Things in the Sky

A forum member on Flyertalk pointed out this article from Bloomberg about the good position Southwest is in. Basically it says how Southwest can adjust its fleet growth plan fairly easily in response to the cutbacks made by other airlines. It also mentions the Southwest ad campaign on how the airline doesn’t have the fees the other airlines are adding. I think Gary Kelly describes the success of this campaign perfectly:

“Every company wants to differentiate itself from the pack,” said Kelly, 53. “This is a great opportunity. It’s been handed to us on a silver platter.”

So we will all have to watch and see what Southwest does. But either way, the plan to not retire 10 planes and add 14 more is certainly different than plans from a few months ago. Anyways, take a look at the article if you have the chance. It’s a good read.

But I’d also like to point out another quote from the article:

Michael Boyd, president of consulting firm Boyd Group in Evergreen, Colorado, expects “zero” opportunity for Southwest as other carriers cut back. Large airlines aren’t dropping any major markets, and “only marginal capacity is going away,” he said in an interview.

I strongly disagree, though I do realize that Michael Boyd is an experienced respected analyst and I’m just a fresh high school graduate. While I do understand his point, I think Southwest has more than “zero” oppurtunity, and I don’t think only “marginal capacity” is being cut. Just look at United. I wouldn’t consider the grounding of the entire 737 fleet “marginal” by any means. And look at Denver. While Frontier has been getting the most attention because its in bankruptcy, United is cutting back there because of Southwest’s presence.