Southwest Airlines Community

A huge percentage of Alaskans live in the Anchorage area, so the small amount of traffic coming from small towns can be left to Alaska.  Alaska's main hub is Seattle anyway.  Lots of cruises also end near Anchorage.   Anchorage to Denver, Las Vegas, Dallas, Houston, Chicago and Baltimore would make great redeye candidates.   Several years ago I took a redeye from Anchorage to Minneapolis and it worked out great.  The downside to serving Anchorage is the extreme seasonality,  but Southwest still serves Fort Myers despite it's extreme seasonality. Run flights to Anchorage in the summer and more flights to RSW in the winter. ... View more

6 months after the Alaska door plug blowout and Boeing shows no ability to ramp up production rates, let alone certify the MAX7.  Many airlines are retiring E190s with lots of cycles left.  These could be a stop gap for a large E2-195 order.  Southwest needs a smaller plane than the 175 seat MAX8 to serve existing cities, let alone the cities you mentioned.   The E2-195 would probably be fitted with about 130 seats, halfway between the 122 seat 737-500 and 137 seat 737-300.  Although adding the E2 would add operational complexity,  the ability to serve more markets and downgauge during slow periods is looking more and more necessary.  ... View more

Canadians favoring Canadian airlines is the problem.  I have several snowbird friends from Calgary, and all they fly is Westjet, never American or United.   When I mention how often I fly to Chicago and California on Southwest,  they look puzzled, what's Southwest?   Even though Southwest has a large base in Phoenix.  ... View more

Southwest can leave the first 2 or 3 rows unassigned for disabled,  then the rows from 3 or 4 to the emergency exits can be assigned premium extra legroom seating.  Southwest could even leave the rows in the back half unassigned,  maintaining the current system that many frequent Southwest flyers like.  Seat color and design could differentiate the assigned and unassigned seats. ... View more

If Southwest's pilots have any concern about the safety of the 737 max control system, along with a 100% ability to disable the MCAS program, they should refuse to fly the max 8.  If additional training is needed to control the 737 max with it's heavier, more powerful repositioned engines, that cost should come out of Boeings bottom line and share price. ... View more

Sometimes fare paid or status can't be the number one determinant of who boards first.  My 9 year old autistic nephew will constantly touch and pester a stranger sitting next to him.  This is a much larger inconvenience for a A lister than sitting a row or 2 further back. ... View more