Originally Posted by
Calchas
Well I hope that, as long as everyone attacks the arguments and not each other, this isn't in violation of the rules---but rather the whole point of a discussion forum.
Correct. If people don't want to read it, they don't have to.
Originally Posted by
davetravels
The OP seems VERY intelligent, so, I'm sure that when he becomes Prez, he'll change Air Force1 to an all Y config!
There are very specific reasons why Air Force One is what it is. That has nothing to do with commercial air travel.
Originally Posted by
MikeMpls
Southwest has already moved away from the all-138-seat 737 model with their orders for larger 737's. I will not be at all surprised if regionals are also in their future. They almost acquired them when they considered buying Frontier out of bankruptcy. In Australia Virgin Blue (originally modeled after WN with an all 737 fleet) has evolved to flying Embraers as well as 737's and has made some other non-Southwest-ish changes as well. The Southwest example is not necessarily a universal solution.
I sure hope not. Part of their business model is that they only have one type of aircraft to maintain and train on. They have different types of 737s now, but they all share a lot of parts and operational commonality.
Originally Posted by
MikeMpls
Over the long run you're going to see DL & WN (& UA & US/AA) evolving to be more competitive with each other. What most people think of as Southwest today is not the answer. Southwest is already evolving well past that.
Hopefully not into a dinosaur. They need to dig deeper into low-cost, and not turn into the messes that the old guard has.
Originally Posted by
MikeMpls
That's why they are contracted to regional airlines with smaller planes and different cost structures. Only a few years ago a Mesaba first officer new on the job could have earned more money as a WalMart greeter. Their pay scales are higher today but still much lower than the major airlines.
That's a problem. I don't trust an airline who isn't paying their pilots well. That's also why I like to fly O&O. The regional airlines are just way too shady.
Originally Posted by
MikeMpls
That was known as Song. Technically they were not a separate airline: They flew planes repainted with Song logos & colors under Delta's operating certificate, and they tried to emulate Southwest -- and they flubbed.
They could operate actual Delta more like Southwest.
Originally Posted by
Traveller
If you like Southwest so much, why does there need to be another airline just like them?
I'd like to see an airline out Southwest Southwest. As long as the experience and training of the crew, and the airworthiness of the aircraft are not affected, I'd like to see a race to the bottom. Southwest is getting too comfortable be just being cheaper then the inefficient big carriers (which isn't hard, they give Southwest a lot to work with in terms of efficiency), rather than being as cheap as possible.
Originally Posted by
MikeMpls
Virgin America & Spirit come to mind. Frontier now seem poised to explore the bottom limits of the marketplace.
Spirit and Frontier are interesting. Spirit has the best advertising campaign ever. However, they only do major, major markets. I'd like to see another carrier who will come in, serve every relevant us market like Southwest, and then out Southwest Southwest (more like RyanAir than Southwest). Southwest is a kinder, gentler low-cost airline, and not as aggressive as RyanAir.