As most of us know, Southwest gets into holidays, and Friday the 13th was no different. Southwest sent out a press release poking fun at a lot of the superstitions that surround this date. For example, the release says passengers are “passengers are not avoiding row 13.” But the release was part marketing, too, and expanded on it’s ad campaign focusing on no fees. For example:
Traditional superstitions are thrown out the door by many travelers looking for no fees and a low fare.
And:
Along with exceptionally high online bookings, Southwest Airlines announces it will not charge a fee for throwing salt over one’s shoulder.
Considering all the negative news about carriers cutting capacity and adding fees this week, Southwest was quite smart in sending this press release out, while still having a bit of fun.
The idea of re-introducing regulation to the airline industry has been bounced around a little bit this week, first by former American CEO Bob Crandall. No one should be surprised by this considering the fact that he fought deregulation tooth and nail way back when.
Continue reading ‘Regulation…again? Really?’
In a press release issued Thursday, US Airways announced that it would be accelerating its “business model transformation,” which is how people with degrees in communication say “we’re in a bad situation right now and need to make cuts.”
More fees are being introduced. Like the other airlines, those paying for more expensive tickets or who have elite status are exempt. The airline is also eliminating free drinks in coach (and will start charging $2) and increasing the fee for alcoholic beverages. A fee is also being introduced for booking tickets over the phone. I’m not sure if US Airways is planning to make money off this fee by the tickets over the phone themselves, or just hoping that this will be a way to eventually lay off some call center employees.
US Airways made some big changes its frequent flier program (Dividend Miles), which the other airlines haven’t really done along with their cuts. Elite members aren’t going to be earning bonus miles anymore. Most surprisingly, there will now be a fee for booking an award ticket. The amount will depend on the destination of the trip. I really don’t like this idea. It seems like it will be more likely to annoy loyal customers than increase revenue.
Like all the other airlines, there will be flight and fleet reductions. The Las Vegas night operation will be scaled back even further, though this isn’t too shocking as US Airways has been cutting there for awhile. The reduction in fleet capacity isn’t as drastic as the other airlines. Six 737-300s, four A320s, and US won’t be adding the two A330-200s that it had planned to in 2009. It should be noted though, that US Airways was already planning to phase out the 737-300s and 737-400s and replace them with A320 family aircraft.
A good amount of the US Airways changes seem to be the normal cutbacks announced by American, Continental, and United. The further devluation of Dividend Miles is quite surprsing though.
A few days ago Continental described the cuts it was making in its fleet. Well yesterday they issued another press release about what routes would be affected. And all I can say is, poor Cleveland. It’s getting the mostthe cuts in terms of domestic hubs. Remember how earlier Continental was expanding there? The city is losing most of that new service, though the new seasonal Paris flight seems safe (for now).
Some of these route cuts make sense to me, some don’t. For example, cutting the Hartford to House route is sensible as that flight was already seasonal (as was pointed out on Airlines.net). Newark to Salt Lake City confuses me a bit, as I thought it would be important in terms of passengers wanting to continue their trips with Contiental’s Skyteam partner Delta.
Fifteen cities will be taken off the route map due to these cuts, which is probaly where a good chunk of Continental’s planned job losses will take place. The one city that stood out for me was Oakland, California, simply because American announced the same about a month ago. Like American, Continental probably doesn’t want to deal with the strong LCC presence from JetBlue and Southwest at that airport.
US Airways also announced its cuts yetersday, and I plan to share my thoughts on those later today.
After American instituted their $15 fee for the first checked bag (in addition to the $25 fee for the second), many thought that the other airlines would join in eventually. Today United announced their intention to initiate this fee as well for flights within the U.S., and flights to/from Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and Canada. Like American, there are also exemptions. Those flying in First or Business class as well as those with elite status in MileagePlus or the Star Alliance do not have to pay the fee. United also said travelers will eventually be able to pay the fee online at check-in. United can now pick up a lot of revenue from economy passengers by charing for the checked bag and for economy plus.
Concerned that your flight will be affected? The fee applies for tickets purchased tomorrow (June 13) or later traveling on or after August 18.
So what does this mean? More pissed off passengers and more cramped carry-on space.
Southwest’s no-fee ad campaign looks smarter and better every day.
A few days ago I posted about Hawaiian increasing their fleet capacity a bit. Well today more good news came out, as Hawaiian released their May traffic numbers, and they were quite good, most likely due to the collapse of ATA and Aloha’s passenger service. Compared to May 2007, last month saw a 26.9% increase in traffic. And when January to May 2007 is compared to the current year-to-date number, traffic is up 13.3%. Not bad.
But that doesn’t mean everything is great for Hawaiian, either, as they have their own problems ahead of them. First, due to rising fares (and greater personal expenses in some cases), travelers will have to rethink their plans. Leisure travel could defintely be the first thing to go when one is trying to adjust his or her personal budget. Second, Hawaiian may see some more competition, as United, even though it is making huge capcity cuts in many markets, is planning to add Hawaii flights, according to one source.
I admit it. I was originally very negative when Southwest unveiled their new Business Select product back in Novemeber. In fact, you can even go and find my idiotic comments on the blog posting. (Hindsight is 20/20)
I did, however, like some features they announced at the same time. The new boarding process seemed like a good step (though I’ll decide for sure when I try it for the first time next week). I was also a fan of the enhanced gate areas. I disliked the renaming of the refundable fare to “Business,” simply because it implied (at least to me) a different class of service. But I wasn’t too displeased since refundable fares already existed at Southwest. (They have since renamed this fare Antyime, by the way.)
But it was truly Business Select and the A-List, a reward of preferred boarding to frequent fliers, that really annoyed me. I felt that Southwest always did a good job treating its passengers equally and that creating a preferred fare as well as elite-ish portion of Rapid Rewards was a big change from “the Southwest way.” But then I thought about it some more and realized what a brillaint idea these two things were.
First, Business Select has the potential to be a big moneymaker for Southwest. The extra money charged over the regular Anytime fare is mostly profit. The first benefit, preferred boarding just required a software change. The free alocholic beverage probably doesn’t cost much. Finally, the extra Rapid Rewards credit leads to faster free roundtrips, but it could mean greater loyalty and a more frequent purchasing of the Business Select fare by some travelers. I also disliked the A-List at first, but then came to believe that it was also a good idea. Anyone who flies that much deserves a little reward from Southwest.
And plus, these changes didn’t take much away from the average Southwest flyer other than a lower probability of him or her getting his or her favorite seat. They mainly added value to the Southwest product.\
So, Southwest, I’m sorry for doubting you!
Just like its competitor the 787, the A350 needs to go on a diet. Airbus informed customters that right now the plane is two tons heavier than originally thought. The German media, however, is saying the weight issue is greater, even as much as eight tons.
In an environment like today’s, this is not good news at all. More weight equals more fuel, and right now airlines are doing whatever they can to cut back. The Farnborough Air Show is in a few weeks. It will be interesting to see if this announcement/hype/concern will have any effect on potential A350 customers.
I was originally going to post about the new agreement between Continental and Expressjet, but both Cranky Flier and Planebuzz have good articles on that news item, so why be redundant? So instead I’m sharing another, less important story that caught my interest.
Today in the Sky reported yesterday that Hawaiian will be adding four more Boeing 717s (leased from Boeing Capital) to their fleet for inter-island flights by the end of this year, bringing the total 717 fleet to fifteen aircraft. While four aircraft may not seem like a lot, it is a good number of seats for the inter-island market and it is also somewhat refreshing to read an announcement about fleet growth after the the press releases about capacity cuts from American, United, and Continental.
Obviously Aloha’s withdrawal from passenger service increases load factors for Hawaiian as the two carriers had similar routes from the West Coast and within the islands themselves. ATA’s closure also helps Hawaiian, though to a lesser extent (no inter-island flights, for example).
So who’s left in the inter-island market? Well there’s Mesa’s go!, Mokulele Airlines (which operates some flights for Mesa under the name go!express), Island Air, and Pacific Wings. Hawaiian has a big advantage over these carriers because they have long haul flights feeding into their inter-island flights. The only advantages these smaller carriers have is that they fly to some of the smaller airports Hawaiian doesn’t touch. It will be interesting to see what happens with go!, as it’s parent company, Mesa, is having major issues right now. In fact, Planebuzz reports today that the company’s CFO has left quickly and mysteriously.
Today in the Sky also states that Hawaiian is actually hiring people, which is fantastic news considering the current condition of the industry. Also, many of the new employees are former workers for Aloha, so it’s nice to hear that those people have jobs again.
Today Continental issues a press release very similar to the recent announcments from
American and United: fleet reduction and workforce reductions. Continental’s fleet cuts are very much like United’s as the 737-300 and 737-500 aircraft are the main targets of the cuts. Apparently, the blended winglets being installed on both of these aircraft types were not enough to save them from the graveyard. While United is axing the entire 737 fleet, Continental is planning to remove all 737-300s but leave some 737-500s in the mix. Continental will still be adding new aircraft, though, as it still has deliveries planned for new 737-800s and 737-900ERs. It should also be noted that according to the Boeing order book, Continental still has 44 unfilled orders for 737-700s, so it will interesting to see what happens there. The press release provides a nice fleet breakdown. Overall, Continental’s capacity cuts don’t seem as drastic as American and United’s.
Latest Comments