joshua362

http://www.aviationpros.com/news/116...ares-to-depart

Presented without comment or commercial interruption.

flyventure

And? Plan working as intended. Share holder value is up. Record profits. O&D market share in ATL is higher than what FL had. Yeah a bunch of small markets lost nonstop service that had minimal O&D to support itself. It happens.

Yes it is sad to see AirTran finally go away, I really like them. At the end of the day though, nothing is going to bring them back at this point regardless of how much people want them. It's time for FL pax to stop the whining and decide to either stick with WN and adjust to how it operates or button up and move to Delta or another airline.

If people want to be upset, complain to the DOJ for letting these go through.

hazelrah

I too am sad to see Air Tran go. I liked having a choice between Air Tran and Southwest.

That said, what we as consumers like is not always paramount. The U.S. airline industry as a whole (except for Alaska) has opted to consolidate. It's not government's role in the U.S. to direct U.S. industry.

If people want to be upset, write your congressperson and request re-regulation - that's not going anywhere but if it makes you feel better...

rsteinmetz70112

Just remember this next time someone touts the "Southwest effect".

joshua362

I used to routinely fly AirTran LGA-ATL and back under $200 each way, last minute or similarly on DL. F6 kept DL in check. Last time I flew it in May it was just under $500 each way whether FL or WN. This article hits home for me, the combined F6/WN simply joined DL.

Good for the stockholders, no good for the consumer!

hazelrah

Well the old-way resulted in bankruptcy, it was not sustainable.

For better or worse consolidation is what the airline industry has chosen.

rsteinmetz70112

Whose bankruptcy? Not Airtran's.

mke9499

Transcript of antitrust hearing held in Pewaukee, WI on 02.25.2011 provides some interesting reading/testimony. Emphasis of this hearing was possible impact at MKE, which had been hub for both FL and F9. How times have changed!

http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/CHRG-11...2shrg67500.htm

hazelrah

Sorry, I don't have time to read all this. Could you provide what you think are its salient point(s)?

LegalTender

Care to source this?

BoydGroup International says that Atlanta’s O&D traffic dropped by 10% from the 3Q 2012 to the third quarter of 2013.

joshua362

Some classic stuff in here, bolding mine, just the last paragraph:

Mr. Kelly. I would be delighted to do that, and obviously
we are here to serve our customers, and it is in our own
selfish interest for you and all of our customers in Milwaukee
to be happy. We know our communities want more service. We know
that they want low fares. And we are the one airline over 40
years who has lived up to that. We make commitments to our
communities. We become involved. We do not come in 1 year and
exit the next. Part of that is having the financial wherewithal
to see ourselves through the bad times.
I cannot promise you what changes we will need to make. We
have made dramatic changes in Southwest Airlines over the last
5 years. We were able to do that in a way where we did not
abandon our communities, where we did not furlough employees.
We did not ask them for pay cuts. And I am proud of that.
So what I can promise you is that we will give it more than
just our best effort, because we know this is important to your
community. If we did not believe that we could take care of the
Southwest and AirTran employees and crew members, also do good
things for our shareholders, also do good things for our
customers, we would not do it. And that is why we do
acquisitions infrequently. But the last acquisition we did, I
would just point out, we were probably 30 percent our size, so
the track record there is pretty good that we buy as an
incentive for us to continue to grow. And I hope that we can
come back and tell you that we have been able to grow Southwest
a lot.

Obviously these reviews and hearings are just charades to trick the public into thinking someone else is in charge and looking out for their best interests but really just excuses to draw some nice government salaries and benefits...

mke9499

If you have a few minutes to scroll through the transcript, I would read the comments of Diana Moss of the American Antitrust Institute. Her concerns back then were most legitimate.

Many of the concerns mentioned about MKE relate to ATL today. As a point of note, Frontier dropped MKE several years ago as a hub, and until recently, only had one nonstop destination from MKE; so, any LCC competition from F9 soon became nonexistent at MKE.

hazelrah

What you highlighted are just platitudes and generalities.

hazelrah

I think Ms. Moss's concerns look good on paper, but not sure they apply in the real world.

Frontier and MKE is just conflating the issue. Further, you can't compare MKE and ATL; they are entirely different demographics and markets, thus her comments about MKE would not be applicable to ATL.

mke9499

The loss of FL has taken away the very competitive fares once available in a market, due to FL's presence. DL no longer has to worry about that pricing pressure...neither at MKE, nor at ATL; even though WN bills itself as the "low fare leader," those of us who fly them regularly know that's not always the case, especially for last-minute, walk-up fares, where WN's fares are very often not the lowest, even against legacies. In fact, WN is usually low only about 40% of the time, if not checking bags. I recently came across a booking from last year, when I flew on a $39 fare; this year, the lowest comp is about $73. Even though fuel prices have moderated, somewhat, lately, the days of the $39 fare are over.

Though MKE is not even close to the size of #1 ATL, keep in mind that at one time, MKE was FL's third largest market, in terms of business. The loss of FL was a loss for MKE and ATL in terms of both service and low fares.