Airlines are now starting to look seriously at using their onboard WiFi setups to also stream on demand video in a variety of situations.  The general idea is that the WiFi equipment onboard is vastly underutilized for internet access and by adding onboard storage, one could stream video throughout the airplane easily enough.  It will also offer more revenue streams and that isn’t a bad thing.

This newer approach also innovates inflight entertainment.  Virgin America, for instance, is going to adopt a new IFE system that will, once again, raise the bar for their already superior IFE but also reduce the infrastructure and weight necessary to serve such a system.  Simply put, it reduces how much wire has to be installed and that reduces weight and maintenance.

I like this approach because it allows people to use personal devices whether they be laptops, tablets or smartphones which are all devices those same people are familiar with.  In addition, it reduces weight and offers the opportunity to present IFE with a small footprint.   Small enough that even Southwest Airlines is going to do this.

It does reveal an evergrowing need on aircraft today and that is power connections.  Some airlines have them, some don’t.  Some airlines present it at a limited number of seats and some offer it at every seat.  I would argue that on flights greater than 2 hours, you need it at every seat and possibly in two forms.  You need a standard 110v AC plug capability and (optionally) a USB power connection.  That will add weight. 

However, the additional revenue streams that airlines could enjoy from this infrastructure probably offsets the additional associated costs with weight.  Furthermore, it allows airlines to stay competitive with each other when it comes to offering wireless internet connections and IFE. 

I like the approach and I like the opportunities it gives airlines.  One would expect that a multitude of airlines will adopt this fairly quickly.  Hear me Delta?

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Will air fares be lower in the fall and winter?

It depends on what your standard is for low.  If you mean lower compared to this summer, yes, they probably will be a bit lower.  If you mean lower than last year, I think not.

Airlines continue to manage their capacity very closely and consolidation has brought more capacity management into play.  LCC carriers such as Southwest are not acting like rebels right now in that they’re joining most fare hikes quite willingly. 

I do expect some fare sales and I do think that some of those advertised fares will be incredibly low.  I also think that the number of seats available at those fares will be incredibly small.  They are the “door busters” of air fare sales.

Should you buy now?  I think you can hardly go wrong buying a ticket for holiday travel right now.  It’s possible that a lower fare might come along in a few instances but I think the probability of that is quite low. 

Expect seats on LCC carriers in the holiday season to be at a premium.  Particularly on airlines such as Southwest and jetBlue as their no baggage fees for a checked bag make travel for families much cheaper.  A family of 4 can save as much as $200 and that’s real money.

So, if I were looking for an inexpensive fare for holiday travel, I would buy now.  If I were hoping for a great fare for a whimsical trip, I might wait just a bit longer.  I do not think that we’ll see a plethora of low, low fares until after January 1st.

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Southwest is making it pretty clear that it isn’t all that enamored with the Boeing 717 after all.  While it serves a purpose, Southwest thinks its needs can be met by the 737 in a 137 seat configuration or more.   The 717, in its current configuration, seats 117.

Southwest is a smart airline and they know best what they need.  It’s interesting to me that Airtran has used them effectively but that Southwest doesn’t see any advantages.  Yes, it’s true that the more seats, the more money a flight makes.  It’s also true that the 717 isn’t the most efficient aircraft going around in light of the Embraer 195 and Bombardier CSeries.

But is Southwest really not in need of that size aircraft?   I would argue that ignoring those “third tier” cities any longer may be unwise.  Southwest has the United States covered now and growth will come in the form of either more international flying or finding smaller cities to serve with the right aircraft. 

Why can’t Southwest use a smaller aircraft?  Adding the E-195 or CSeries ought to give them the right sized aircraft for those markets at an operational efficiency they’re accustomed to.  I understand not wanting to “hub” their airline but they already do that in the form of many focus cities.  Besides, those third tier cities are generally “tied” to one or two major cities at most.   For instance, Wichita, KS has ties to Kansas City which is a good gateway city to fly to other parts of the country.   Similarly, why not serve Des Moines, IA or Omaha, Nebraska with flights to Chicago or Denver?

There is no reason why Southwest can’t provide the same kind of route structure connecting these cities much in the same “point to point” structure that it currently uses. 

I suspect that Southwest is going to work with Boeing to unload these 717s in favor of a 737 MAX order but I also think that Southwest won’t be ruling out a different aircraft in the “regional” class from another manufacturer.

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According to the Dallas Morning News, Southwest CEO Gary Kelly says that as a result of the Airtran ALPA MEC decision to not have their membership vote on the proposed integration agreement, tens of millions of dollars in financial incentives are now off the table.

One thing about Southwest and its employees, even its unions, they all understand that to experience reward, the deal has to get done.

Apparently Airtran-ALPA didn’t take that into consideration.  What will be amusing is if Airtran-ALPA thinks that those incentives will go back on the table.  My guess?  They won’t.  Those incentives were for a quick deal and a smooth integration.  Southwest doesn’t pay for mediocre. 

No, really, they don’t.  And SWA employees know that.  I do wonder just how hard SWAPA tried to sell the deal to Airtran-ALPA.  I also wonder if there will be a backlash against Airtran-ALPA leadership at this point.  If I were an Airtran pilot and I had the opportunity to A) go to work for SWA and B) earn not just more money but a lot more money and C) I just lost my one shot at real financial reward for doing the deal, I would be pretty unhappy. 

Next up is mediation between the two parties and if that doesn’t work, then we see binding arbitration.  The longer this takes, the less Airtran pilots will see in reward.  Will there be a better seniority deal on the table?  I don’t know.  I’ve never been able to find out the details but I suspect that the deal only gets worse from here on out.  SWAPA approaches negotiations with a sense of honor and I doubt seriously they find Airtran-ALPA’s behaviour funny or very forgiveable.

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We’ve learned that ALPA-Airtran has decided not to submit the pilot agreement decided upon between them and Southwest Airlines APA union weeks ago.  ALPA delayed their vote for several weeks and now it’s coming out that there will be no vote.

SWAPA (Southwest Airlines Allied Pilots Association) will be the controlling union when this merger is over.  ALPA has no chance of becoming the controlling union and ALPA has kind of allowed things to spin out of control more than once over the past several years (think US Airways pilot integration and what that resulted in.) 

SWAPA membership appeared to get slightly feisty upon learning the details of the agreement but quickly settled down and started voting.  ALPA-Airtran almost made me think of that husband who is afraid to go home and tell his wife he just gave some guy their life savings to start a restaurant.  It’s as if ALPA-Airtran leadership felt very timid about promoting this deal and really gave no indication as to why they would feel that way.

My thinking?  Well, I have wondered if national ALPA leadership isn’t feeling frustrated these days.  The US Airways thing didn’t go so well and the two chapters involved in the United/Continental merger don’t appear to be able to agree on what kind of coffee to have at their negotiations.  And let’s not forget their second failure to organize jetBlue as well. 

Furthermore, they got spurned and insulted by rogue elements in American Airlines’ APA and by all appearances independent unions or non-traditional pilots unions appear to be gaining strength at ALPA’s expense. 

So, did ALPA-Airtran get slapped at by the national union?  I would like to think that didn’t happen in light of the fact that its president is the very reasonable Lee Moak but Lee Moak is just one man in a forest of much more traditional union types. 

Let’s not forget that ALPA at both the national level and within Airtran have got little to lose by being obstinate.  The union leadership will not control the Southwest pilots and that is certain.  But there may be the hope that if they play extra hard in the SWA/Airtran deal, they’ll be perceived as doing their job by membership at other airlines. 

But there is a price to be paid for that behaviour.  That price, however, is exacted upon the rank and file Airtran pilots who arguably have quite a bit to gain from this merger in terms of benefits and salaries.  In addition to those gains, they have a lot to gain by going to work for an airline that has an excellent record of working with union leadership that is arguably very strong (SWAPA). 

So, I ask you:  Should the national ALPA leadership have a dog in this fight?  I think they have a duty to represent their pilots in this merger but I don’t know if they should have overriding influence on the negotiations either.  I suspect that had the agreement been put to a vote among Airtran pilots, it would have passed and the merger would have gotten on with getting done.  But that would have essentially put an end to ALPA’s ability to influence the merger or stay in the spotlight.

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Southwest Airlines is entering the Atlanta area 3 months after the consummation of its merger with Airtran Airways with a low key campaign called Random Acts of Coolness.  The airline is sending employees out into the Atlanta area performing good and kind deeds such as handing out water to police and firemen and the general public.  $100 gift cards are being donated to schools.  Some employees spread out to area schools with gifts such as tote bags, pens, etc for teachers preparing for the new school year. 

Yes, it’s a marketing effort but it is also really how Southwest Airlines works.  Embracing the communities it serves is a hallmark of how Southwest wants to invite business.  It’s about the long term and investing in people locally. 

This is where it gets difficult for Delta because although that airline is known for its southern hospitality, Southwest practices a certain sincerity and humility in becoming a part of a community that is both hard to resist and hard to fight.

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It is standard for airlines to have inflight magazines  and many are actually quite good.  Can you name the airlines associated with these magazine names:

Domestic:

1. Spirit
2. Sky
3. American Way
4. Hemispheres

Foreign:

1. High Life
2. Discovery
3. Morning Calm
4. Holland Herald
5. enRoute

The answers after the fold: (more…)

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Right on the heels of Southwest terminating flights between Spokane and Seattle (due to low loads), Alaska Airlines / Horizon has announced that it will be filling that gap with Horizon flights.   Alaska already services that route but they are offering more flights and should be doing so with its Bombardier Q400 fleet which is ideally suited to that route and which will provide just as quick service but costing the airline far less than it costs Southwest to operate 737s.

This is why I believe that Southwest has to start looking at aircraft that can operate such fleets with less cost.  The 717 can’t offer the cost savings that a right size regional jet and/or Q400 can.  And, frankly, I think the Q400 could be operated *very* effectively by Southwest in its smaller markets. 

While Southwest says it doesn’t operate hubs (and it really doesn’t), it does operate focus cities that would benefit greatly with feed.  For example, imagine Wichita, KS flights to Kansas City, Oklahoma City, Tulsa and Denver.  Or flights from places such as Boise, Spokane, Salem or Salt Lake city to Portland and/or Seattle.

There are plenty of places where those aircraft could operate not only very efficiently but at no loss of schedule time either.  Think flights into focus cities such as Dallas, Houston, Chicago, Denver, Seattle, Phoenix, Atlanta, Baltimore, and several cities in Florida.

If Southwest is prepared to be a multi-type fleet, then the Q400 and Embraer E-170 series have something to offer them.

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Airtran has been serving Williamsburg / Newport News  Virginia for many years now.  Originally with regional jet aircraft and later with Boeing 717s and fairly successully.  The airport is an excellent alternative to Norfolk, VA’s airport which is difficult at best to access when you’re across the bay. 

It’s a personal hit as I’ve used the flights to go to Williamsburg, VA to visit my own family there.  The airport is easy to access and just 20 minutes from Williamsburg vs 1.25 hours from Richmond and .75 to 1 hour from Norfolk. 

Airtran says it is economics.  I find that just a touch too hard to believe since Airtran had a total of 7 flights to the airport.  I think this has to do with it being competitive with Southwest Airlines’ service into Norfolk (ORF) airport.  Left alone, SWA would end up with flights to Norfolk, Newport News and, potentially Richmond (served by Airtran presently.)

If you had to keep one airport, you’d want to keep Norfolk since it better serves a massive amount of business travel into and out of the city.  Look for more route rationalization going on with Airtran as time passes.  Particularly in the fall and winter.

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In what I will declare to be the most greedy of moves for 2011, most US airlines have decided to raise fares to offset the FAA taxes that have (temporarily) disappeared as a result of Congress’ inaction on a new bill for the FAA.

By most US airlines, I mean airlines such as American, United, Continental, Delta, US Airways, Southwest, AirTran and JetBlue.  By raising fares, I mean they’ve raised them about 7.5% to offset the taxes that disappeared.   A few airlines such as Virgin America, Frontier Airlines and Alaska Airlines have so far not raised fares to grab that cash.

I am immensely disappointed in this development and particularly disappointed that I find both SWA and Airtran in that group.  Airlines don’t deserve this money and it is shameful behaviour to run and grab it.

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Suddenly, there are small signs everywhere about the Southwest Airlines / Airtran Airways integration.  It Kansas City, Airtran is moving over to Southwest’s terminal and occupying SWA gates marked for their use.  A good move, in my opinion, because it starts associating Southwest with Airtran sooner rather than later.

Southwest has also kicked off a One LUV tour that recently stopped in Atlanta.  SWA employees visited Airtran crew areas at the airport to answer questions and generally welcome Airtran to the family.  Also a good move because it’s those face to face contacts that begin the formation of relationships that will be needed as the two airlines combine together more and more.

Wichita, Kansas has approved a move to continue subsidizing Airtran flights into and out of Wichita.  Wichita has wanted Southwest flights for a long, long time and this move seems oriented towards at least getting Southwest to try out Wichita for a brief while.   Currently, Airtran serves Wichita with flights to Atlanta only but perhaps Southwest will try out flights to other destinations that make more sense for Wichita such as Denver, Chicago or Dallas. 

I’m sure we’ll see more signs of integration over the next few months as well.  For instance, it would be relatively easy to move operations within the Southwest fold in Minneapolis, Chicago, Milwaukee, Baltimore, Denver and, well, you get the idea.  Except where space is an issue, I think we’ll see Airtran flights start moving into and out of Southwest gates instead.  There is a lot of overlap in this area and the only places where it might be tough are in those focus cities where Southwest is already constrained with gate space.

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Southwest and Airtran pilots have reached a tentative agreement on integrating seniority lists and a transition plan for doing so.  The sigh you just heard was Gary Kelly and team relaxing just a hair because this was the test for smoothness in this merger.   Conventional wisdom has it that a merger integration goes smoothly if the pilots manage to agree without too much rancor.

Southwest needed this.  It’s not just an indicator but a leader and most other labor unions will likely fall into agreement fairly rapidly if they see the first one worked out fairly and relatively quickly.  This was pretty quick for any airline merger. 

The details aren’t known yet and that is the real test.  Pilots’ unions are funny groups and have, by far, the most to lose in these deals.  They’re quick to disagree with their boards if they think they’re not getting handled fairly and splinter groups have been known to torpedo agreements. 

On the surface, it would appear to be a no brainer since Airtran pilots would start earning the exceptionally generous SWA salaries.  But seniority is *everything* in these deals and a generous salary doesn’t mean as much if an Airtran captain has to go back to being a first officer and has no chance for upgrade for years.  On the other hand, no SWA pilot is going to be happy if he sees his upgrade to captain opportunities suddenly diminish significantly because a whole bunch of another companies’ pilots just got put in front of him.

My guess?  Captains will stay captains and first officers will remain first officer and the blend will be based on some formula that takes into consideration just how long that pilot has been in his current seat.  The company probably made some guarantees on no outsourced flying and some growth (contingent upon the airline industry health).  To a pilot, growth means opportunity and job security.

It didn’t hurt that SWA made it clear over the past several days that there would be no layoffs as a result of the merger and given their record on layoffs, there was a lot of credibility behind that statement.

I felt that this would probably go pretty well if SWA pilots managed to not appear to be too grabby and I didn’t expect them to.  However, the real trouble area I think may exist is among flight attendants.   SWA flight attendants earn well and have a great deal of flexibility.  In addition, they have a very senior core that is, by definition, far senior to the typical Airtran flight attendant.  An equitable agreement based on seniority is going to put a lot of Airtran FA’s down at the bottom. 

Given that flight attendants earn less than, say, pilots, their basing opportunities are very important to them as its defines lifestyle.  What happens if a great deal of SWA flight attendants can displace Airtran FA’s in Atlanta?

While I doubt that pilots are “fencing off” bases (although its possible), I wouldn’t be surprised to see the FA’s fence off certain bases (at least in Airtran focus cities) for Airtran FA’s only. 

This is good news for everyone and it will be very interesting to see the flight attendant agreement get done.

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Boeing Commercial Aircraft President Jim Albaugh met with American Airlines executives, including CEO Gerard Arpey, a couple of days ago and I think, tentatively, this is a positive development with Boeing.  On the surface, it certainly signals that Boeing does consider American Airlines a very important customer.  It *might* signal that Boeing has started to realize that airlines really aren’t just poking at them over a new single aisle aircraft.

I say might because there is a tendency for Boeing to not always recognize that a customer really is at risk until the very last moment. 

Nevertheless, Boeing presidents don’t go calling on just every airline executive team on a whim.  It would be my hope that Boeing got an earful on what is needed and, more importantly, the timing for meeting that need.  For about a year, all we’ve heard is trade studies about re-engining vs new single aisle aircraft and that things tilt a bit towards an all new aircraft for 2019. 

I think airlines would like to hear about a new single aisle aircraft kicking off development asap with entry into service around 2017.  There is probably some wiggle room there but only after commitments have been made.

While news reports say Albaugh visited American Airlines, I do wonder if Southwest wasn’t visitied as well.  If not, I expect we’ll see another cannon shot across Boeing’s bow from SWA in the near future.

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The rant that went out over air traffic airwaves by the Southwest Airline pilot in the Houston area has caused a lot of hurt feelings out there.  It’s shockingly over the top to hear it from any pilot but especially so by a Southwest Airlines’ pilot.  Even Southwest flight attendants are considering a complaint to the EEOC.

What can I say?  It’s terrible to hear that.  It is horrific to hear that being done by a Southwest pilot.  In fact, the horror one feels is exactly why we need to understand that this isn’t a problem with Southwest.  It’s a problem with the pilot.

One thing I learned many, many years ago when I worked at Love Field and had an altercation with an irate pilot (I towed his car from our freight dock area and he was parked in an area that was explicitly and prominently signed as being a no parking area for *anyone*.)  The pilot threatened me, threatened our company and generally acted like an ass. 

So I went and talked to someone at Southwest.  That Southwest representative had the Chief Pilot call me and he listened very carefully.  He also asked very careful questions and then he came over to see the signage  His response? 

He declared the pilot shameful in his behaviour, graciously apologized on behalf of the company and then suspended the pilot for his behaviour and made him come to our offices and apologize in person. 

Make no mistake, Southwest will exact quite a bit from this pilot and they’ll do it like a family.  That doesn’t mean the pilot will be fired (and I don’t think he should be fired myself) but it does mean he’ll answer for his actions in a meaningful manner.   And it won’t be forgotten.

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Spirit Airlines has announced that it will begin flying between Dallas and Chicago (DFW to ORD) on August 18th.  Right now, I see 2 frequencies each way between the cities and they’re pretty convenient times.

This is smart on the part of Spirit because they’re striking at American Airlines as a function of performing this service at DFW to ORD and they’re competing with SWA on value.  Both AA and SWA have far more frequencies but the typical Spirit customer can be bled off from both companies for different reasons. 

This might spur a price competition between the 3 airlines but I kind of doubt it.  Spirit has many downsides too.  Everything is a fee on this airline and some of those fees are pretty expensive.  The seating is *not* even as comfortable as American Airlines (and I consider AA to be pretty uncomfortable.)  The frequencies aren’t enought o compete for any business traffic but, then, Spirit isn’t after the business traveler anyway.

I’m glad to see them enter into the market.  However, I’ll also say that it is highly unlikely that I would ever use them myself.

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Happy 40th Birthday Southwest!

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Airtran has had Skywest flying 6 routes for it out of Milwaukee and one of Southwest’s first moves is to dissolve that codeshare and start flying routes on its own.  New routes will include flights to Des Moines, Akron-Canton and St. Louis. 

As you can imagine, SWA pilots are thrilled.  This goes to a central principle with Southwest, namely flying its own routes and flying routes that are profitable on their own. 

I’ve found no information on what equipment will be used but my guess is that we’ll see 717s and 737-500s re-deployed as Southwest rationalizes services out of cities that both SWA and Airtran serve.  The best candidate for those new routes are 717s as they have the right capacity and they’re all in reach with a 717. 

The merger will allow SWA to find those new routes that many cities have been clamoring for.  For the first time, Southwest has real depth when it comes to finding the route aircraft for the right route.  Look for more routes developing both in the Rust Belt, Midwest and the South as time goes by.  All three areas are places where SWA has had good luck and with the route overlap that exists in focus cities such as Milwaukee and Baltimore as well as in Florida, I think we’ll see a number of new routes and re-deployments of aircraft as time goes by.

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In a deal tentatively agreed upon and subject to Frontier Pilots Association ratifying it, Frontier pilots will get an equity stake in Frontier Airlines. 

Parent company, Republic, led by CEO Bryan Bedford, has so far struggled to make Frontier truly work under its business plan.  Why?  In Frontier’s case, it was based upon lower oil prices (aka lower fuel prices) than exist today.

While Republic’s regional airline business is continuing to do well financially, Frontier’s isn’t.  It doesn’t help that it is hubbed in Denver and surrounded by two 800lbs gorillas:  United Airlines and Southwest Airlines.

Both United Airlines and Southwest have made it clear that they are there to stay in Denver while Frontier has flailed about attempting to survive.  One has to wonder if the Southwest purchase of Frontier wouldn’t have been a better deal both for employees of Frontier as well as investors.

In hindsight, Southwest’s “loss” in the bid for Frontier now looks like a far better choice and its admirable they walked away.  Now they’ve filled spots in their route map that were “must haves” and get to integrate a fleet and flight crew that more closely matches their own.

It’s notable that Frontier is struggling in its two focus cities of Milwaukee and Denver.  Frontier is bracketed with Southwest and United in Denver and bracketed with Southwest and Airtran in Milwaukee.  

In addition, Frontier lost the man largely reseponsible for producing profits at Frontier:  Sean Menke.  Menke has just agreed to go to work for Pinnacle Airlines, a competitor of Republic.

Is Frontier over?  No.  Can it survive in the long term?  Only if it breaks out of being in entrenched battles for its cities.  So far, Frontier has mainly concentrated on building new routes to lesser cities that connect back to its Denver hub and Kansas City focus city.  It needs more coverage across the United States and there are few cities that are ripe targets for Frontier’s entrance at this point.

In addition, starting new routes is mostly only possible with Republic’s E170/190 jets as it has no more A319 jets on order and only one more A320 jet due this year.  Additional A320s are to be delivered starting in 2015.

Republic Airways does have Bombardier’s CS300 on order (40 orders and 40 options) but those aircraft aren’t due until 2014 officially and they are likely to be as much as 2 years late.

One has to question whether or not a stake in Frontier has that much value over the next several years.  In the past, airlines could survive for years and still bleed money.  Today, airlines have to manage their cash very closely and Frontier isn’t generating enough positive cash flow to have a very optimistic future.  It’s possible that Republic could keep the company afloat but only with further concessions from labor and I think that is unlikely.

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Southwest CEO Gary Kelly spoke about using Baltimore’s airport (Baltimore Washington International – BWI) as a “hub” for international flights some time in the future.  He described it as being a number one consideration during conversations about Southwest going international.

Before anything else, don’t go presuming that Southwest is about to buy trans-Atlantic aircraft and start low cost services to Europe.  They aren’t as there is way too much on their plates right now.  However, it is another logical area to grow into once they are done digesting Airtran in about 3 years and provided the market exists at that time.

Quite a few might question using Baltimore but it does make sense.  It is relatively uncongested and offers the ability to not just draw those in Baltimore to its flights but also from the Washington D.C. and Philadelphia areas as well.  In addition, it connects nicely to all of the cities that Southwest services in the eastern half of the United States.  Furthermore, it is likely that any LCC airline taking on such a venture need not be tied to a major international airport such as JFK or Philadelphia or Washington Dulles.  In fact, they would probably want to avoid such airports because the cost of congestion is far higher than the cost of attracting people to some place like Baltimore.

Potential customers for this kind of airline service won’t be business oriented.  These will be leisure passengers looking for a great deal.  You won’t see business class on these airplanes but I do think you’ll see assigned seating.  (Assigned seating is almost a must for a widebody aircraft, IMHO.)

What kind of aircraft?  It won’t be 757s and I don’t *think* it will be 767s.  Although, it is interesting to contemplate the economics of an all economy 767-300ER new build aircraft for trans-Atlantic flights.  Many have thought that the 767 will remain competitive on such routes vs the 787 and that might be true.  787s?  Maybe but I think Southwest might have missed the train when it comes to advantageous pricing on that aircraft and I don’t think SWA will find used 787s on the marketplace anytime soon.

Airbus A330s almost seem interesting until you consider just how many people you would have in a high density, all economy aircraft like that.  It feels like too many and the same is true for the 777-200 (but I think you could almost make a business case for early build 777-200 “A” models that are starting to be retired by airlines such as United.)   The fact is that the 767-300 or 787-8 fits the size category almost perfectly and size will drive this choice. 

So will dispatch reliability because someone like Southwest needs an aircraft they can push into high utilization for such routes.  Not only would trans-Atlantic service require good load factors but it also requires frequency that uses that aircraft on 2 to 3 segments a day.  It’s doable and it is doable with the 767.

But at the end of the day, it’s all speculative right now and I do not expect SWA to announce anything like this at all until at least 3 years have passed.  In the meantime, they’ll gain experience operating Airtran’s international flights and learn how to deal with foreign travel.  They can buy and/or engineer new IT infrastructure that will meet the needs of such flights.  In short, don’t go planning a family vacation to London quite yet.

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I had to fly to Chicago again this past weekend and took Southwest once more.  That caused me to consider Southwest as an airline with respect to where it is and what is happening with it today. 

In many respects, Southwest remains my favorite airline.  I like how they move their planes.  I like their seats and I like the prices quite a bit, too.  They still largely have a friendly and motivated staff and they take their jobs seriously.  Their service is far more consistent than many other airlines and, as an airline, they’re pretty creative in how they get the job done.

I’m also a bit irritated with them and I’m really irritated with the cities of Dallas and Fort Worth. 

I’m irritated with Southwest because of the now 3 flight attendants who have tried to either A) move my briefcase from the bin above me to the back or B) tried to convince me to move it under the chair in front of me.  All because they are unwilling to say “no” to the new business travelers they have carrying their entire life with them.  I was traveling on business each time.  I had a lot of stuff with me in fact because of the work I was doing and I still managed to check my bag.  Ironically, I got into my ride’s car in Chicago and left before several of the business travelers managed to who were waiting for taxis. 

But don’t tell me that the overhead bin is reserved for large suitcases.  Poppycock and balderdash.  They aren’t, they never were and just because you find gate checking bags difficult doesn’t mean you get to move my briefcase to the back of the plane to make it more convenient for someone else to put their large suitcase up in a bin.

I’m also irritated at their gates.   Their gates in Chicago and Dallas are cramped, hot and uncomfortable.  Even with the new “business areas”, they are cramped, hot and uncomfortable.  So much so, that I realized I was getting tired from just jockeying for a seat in a gate area.  And you know what I noticed?  Many of the seats are being taken up by people putting their large bags in the seats.  There has to be a better way.

Southwest has announced that they won’t withdraw Airtran from DFW until November 21st and now Dallas and Fort Worth mayors are being crabby about that.  Well, I tend to agree that getting that done earlier is unlikely to be a very difficult thing to do and is unlikely to inconvenience many more additional passengers.  But it irritates me because this is, in part, who Southwest has become as an airline.  They’re becoming the company that doesn’t cope with its size very well.  It’s lethargic because it lacks the IT infrastructure to deal with its size.  They could be a lot more agile than they are.

I’m irritated with the City of Dallas because Love Field really is abysmal as an airport.  Yes, it’s being renovated and that means inconveniences but that does not mean that restrooms need to be dirty and stores and restaurants need not act entitled to every last dollar bill in my wallet.  The terminal is blazing hot already and nothing has really been done to accomodate passengers during this construction.

Frankly, this is a job that should have been done 10 years ago, not scheduled for completion sometime in 2014.

The way the use of Love Field airport is being dictated even post 2014 is silly.  I get that Fort Worth wants to be a Big City and they aren’t small, for sure.  But please quit acting like your whole world crashes if airlines use Love Field.  It was the preferred airport in the Metroplex back in 1959 and remains so today.  It’s a shame that Fort Worth couldn’t support a similar airport but they couldn’t do so in the last 50 years.  DFW serves them very well and it isn’t inconvenient to most of that city. 

If Fort Worth needs more airline access, how about we let them build an airport in south west Tarrant county?   The entire Dallas / Fort Worth Metroplex has over 6 million people.  We can support more than just DFW airport these days.

But the petty squabbling that goes on between these two cities over airports is just stupid in 2011.  And both Southwest and American Airlines could stand to get a bit more real over that subject as well.  Let’s not be naive:  the reason both those airlines continue to poke and prod the city governments over the issue is driven by their desire to continue to monopolize their respective airports in the area. 

Southwest could stand to become a better airline and I think they’re actually headed towards some serious trouble.  They’re innovating on the customer side but I don’t see them investing in their infrastructure quite the way a big airline should.  Holding on to perfectly good things is fine but you must reinvest in your systems from time to time to continue to grow and compete.  Let me point out that Southwest is using a reservations system it bought from Braniff originally titled “Cowboy” and developed in the late 1960’s.  Yes, it’s basic reservations infrastructure is 50 years old and never was all that good to begin with.

Why does this irritate me?  Because I think Southwest is good and it could be really great but for how slow it is moving these days.

Filed under: Airline News, Airports by ajax
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