Southwest Airlines Community

Ladies and gentlemen, You know I've posted on this board before and corresponded pleasantly with many of you. I've also been a loyal Rapid Rewards member and an exclusive SWA flyer to the extent possible. As such, I trust my comments are held in high enough regard not to be considered one of the looneys that populate any board. With that said, I believe that the rollout of this new program has been handled more poorly than any step taken at SWA since I began doing business with the company in the mid 1980s. Not only is the program marginally unpopular, but the company's lack of preparation for the conversion is simply stunning. As I write this, the web site has been essentially inoperative for approaching 48 hours, the telephone wait time approaches 2 hours, and customers are leaving in droves. Only because i know the web site so well was I able to side door my way into an Early Bird check-in for a flight tomorrow spending an extra $20 just to make my day go a bit smoother. I ask one simple question. Gary, is this situation bad enough where you should consider stepping down? I'll let you ponder. Thank you. ... View more

Hang in there down in big D. Crazy couple of days for sure. So where are you guys positioning the planes that you need to keep out of the midwest until this storm passes? I can imagine about 50 parked out on the tarmac at LAS. Obviously getting them stuck in the snow here in Chicago would be a mistake. Come back once we get shoveled out. ... View more

I have read the entire thread. I concur that the short haul flyers are hurt. It will be interesting to see how this works out for individual RR members. One thing I am certain of is that saving up a free ticket for a coveted Spring Break or Holiday flight no longer makes sense as the RR cost will be based on the published ticket price. It's also true that last minute 'free ticket' getaways are a thing of the past. I had very much enjoyed that under the old system where the Mrs. and I would jet away tonight for the weekend simply because we could, even with RR seat limitations. RR credit is just alternative money now. Well Brian. I know you have read this entire thread as well and probably received thousands of phone calls. Please tell Gary to be careful with the culture. Don't let the accountants talk you guys into too much. If anybody brings up bag fees or flight change fees walk out of the meeting immediately. Adopting either would kill your franchise. God bless. See you guys on my next flight in 10 days. ... View more

The 800 ETOPS will be a great addition to the fleet. My sense is that you'll use it on long haul leisure (maybe Hawaii or the Caribbean!!) and in your slot controlled airports in the east. 20 planes will go a long way toward enhancing the economics of a long haul leisure market where making $$ has to be part of the equation. I do have one question that shouldn't involve any secrets. Can MDW handle those jets or will the runways be too short in Chicago? Clearly that would be for the flights to the east coast, not for an overseas destination. ... View more

I hadn't flown out of my hometown airport in probably 20 years until LUV came to town. In just the last year I've driven up from the Chicago suburbs probably 6-8 times for round trips out of MKE Gates 52 and 56. Thanks so much for bringing service to the Brew City. And think of the possibilities once the AirTran acquisition is complete! ... View more

Great work Bill. You've got to be a kid in a candy store thinking about all the possibilities AirTran is going to give you. Hope the company gives you a bunch of 'outside the box' thinkers. Stuff that had never been possible. Must be fun (but stressful) coming to work these days. ... View more

Great aircraft Brian. I'm sure there are still 'working 3s' in some parts of the world. I put my money on the DC-3, the Boeing 737s and the Boeing B-52 bomber as the most successful aircraft ever designed. Hey, early congrats on your discussions with the unions about the 800 series. She'll be a nice addition to the fleet if you guys decide to go that way. Also kudos on the AirTran deal. Besides the obvious benefits, those 717s give you guys some market options you didn't have before. ... View more

Thanks Bill, I thought you handled the inventory issue very well through this cycle. There are certain times of the year when significant advance planning can be required. Spring Break is one of those periods. Complimentary services like cruises and hotels book up well in advance so having schedule and pricing access to our SWA birds is important. Let me give you a personal story. I was on-line the morning you opened Spring Break to check my options for a possible cruise next March. As you would expect, we looked at the usual Florida suspects, New Orleans, Houston, and Southern California and made a choice in part based on price. For a family of 4, that's a significant consideration. With plane tickets now in hand, we're in the process of booking the cruise now and are still eligible for the lowest rates given the lead time your advance schedule facilitated. I must admit that a few times in the past we were forced onto a legacy carrier simply because we couldn't wait any longer given other factors during the peak travel demand season. The holidays work the same way for us. And every time I'm forced to another carrier, it's a lost SWA opportunity. Plus I HATE paying bag fees and then watching folks board with what looks like all their worldly possessions that they want to stash everywhere including under my seat!! God I hate legacy air travel!! ... View more

Congratulations SWA. An exciting day for the company. As a loyal customer, I look forward to the opportunities that this acquisition provides over the long run including more service into the slot restricted airports of the east, Atlanta, the opportunity to serve a variety of smaller domestic markets and the Caribbean, just to name a few. ... View more

Fantastic that you were able to put this all together before all who remember are gone. History has a way of happening when we least expect it. I'm sure Herb's view at the time was just to get a plain in the air.... anywhere. And that if he managed to pull it off a second day he had "doubled up". I promise you that no single employee could have conceived that you would ever run 3000+ flights per day. And do it profitably when no one else can. And I'm going to pick on the legacy airlines for a moment. If all their effort had been spent trying to improve their own product rather than fight you guys, SWA need not have ever existed. Doesn't the Wright Amendment finally go away in 2014 or something? I bet you already know the exact day that 737s from DAL reach out to MDW, LAS, DEN and BWI. Heck, Bill Owens has already modeled it, I'm sure. 39 years and the "protectionists" still fight you. Just like they fight everyone that invents a better mousetrap. We wanna make our country better? Get Big Brother off our back. Happy B-Day Brian. See you guys for my next flight in about 6 weeks. ... View more

That's 10% of the workforce Brian and 1 in a handful of planes. How many were in service in mid-1972? Sorry, I'd chat more but I was just online checking my flight status...... Gotta run. SWA, of course. ... View more

Great pics Brian. I especially enjoy being able to "time capsule" 1980. I was in college at the time. The clothing, the coffee percolator, the haircuts........ You ought to try to figure out who the two flight attendants were. Wouldn't it be cool if one or both still worked for the company! Have a great weekend Brian. My next SWA flight is a mere 14 days away; up at MKE from N. Illinois. ... View more

Thanks for bringing "Flashback Friday" my hometown airport. Midway is a gem. It has the wonderful history that you describe including the old surface parking lot mere steps from the terminal that was more like going to Jewel for milk and bread (Albertson's to you guyz outside Chicago) and the famous Marshall Field's (we still won't call it Macy's) Cloud Room. I was an early fan of the old Midway Airlines using their fleet to get around the midwest on business in the mid to late 80's. It was (and still is) so very easy to get from the Loop out to the airport for a hop to Indy, Detroit, etc. I also flew old National Airlines when they set up what amounted to a casino sponsored connection directly to Las Vegas on what I think (might be wrong) were 757s. But those guys passed into history and I became familiar with these cool desert orange and tan colored 737s. Who was this cool carrier from Texas, I thought? Been flying SWA ever since..... Fast forward 20 some years. Folks, the brand spankin' new Midway terminal is great. One can get from the taxi door to your plane in 15-20 minutes most times, including time spent with TSA. You're an easy trip to downtown. And you get to avoid O'Hare. That, in and of itself, is worth the experience. I actually live closer to O'Hare than Midway.... Still, it's no contest. Not even a close call. What I most enjoy though are the landings. See folks, Midway's runway footprint is still that mile square Brian talked about. Pilots don't fool around when landing 737s here. For those uninitiated, it feels a bit like a carrier landing as you skim over the rooftops just outside the field and then touch down with authority. A real "Welcome to Chicago". You're all invited. ... View more

Keep the chin up Bill and keep adding to the service. I always enjoy hearing about what you guys have in mind next. I keep thinking that MKE-STL makes some sense but you've got the super-duper computer out in the garage to help make those decisions. Fly on. ... View more

Thanks Brian, Nice send-off for the old girl. Let's also take a minute to thank and appreciate all the folks over at NWA. First plane ride I ever took back in about 1966. She went dark this past weekend. Another great airline passes into history and the famous red tails are no more. ... View more

Brian, Weekend nights in college and you went out to watch the planes!!??? You and Brett Snyder over at Cranky Flyer have to be the two biggest plane geeks in the history of the world!! When I was a little guy, my mom would take me out to Billy Mitchell Field to watch the planes. (No real Milwaukeean calls it Mitchell International.) But in college I had 2 things on my mind.... beer and girls. Just teasing my good man. See you guys Friday for my next SWA flight. The ONLY airline of choice. ... View more

That's very cool Brian. I did not know that one or more SWA planes had lives in a "previous marriage". How many of your beautiful brides spent their best years, but not all their years, in service with you guys? And have any recent "retirees" gone on to serve other carriers, possibly overseas? Have a great weekend. ... View more

Bill, Did you just have a couple of planes sitting around? Wonder how you might be able to do that when the "schedule optimizer" had already run for the summer (along with the wash machine out in the garage). You didn't get a trim between haircuts, did you? (Or maybe, you take delivery on a new bird or two that day and it's awhile before you cycle 1 or 2 out.....) ... View more

I like it Brian. It's always fun to fly on a "special" livery. Are all three of the "classics" 300 series aircraft? Maybe hotpants ought to be the uniform....... Nah, going too far I guess. ... View more

Thanks Brian and Bill, I appreciate your feedback. I think I already realized that you didn't "schedule" for bad weather. The objective in your world Bill is to maximize the daily activity any single jet can generate in terms of the number of profitable flights it can accomplish. And you do that across all your fleet even taking advantage of the fact that flight times are reduced in the summer because of the stronger west to east jet stream. (I do enjoy reading your stuff Bill.) What I can't get my arms around is when the whole carefully crafted system is shot to heck (and I know you don't use that soft a word) because of snow, etc. It must be a very difficult task to restore order when planes and crews are in the wrong spots. I'm assuming that individual aircraft get reassigned routinely so tail # whatever becomes flight # whatever. I guess the objective at the end of any day is to make sure you've got the right compliment of 700s and 300s (and rested crews) at each airport in the system to begin anew the next morning. I just can't imagine how hard that must be with a major disruption. I've got one compliment to add. I've been involved in many weather related delays. You folks at SWA are always friendly, professional, and willing to go the extra mile. Once I was flying back from LAS to MDW into what would be the teeth of a snowstorm. I was on the phone with Customer Service early in the day when there were some very full flights without available seats. Your agent worked VERY HARD to find me a seat on a connection home to beat the storm getting me out of LAS and on my way ASAP. I think I flew through PHX and was on one of the last planes that actually made it into MDW that day. It doesn't always work but it is never for lack of effort on the part of your fine company. Happy New Year fellas. ... View more

That's one heck of a storm. Nothing one can do when Mother Nature dumps like that. I'd be real interested in some follow-up, maybe from Bill, our resident schedule planning expert, on your "blizzard model". Please share your rescheduling procedure as you keep planes out of the "trouble zone" and the rest of the system operating. Obviously, a plane stuck on the ground in a blizzard is "lost" for a period of time and it's best simply not to fly there and keep it working elsewhere in the system. Then, how do you get all your aircraft back in the "right" spots a few days later? Is that a manual process or computerized in some fashion? Must make for a crazy 48 hours. ... View more

I'll be driving behind the "cheddar curtain" to catch my first SWA flight from Mitchell Field 3 days from now. For a lifelong Packer fan, SWA's arrival is the only news from November 1st that I'll care to remember. Best wishes on a wildly successful launch. ... View more

Lindsey, I respect and appreciate your response. Candidly, I've had to work quite hard today to try to make several flight arrangements. To the extent that "fare buckets" have been lost by folks who simply could not take the time, I believe that the right thing to do would be to open them up wider and allow more seats on each flight at the special discount price. It is not your customer's fault that your systems weren't ready for the traffic. I've read that an upgrade to the web site is in the works. Good. And I can appreciate that it has been "All hands on Deck!" today. Someone should pass out cold ones at the end of the day to you guys. I'll bet Gary's instructions are to grab a yellow pad of paper, answer the freakin' phone personally if you have to, write down the necessary flight itinerary and CC#, and then take the next call. (I know.... he nods as he reads this.) There is only one way to run a business. Do it right every time by taking personal responsibility. You guys have my e-mail and can probably look up my Rapid Rewards account. If anyone ever wants to chat, I'm here..... ... View more

Lindsey, I am as excited as anyone about your sale. That said, you guys simply MUST do something about the web site. Today, most probably because of heavy traffic, it is in full meltdown. This also happens every time the new schedule comes out. It is simply unacceptable when a customer would like to purchase your product and simply cannot. I do all my flying on SWA. Probably 10-15 roundtrips per year personally with an equal number for my wife. In attempting to book today (and its not the first time), I've simply gotten frustrated enough that I'll quit fo awhile. There is absolutely no way you guys can believe that's an acceptable answer. Frankly in my mind it becomes job #1. If I can't purchase your product, you guys can't make any money. Enough of the rant. Please make sure the bosses know its an issue. And LUV to you all. ... View more

Easy Bill. No need to feed the trolls. Not 100% of the world will always agree with you. Friday baby. By the way, right now I've got 16 seats booked into or out of MKE between now and 4/1 for myself and immediate family. (That means I paid for it on my SWA credit card!) Another 4 booked out of our "home" airport MDW that is still marginally closer. Driving behind the cheddar curtain from N. ILL. to welcome you. Been a long time since I've been to Mitchell Field. (I know they call it Mitchell International... yeah, right.) Hope you have a great opening up there in 2 short weeks. Thanks for making my hometown a little better place to live. 30 or 40 jobs for folks up there. Come visit next summer. ... View more

I have mixed feelings on this. I recognize your need to enhance revenue streams but agree with prior posters that we all used to be in the boat together so it's really no longer an open seating policy. Not sure we really want that mom with the 3 year old boarding in "C" to really have to confront that Business Select traveler or Early Bird to get 2 seats together. "I paid for this seat, lady." It'll be interesting to see how this goes over. Even today, there are ususally no more than 4-5 folks in Business Select boarding slots A 1-15. I do not expect to use Early Bird myself. ... View more

Great idea adding STL to MSP's destinations. Some time ago I had read a blog entry where the person suggested that weather connections in DEN and MDW can be iffy at times and that another non-stop destination would help. Made sense to me and just in time for winter. ... View more

I respect and agree with SWA's decision regarding the labor contract and the fact that Frontier pilots may have preferred a different route. It would have been nice for those of us in the flying public but it was not meant to be in this case. Still, at $170 million, a great opportunity lost for SWA. I am and will remain a very loyal SWA customer. I trust and hope that the excitement generated over this opportunity gives SWA management the confidence to re-double their efforts to provide an ever expanding product offering to folks like me. To that end, congratulations on the 4 additional markets added this year. Simply a fantastic way to spread your existing fleet and add to your product. Among future opportunities: - "near international service". Gary, find a profitable way to get your planes to places like Cancun, San Juan, and Toronto, among others. I know all about your codeshare. That said, I HATE having to leave you to get that service. I know there is red tape associated with travel out of the country or over open ocean. Work hard and cut through it. -"Q400 (or similar) feeder service". I know you can't fly 737s cost effectively into smaller locations. Lynx looked very interesting to me into Denver. Study that concept for your largest markets like Chicago Midway. Are there places in the country where folks simply can't choose your product because they are too far from an existing SWA airport? Montana, the Dakotas, northeast Wisconsin, the UP of Michigan, South Carolina and Georgia (without ATL) come to mind. Give those potential customers a viable option to get on a "baby" canyon blue plane if you can find a way to make a dime or two. And thanks so much for the blog and ongoing public commentary. i actually feel like I'm part of the "family" while I'm nothing more that a Rapid Rewards passenger that flys maybe 10 round trips a year, all on LUV to the extent possible by the way. ... View more

As a family man, I wish all the employees at Frontier the best. I have heard very good things about your airline and hope that you will find a comfortable home with your new employer. I know what it is like to need that paycheck every two weeks. Today, change is the only certainty. Give either buyer a chance. As a loyal LUV customer, I am delighted that you are pursuing this opportunity. If successful, this paves the way toward a major expansion of your product offering and that simply has to be good for me. ... View more

Thanks Bill. Last week my wife was forced by circumstances out of her control onto another carrier on a trip from DTW to LAS with a connection in MEM. Because of weather in the area, she was delayed but was able to sprint for the connecting flight and successfully complete the trip. Probably 50% of the anticipated passengers were not so lucky. The plane was not held even 15 minutes to give more folks a chance. Guess that "On Time" statistic was pretty important for those guys. Contrast that with some late evening flights we've had out of MDW where the pilot has come on the intercom and said we would be waiting just a brief period of time to accomodate connecting passengers coming in on delayed flights. Our's is the last plane of the day to Las Vegas and everyone onboard fully understands. We've all been there, done that. Those folks always board a few minutes later with a smile on their face gladly accepting the remaining middle seats. And funny how a little extra throttle always seems to make the time up in the air...... That's the way to run an airline. And God bless "connection lady". ... View more