Luv2Rotate

Not true, WN truly had no intention of buying F9. All WN wanted was to get a good look at their books before massively expanding into the DEN market. Pure brilliance on their part.
As for AirTran, WN was waiting to buy them. They had same fleet (737) and already had plans to axe the 717's. Frontier has no common type (all Airbus).

GoHomeLeg

Really don't want to argue but the "peak at the books" argument makes no sense. The books were more or less public record (F9 was in bankruptcy). If a company based in Denver could not make the market work why would Southwest take their business cues off that company? The "peek at the books" argument is made by pilots that refuse to acknowledge an undeniable truth: they squandered an excellent opportunity because of greed.

Also, why expand into Denver if you can cheaply aquire a "hometown company" that owns the most lucrative gates in that market? I couldn't have been that expensive, a regional bought them.

Southwest's CEO has publicly stated they have no problem being a two airframe fleet. They just had no need for a smaller airframe like the 717 (especially when Delta wanted them so badly).

Furthermore, if it was the intention of Southwest they could have quickly aquired F9 and slowly phased in the 737 while leasing/selling the extremely popular airframe that F9 already owned (exactly what they did with AirTran). Seemless.

The F9 drivers hosed themselves.

Ironically, Republic sold F9 to Inidgo for less than what Southwest offered to purchase them outright.

History sucks when it makes you look like a fool.

spaaks

Sound logic, but: yes the balance sheets...etc are public info, but southwest was looking to find out which specific routes/markets were their most profitable, load factors...etc and those are the ones southwest opened first

Rahlifer

Kind of funny that Johnny O at MESA got spanked for doing the exact same thing.

Aloha Airlines sues Mesa Air Group - Pacific Business News

block30

Wow. So negotiations are that bad huh? At this point I would think the pilot group asking for the moon may not be unreasonable...because hey- it's that or what? Dissolution of RAH?

flyguy23

That may be exactly where RAH is headed. Management has taken the stance theyd rather go out of business than pay pilots. You just cant fix stupid.

MR JT8D

Ohhhhhh. It's going to be back up soon.... what a difference.

When is the strike vote? Ahhhhhh never????

The new website should be called, "Shut it down now, and park every single aircraft!"

block30

This is just unreal to watch from the cheap seats. Management does realize that each that goes by means more expense and effort to turn the ship around right? At some point you can reach the point of no return due to all the damage done...? Is RAH being sued for breach of contract for dropping too many flights?

MR JT8D

No, they are playing you guys for fools. They have the aircraft orders and you guys have to call their bluff. You'll be flying for peanuts until the strike vote comes along. You guys have the weakest union on the history of the planet!!! Period.

MR JT8D

You guys should study Carl Marx. And pay attention to exactly what he's saying.