Originally Posted by
ClippedWing
Rumors abound that SWA will start expansion that makes the early 2000s look tame.
I would absolutely love for that to be the reality however, I think 10% growth is most definitely a thing of the past never to be seen again. With close to 150 classics on property, they will most likely all need to be replaced before a single "growth" aircraft is added to the fleet. Capacity is being greatly increased as 117 seat 717's are being replaced with 175 seat -800's and 143 seat -700's, but that does not add one single pilot seat for that huge increase in capacity. Growth aircraft are most likely somewhere in the future IF and when international departures warrant growth aircraft.