Article: Cattle call may stay
Oct 6, 2006, 11:59 am
#1
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Article: Cattle call may stay
Baltimore Sun article:
Also:
http://www.baltimoresun.com/business...ness-headlines
Southwest Airlines' chief said yesterday that a summer experiment in assigning seats yielded mixed results and more research is needed to decide whether the carrier can - and should - abandon its distinctive first-come, first-served seating.
Southwest does not plan on launching service at new airports in 2007, after three years in a row of additions. But it will likely add flights to its network.
Oct 6, 2006, 12:45 pm
#2
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When systematic delays arise, the open seating system makes it possible to rapidly accommodate passengers on the next available flight until it's full. If seat assignments needed to be negotiated with the passengers, I doubt that the current staff could accomplish this feat in the available time.
Oct 6, 2006, 12:46 pm
#3
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As we've discused, the summer experiment at SAN was horribly designed -- they told people where to sit rather than allowing passengers to reserve seats like every other airline. I'm surprised they describe it as "mixed results" -- I assumed the results would be disastrous.
Assigned seats on Southwest are inevitable. There's a vocal minority who like open seating, which skews all the public discussion of the topic. Anyway, I won't rehash that discussion since we've had it ad nauseum here.
Anyway, I thought the most interesting thing in the article was the fact that Southwest will not add any new cities in 2007.
Assigned seats on Southwest are inevitable. There's a vocal minority who like open seating, which skews all the public discussion of the topic. Anyway, I won't rehash that discussion since we've had it ad nauseum here.
Anyway, I thought the most interesting thing in the article was the fact that Southwest will not add any new cities in 2007.
Oct 6, 2006, 1:50 pm
#4
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Originally Posted by justageek
Anyway, I thought the most interesting thing in the article was the fact that Southwest will not add any new cities in 2007.
Oct 6, 2006, 2:53 pm
#5
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They can probably use any new aircraft to add flights at IAD, DEN, and PHL (and maybe some new DAL one-stops).
But it's certainly interesting that they're publicly announcing that they won't launch service at any new airport for the next 15 months. Maybe they are trying to stake out their territory with AirTran and JetBlue. In other words, "We're not going to launch service at ATL or LGA/JFK or BOS or MSP, so please stay out of our way at BWI, IAD, MDW." (And perhaps B6's DAL challenge or FL's BWI-DTW route.)
But it's certainly interesting that they're publicly announcing that they won't launch service at any new airport for the next 15 months. Maybe they are trying to stake out their territory with AirTran and JetBlue. In other words, "We're not going to launch service at ATL or LGA/JFK or BOS or MSP, so please stay out of our way at BWI, IAD, MDW." (And perhaps B6's DAL challenge or FL's BWI-DTW route.)
Oct 6, 2006, 3:16 pm
#6
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Originally Posted by justageek
Assigned seats on Southwest are inevitable. There's a vocal minority who like open seating, which skews all the public discussion of the topic.
Oct 6, 2006, 4:40 pm
#7
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Originally Posted by nsx
When systematic delays arise, the open seating system makes it possible to rapidly accommodate passengers on the next available flight until it's full. If seat assignments needed to be negotiated with the passengers, I doubt that the current staff could accomplish this feat in the available time.
Oct 7, 2006, 12:23 pm
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Originally Posted by justageek
Anyway, I thought the most interesting thing in the article was the fact that Southwest will not add any new cities in 2007.
Oct 7, 2006, 12:31 pm
#10
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Originally Posted by curbcrusher
Agreed. Do you think it is due to expansion exhaustion, or that they don't have access to enough new aircraft to support another round of expansion?
Southwest's Momentum Stalls;
Used Boeing 737-700 to Join Fleet
Mike
Oct 7, 2006, 2:13 pm
#11
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Originally Posted by LoneStarMike
With regards to no new cities in 2007, the following article from aviationnow.com goes into more detail.
Southwest's Momentum Stalls;
Used Boeing 737-700 to Join Fleet
Mike
Southwest's Momentum Stalls;
Used Boeing 737-700 to Join Fleet
Mike
Southwest will likely take 2007 to build frequencies within its existing markets rather than add new cities, reports CEO Gary Kelly, especially due to concern over a recent slowing of the strong revenue and yield growth seen during the summer.
"The momentum has stalled," Kelly told The DAILY yesterday in Washington. "We're not hitting our earnings targets." Southwest in early September warned that unit revenue growth in the third quarter would be less than 10% due to traffic and revenue trends (DAILY, Sept. 7). Kelly said yesterday the stalled growth is directly tied to the Aug. 10 terrorism scare that led to new airport security restrictions.
So I actually have not been imagining the low load factors intra-California. I wish Kelly luck with the new strategy. I believe JetBlue is doing much the same, going for depth of service rather than breadth.
Oct 7, 2006, 3:00 pm
#12
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I just had to book an itinerary that isn't available on WN. My account with the carrier I'm using has a balance of about 3k non-expiring miles and 0 Elite quals. So guess where I'm sitting??
On WN, I'd have that "A" BP firmly in hand upon arrival at the boarding chute.
Don't look at this being a cattle call.... it's a rodeo!
On WN, I'd have that "A" BP firmly in hand upon arrival at the boarding chute.
Don't look at this being a cattle call.... it's a rodeo!
Oct 7, 2006, 4:10 pm
#13
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Originally Posted by justageek
Assigned seats on Southwest are inevitable. There's a vocal minority who like open seating, which skews all the public discussion of the topic. Anyway, I won't rehash that discussion since we've had it ad nauseum here.
Originally Posted by nsx
When systematic delays arise, the open seating system makes it possible to rapidly accommodate passengers on the next available flight until it's full. If seat assignments needed to be negotiated with the passengers, I doubt that the current staff could accomplish this feat in the available time.
Last edited by EIPremier; Oct 7, 2006 at 4:24 pm
Oct 7, 2006, 7:01 pm
#14
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Originally Posted by Nevada1K
I concur - with a caveat. The statement in the article stated, "Southwest does not plan (emphasis added) on launching service at new airports in 2007." Southwest has been very opportunistic over the years and should such an unique opportunity present itself in 2007, I would not be the least surprised to see them take advantage of the circumstances and add a new city. Why should they tip their hand to the competition at this stage?
I would assume they are not lying, and that they are really not planning to add any new cities in 2007.
Oct 7, 2006, 7:22 pm
#15
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Originally Posted by justageek
Well, if they're planning to add new city(s), then their statement in the article is an outright lie.