Seems this might be good for customers and all who see competition as a good thing, especially in a market like ATL where DL has enjoyed being able to get away with less than stellar customer service for so long.

VIVA the FREE MARKET!!

I second that! I can see more competitive Delta fares coming.

Given that AirTran was already a major presence in ATL, I don't see how this increases competition. In fact, it may lessen it, since the ATL FL hub will likely be dismantled in favor of WN's point-to-point system. Could the number of destinations served by two carriers from ATL actually decrease as a result? I think it could.

A bunch of 717s might end up on the market, which might be an interesting asset for the DL fleet.

I just read the AirTran thread and not the press release. When is the earliest ATL can see a WN flight?

Deal won't happen until regulatory approval and Airtran shareholders approve.

While it is great to pick up some additional destinations served by SW, the loss of business class seats in the combined markets will allow DL to raise "A" fares.

Delta has a long history of raising fares when Airtran has left a market (ex ATL-TLH, ATL-SAV).

There will actually be an airline that does Customer Service! (While I don't have major issues with Delta... AirTran has always been a disaster LOL!)

There will be an airline that knows how to board and unload without taking an hour

Baggage fees will be an issue. SW is beating that no fee train to death. May hit Delta closer to home if it's in thier backyard.

And I will have to commute to the west coast on SW... No upgrades... Oh Wait... I don't ever get upgraded anyway... SO.... LOL! (Platinum soon to be Diamond flying on LUT... Not happening on Mon/Fri flights)

What does WN know about penetrating Fortress ATL that B6 didn't? They must have some plan. Most dramatic case, they do to DL at least a little of what they did to US @ BWI years ago. Least dramatic case, DL launches all missiles and chases WN out, or at least keeps them down to a token presence.

Southwest says it will keep the 717s:

http://www.lowfaresfarther.com/frequ...ked-questions/

I don't understand this post. Industry consolidation does not create competition, nor is it good for the consumer. There is no "free market" where you have a few big players. When elephants contend, the grass gets trampled underfoot.

I see the airline industry going the way of the casino industry. It's taking a while but it seems that we no longer have any will to resist these large monopolies. Once there only a few major players who own "everything," most of the goodies will go away for everyone except the very few.

Southwest is harping on bag fees because their prices aren't that great, at least from New Orleans they're not. They hook the naive, who don't think to shop around because they automatically assume that because it's a miserable traveling experience with no elite lines, no first class etc. that it's somehow cheaper. If I was an AirTran elite, I would be pretty concerned right about now...

I lost good and valuable things in the NW/DL merger, and I think a lot of people did. Most irritating, the inability now to reserve seats on the very first row in coach. On many aircraft, row 5 is the best seat on the plane. So DL blocks it off, apparently to hand out to their buddies or whoever slips the GA a twenty at the gate. If I wasn't getting a LOT of upgrades, this situation alone would be enough to make me start shopping solely on price and to forget about loyalty.

If people think a merger is about a free market or creating a free market, all I can say is, What planet is that again???

This will increase competition out of MKE, Air Tran has a pretty aggressive routing and pricing structure here and since SWA came here last year, the price to MSP went from 600 to 107 RT. I am all for it, if they add routes, I will probably do some flying on them, which I do not do now.

Will be interesting to see what happens at DCA. Will they WN take over the old A terminal? Certainly they will drive down some if the inflated fares there.

I think the poster meant WN introducing the "Southwest effect" @ ATL would be a good thing and force DL fares down. But you're right about Southwest rarely being a low-fare leader anymore. Some of those Business Select fares, especially, are comparatively outrageous.

How so? There will now be one less competitor out of MKE, since FL and WN are already there. Also, most of the speculation is that MKE will be considerably downsized, given that it's a mini-hub for AirTran.

For those of us in JAN, a market that DL has dominated for so long, being the only carrier into ATL, it can only mean good things. When WN entered our market in 1997, fares dropped substantially across the board, and on the routes where DL has WN competition, fares remain some of the best in the nation. However, if you want to fly JAN-ATL, DL is the only carrier, and they regularly charge $600+ for that route, whereas connecting through ATL to other destinations, even on the west coast, is typically hundreds less.

To the new combined Southwest, which currently offers nonstop service from JAN to HOU, MDW, BWI, and MCO, I say give us JAN-ATL, and the sooner the better!!