Originally Posted by
Pilot41
Sorry but it would mean SW has a better product. The SW product is made up of it's service and personal(management, pilot, FA's, rampers, CSR's, etc.)., they hedged others didn't or at least not like SWA. I laugh every time I hear someone say something like, " Southwest only made money because they hedged." Yeah, so what's your point. Thats good/smart business.
I also find sad that so many people on this board are waiting with glee at the prospect that SWA might lose money. From my point of view we should all be proud the a USA has one of the best managed and run airlines in the world for the past 30+ years. We should all hope that our own companies were run half as well. To date zero have come close, they have a great product.
As for how long Frontier has, I hope it goes on long after I'm gone. I feel sure that everyone there will do thier best to make it work.
Hey Pilot41,
I agree with you on some of those points, and don't take it personally when people look for Southwest to stumble just a little bit.... It's only human nature to root for the underdogs, especially when they used to be the top dogs and SWA is the new 800-pound gorilla (Hey, that's a compliment!).
In this society of unchecked Capitalism, SWA is doing just as should be expected... To grow and prosper. But when viewing this from a Frontier, United, or US Airways pilot's eyes, SWA is a predatory shark. When they smelled US Airways' blood in the water, SWA opened up in PHL, BWI, etc. When United became vulnerable, DEN became the new target. It seems that, as they should, they target the weaker prey. This is not a diss to SWA, just an observation. These certainly were not cities lacking in airline service, just weaker ones with higher priced tickets. Note that they don't go to ATL, MIA, JFK, EWR, etc. So that might explain people's posts hoping for SWA to slip up... even one time. We (Society) love to see the mighty fall, even if just one notch. Proof of this is our reveling in the trevails of Brittney Spears, Paris Hilton, Martha Stewart, Leona Helmsley, ect. I remember when United, Delta, and American were the targets of people wishing that they would be taken down a notch. It's just human nature.
As far as SWA having a better product than Frontier, I must respectfully, but wholeheartedly disagree. I have a ton of friends at SWA, pilots and flight attendants, where I only know a few from Frontier. So it's not personal. But as far as the product goes, I feel that F9 has better service, more room, and cleaner aircraft. I'm not talking about TV,either, although that's nice. For a long trip across the country, I'll take F9 any day if only for the frequent flier miles. On SWA, distance does not matter so I rarely rack up as many tickets on SWA like the other products out there. Also, many passengers resent being herded into lines, as efficient as it may be. That being said, on a short flight without food or room concerns, I encourage my company to use Southwest, as the price is usually better. Remember, I'm speaking as a passenger here.
Also, a lot of people (airline employees and passengers, both), wrongly blame Southwest for the death of customer service in the great race to the bottom in the US airline industry. Right or wrong, competing airlines often name Southwest (by name or by "the competition") as the reason that they must cut niceties or service to cities, similar to the European race to the bottom with Ryanair.
The people make SWA a great company for both passengers and employees and the business model cannot be beat or successfully emulated (it seems). But as far as having a better product? No way.... A nice product but not better.
Respectfully,
B727DRVR