AirTran Airways A+ Rewards - FL schedule extension - summer 2012

With the schedule extended, it looks like MKE-BWI drops, but other MKE routes are status quo, or actually increased in frequencies.

With MKE-MSP operating 4x daily, except Sat, when 3x, it appears connecting traffic at MKE will remain a part of the plan, at least for the foreseeable future.

It's probably a safe assumption those flights will be operated by Southwest.

AirTran shoud be dead and buried by that time.

I posted this over on F9 but it's obviously appropriate here:

(a) 1x added to BOS and MCO (BOS at 4x is a new high, MCO at a combined 5x matches 2010 IIRC)

(b) FL not bringing back 2x BWI...is only 3x WN

(c) FL is flying 2x MKE-PHX including a red-eye, which was announced for last summer but never started. WN is 1x MKE-PHX compared to 2x last summer.

(d) Other year-over-year changes are things we already know about...WN 2x to DEN, CRJ's to OMA/DSM/STL/IND/PIT/CAK replaced by 2x mainline each to DSM, STL and CAK.

(e) Loosening of the traditional east-west banks. Instead of a whole set of westbound departures at about 8:45am (for example) to catch feed from the east there is LAX and LAS at that time, but SFO is at 10:50am, PHX is at 7:05am, and the two SEA flights are both later PM (5:25pm and 7:45pm).


In spite of word that Southwest would significantly scale back and reduce connections singificantly at Atlanta, the summer 2012 schedule in ATL is also very much status quo. That suggest to me that:

(a) They are still not in a position to do cross-feeding yet, and it would not surprise me if we never see code sharing.

(b) Until they are ready to put WN onto FL flights (perhaps with code sharing or perhaps only when FL is fully retired) it's in their best interst to leave ATL and MKE intact so the connecting flows continue to function.

(c) Because WN clearly stated that the days of the high-connection flow business at ATL are numbered, this summer schedule only tells us that significant changes are delayed. I would suspect the same will happen in MKE, but that has not specifically been addressed as ATL has been. Not a big surprise, however, as ATL is the heart of AirTran and the key point of acquisition. That MKE has had no mention only means MKE is not central to FL...it does not mean MKE will see similar anti-connection restructuring as promised for ATL, nor does it mean it will not.

http://www.ajc.com/business/southwest-begins-transforming-airtran-1224905.html

Southwest begins transforming AirTran flight schedule


Southwest's chief commercial officer Bob Jordan, who also serves as president of the AirTran subsidiary, said the airline is limited in how quickly it can add more service in Atlanta. "Our intent is not to change the size of Atlanta very dramatically," and it will take time to shift AirTran planes over to the Southwest brand, he said. He said the number of flights on Southwest and AirTran out of Atlanta will likely remain flat at roughly 200 a day.

AirTran has long had Atlanta as its main hub, but Southwest is changing the position Atlanta plays in its route network by shifting away from its role as a connecting hub. For example, Southwest also announced Sunday that AirTran will begin flying some new routes out of Denver, including to New York LaGuardia.

"This is the first schedule that does a lot of tweaking of AirTran and Southwest schedules," Jordan said. Some routes that connect through Atlanta "really make sense to serve nonstop, over Atlanta, and avoid the connection."On the other hand, he said there are other routes Southwest can add out of Atlanta that are not served by AirTran.

WN planning new FL service to Mexico from SNA and SAT.

http://www.ocbj.com/news/2011/nov/13/southwest-plans-jwa-mexico-routes-through-airtran/

http://travel.usatoday.com/flights/post/2011/11/southwest-airtran-mexico-routes/564989/1

(c) Because WN clearly stated that the days of the high-connection flow business at ATL are numbered, this summer schedule only tells us that significant changes are delayed. I would suspect the same will happen in MKE, but that has not specifically been addressed as ATL has been. Not a big surprise, however, as ATL is the heart of AirTran and the key point of acquisition. That MKE has had no mention only means MKE is not central to FL...it does not mean MKE will see similar anti-connection restructuring as promised for ATL, nor does it mean it will not.

As I posted on the Southwest forum in response to your amazing compilation of data (http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/southwest-rapid-rewards/1279797-bwis-seasonal-transcons-other-route-changes.html#post17453346):
I agree with your assessment that Southwest wants to switch the whole ATL operation to a different business model all at once. The next schedule horizon is September 28 (schedule opening January 16). I predict the new ATL model will begin September 29, 2012.