Originally Posted by
Dbsurf17
SWA is coalescing into a hub and spoke carrier, as 2 recent route additions show, tus-phx, and mke- mdw. Lesser need for a smaller aircraft as we pull away from point to point. From Boeing's perspective SWA is the only substantial customer for the -7, while they have a deep order book for the other variants. Even the -7s that currently exist, parked in Moses Lake, SWA doesn't want them cuz they're 7 years old
PTP isn't dead. It is SWAs main competitive advantage these days. People will pay $200 more per ticket to not make a connection. Also, hub and spoke would need a smaller plane to feed the hub and bigger planes to fly the trunk flights. I would think TUS-PHX is a great example of a flight that a 150 (or smaller) sized plane would do very well.