW won't work. Throw in an additional 200+ flights per day and you got gridlock. There's not enough incentive for SWA to split or move operations to DFW.

The Dallas/Ft. Worth area can handle two airports, it can't handle less or more expensive service, including further contruction at DFW.

They have 22 empty gates since DL left. Other carriers are waiting to see how this plays out before committing anywhere. It is my understanding Jetblue was very close to signing on at DFW till Gary decided to play hardball with the Wrong Amendment.

You don't think DFW could find 1/2 a billion to build a road, parking garage, and new 20 gate terminal for Southwest? It's called a bond issue, and it could very easily happen if SWA agrees to close DAL.

 

[FlyBoeingJets]

They have 22 empty gates since DL left. Other carriers are waiting to see how this plays out before committing anywhere. It is my understanding Jetblue was very close to signing on at DFW till Gary decided to play hardball with the Wrong Amendment.

You don't think DFW could find 1/2 a billion to build a road, parking garage, and new 20 gate terminal for Southwest? It's called a bond issue, and it could very easily happen if SWA agrees to close DAL.

Let me get this straight...

DFW has tons of money to spend on a SWA friendly new terminal and other, yet to be started, infrastructure projects to handle the increased usage from SWA and JetBlue.

But I thought....

DFW is in financial trouble if it can't fill up the new terminal and carriers will be stuck with onerous fees if they can't fill it. How can DFW build ANOTHER expensive terminal, just for SWA or LCCs, that will be cheap to operate from without charging for it? How does building another terminal help offset other costs already threatening operators at DFW now?

I'll tell you. ALL carriers that choose to operate from DFW will be hit with big fees to pay for the international terminal and whatever else DFW decides to bill them for. They just have to figure out a way to get them inside the door. Then the axe will fall.


BTW, a Bond issue has interest payments that come from usage fees.

 

[FlyBoeingJets]

This argument avoids the fact that we are talking about a company choosing not to punish its customers with the DFW airport experience. It is sprawling, time consuming and expensive for the traveler.

SWA wants its customers to enjoy the Love airport experience. SWA wants its Dallas customers to be able to use an airport in their own town. SWA has spent big bucks on Love to encourage the behavior of a friendly airport.

If we reward poor behavior on the part of DFW we just encourage more of the same. DFW planners, in the '60s, had an Orwellian vision of building an airport to replace all airports. They managed to use Texas politics to force the project down our throats and made BIG money for a precious few doing it. We didn't want to use it then and still don't want to use it now.

Still no acceptable answer to the question, "Why should SWA be forced to foot the bill for unnecessary construction projects at an airport it does not want to operate from?"

And, Lowecur, you want to build another NEW terminal for SWA in response to the over construction and cost problems? What???

 

[lowecur]

And, Lowecur, you want to build another NEW terminal for SWA in response to the over construction and cost problems? What???

I've never seen anyone take more out of context than you FBJ. Where did I say I wanted to build a new terminal for DFW? All I did was mention that Mr. Cox from DFW said that he made the offer.

Is it feasible? Time will tell. Just how viable will DAL be for WN when other airlines begin to apply for gates and lobby for expansion of the limited 32 gates? How many more gates is WN entitled to other than the 14 they presently operate? My guess is the City will give preferential treatment to LUV on those decisions and that's when the lawsuits will pour in. It will be tied up in litigation for years.

Undoubtedly DFW needs to close down DAL to have a viable future. SWA has postured themselves to find out what this is worth to DFW. I think an offer will come down in the next year, and it will be up to SWA to decide if they want to remain at DAL with limited approval of the Wrong Amendment and hordes of lawsuits, or make the move to DFW.

 

[mach zero]

Lowely,

Shut UP!

 

[lowecur]

Lowely,

Shut UP!

Heh Zero, go plan handball against the curb you weasel.