Archive for the 'Southwest Airlines' Category
November 21 2006
Without waiting for the body to be cold, the WSJ is reporting that it would buy any assets that Delta needs to shed in its merger with US Airways. If you’re a fan of the merger, this is a good sign. Delta will have to sell some parts of its operations to make the combination work (both financially, and from an anti-trust standpoint), and it helps to know that there’s a wealthy company that’s interested in them. The article doesn’t mention if Southwest wants the shuttle, but it would be quite interesting if they did. They practically already run a shuttle between Houston and Dallas profitably with far lower fares than we see in the Northeast right now.
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July 11 2006
Southwest Airlines is known for its laid-back attitude, but sometimes it’s apparently a bit too laid back. A Southwest pilot was arrested at Salt Lake City’s airport on Sunday after security staff smelled alcohol on his breath. Airport police removed the pilot from the cockpit minutes before his departure to Phoenix. The co-pilot continued on without him. Sober.
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June 21 2006
Next month, Southwest Airlines will test assigned seating on some of its flights out of San Diego. If assigned seats are adopted, this would be a huge change for the carrier, which has always forced customers into a cattle call without a seat assignment. Assuming the change doesn’t add additional time to boarding, Southwest would consider rolling it out. Many passengers hate not having assigned seats, though Southwest had been oddly hard-headed about even considering assigned seats. Glad to see they’re having a change of heart.
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June 16 2006
After years and years of bickering, a compromise has been reached on the Wright Amendment situation that affects Dallas Love airport. As mentioned here a bunch of times, the Wright Amendment forbade airlines from flying from Dallas Love to states that were not contiguous to Texas. Nor could they sell tickets between, say, Dallas Love and Baltimore with a stop in Oklahoma City. Well, that’s about to change.
Southwest and American reached an agreement whereby the Wright Amendment restrictions will disappear by 2014. In the short-term, airlines can sell tickets between, say, Dallas Love and Baltimore with a stop in Oklahoma City (this is called through-ticketing).
This deal has to be approved by Congress, and there’s a possibility that they will permit airlines to fly long-haul nonstop flights immediately (despite the terms of the agreement), in which case Southwest will have to give up 8 of its gates at the airport.
Many thought that Southwest would fight for immediate long-haul flights, but Southwest was likely most interested in being able to plan their business. This will be a huge win for consumers (and I wouldn’t be shocked if Congress forces immediately long-haul flights.)
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June 07 2006
I have no idea how I have not heard of boardfirst.com until now. For $5 they will check you in for your Southwest Airlines flight and ensure that you get a coveted "A" boarding pass, which allows you to board first. This is absolutely brilliant. So brilliant that Southwest is suing boardfirst.com and a few similar sites. Bummer.
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May 18 2006
Southwest Airlines is upgrading its reservations systems, a move that could lead to –gasp!– assigned seating. The Southwest cattle call has been a staple of the airline since its inception and for those of us who like to get to the airport at the very last minute, the reason why we typically end up with middle seats next to fat and/or screaming people. The earliest the change could happen is 2008, and the airline has said that they haven’t even decided if they want to go to assigned seating, but we can always hope.
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April 05 2006
Southwest Airlines announced that it plans service from Washington-Dulles airport beginning this fall. I usually don’t bother with new city announcements, but Southwest has changed its strategy so significantly in the past couple of years that it warrants a mention. Southwest used to actively avoid competing directly with other low cost carriers, preferring to stay out of their way and carve out underserved routes with high fares. But since their entry into Philadelphia and Denver, they’ve decided to fight low cost carriers head on. And Dulles is no different–JetBlue has a number of flights from the airport. In fact, this move suggests that JetBlue is not the unstoppable juggernaut it once was. It’ll be fun to see if they compete head-to-head (I’m guessing they won’t).
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March 22 2006
8 ex-employees of Southwest Airlines were charged with attempting a pretty impressive ticket scam that would have net them about a million dollars. Basically, the employees took used tickets and re-sold them to passengers who were paying cash for tickets. The workers would then just pocket the cash. Not too shabby. But still shabby enough that they got caught. In case you were thinking of doing this yourself, the airline has changed its controls to ensure this doesn’t happen again.
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March 16 2006
Southwest has some crazy delicious fares between Chicago-Midway and Islip Airport in central Long Island. $78 ($97 including tax) gets you a round trip ticket between the two most days of the week for the forseeable future. Hard to beat. Thanks to D-lux for the heads up.
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March 14 2006
They may be the king of the discounters, but Southwest Airlines is also the king of profitability. That may or may not make any sense. Whatever. The airline raised top fares $10 (and its cheapest fares by $2) each way to offset fuel prices. This move increases the carrier’s top fare to $309 each way (break out that abacus to figure out what the old top fare was). Other carriers let out a huge sigh of relief and also raised their fares. I suspect Southwest will drop the top fares (which few people actually pay) once fuel prices drop a bit. Keep in mind as you read this story elsewhere, that $309 fare is a rarity. Most people will end up only paying $4 or $8 extra for a round trip ticket.
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Southwest Airlines Would Buy Delta Assets