Originally Posted by
shoelu
The DOJ disagrees. In fact they mention SWA by name.
"The Reagan National and LaGuardia slots will be sold under procedures approved by the department. Under the terms of the settlement, JetBlue at Reagan National and Southwest at LaGuardia will be given the opportunity to acquire the slots they currently lease from Amercan. The remaining 88 slots at Reagan National and 24 slots at LaGuardia plus any JetBlue or Southwest decline to acquire will be grouped into bundles, taking into account specific slot times to ensure commercially viable and competitive patterns of service for the recipients of the divested slots. The parties will divest these slot bundles and all rights and interests in any gates and other ground facilities (e.g., ticket counters, baggage handling facilities, office space and loading bridges) as necessary to support the use of the purchased slots."
USDOJ: Justice Department Requires US Airways and American Airlines to Divest Facilities at Seven Key Airports to Enhance System-wide Competition and Settle Merger Challenge
Acquiring gates you currently lease is far different from trying to pretend that SWA is still an LCC and "getting in line with the rest of the rest of the budget carriers ."
SWA's growth was remarkable during the day. Now, the only growing is the the rapidly closing gap towards being another legacy.
As such, SWA will have to change. The revenue from premium seating, baggage fees, change fees, etc., etc. will have to be captured or they won't be able to book the profit to help them remain competitive.
Watched a lot of NFL. Actually watching SNF now. Haven't seen one baggage cop on a belt loader ad yet today. Give it to less than a year til y'all start taking those fees.
Then the campaign to convince the public that SWA is a good old low cost aw schucks airline will over.