UAL had one of the longest bankruptcies in aviation history. It was brutal for employees. SWA took advantage and dominated for a while. The growth of SWA in DEN speaks for itself. It was one of the fastest ramp ups in SWA history. UAL’s pivot of actually making healthy margins is recent historically speaking. Denver’s population base has grown as with O&D growth, and it has great infrastructure for connectivity. It’s a great spot. Those who control the local O&D wins the game. SWA is a p2p carrier that competes with a hub and spoke carrier in DEN. SWA relies heavily on the local population for its margins as does UAL. The difference is UAL has a regional feed and of course different fleet types to complement the network. Which gives them an advantage. SWA has to pick its battles. STS and ANC are now part of the DEN network. That should tell you something. Only two airlines in the first quarter had positive net margins. Both have major operations in DEN.

Kirby is a smart dude. He may have a big mouth but he is not the first. Crandall and Lerenzo had a big mouth’s also. Difference is we live in a age of social media. Everything gets amplified. He’s been pretty spot on for the most part. More importantly, he’s running a great airline at the moment. He’s definitely making BJ and AW work for it. When comparing ATL to DEN, scale matters. SWA never had scale in ATL. Even in the AirTran days, they never had any scale compared to DEN at its peak. They tried, they failed. Move assets to better opportunities someplace else. The rearranging of the network plus the initiatives that are all up and running now seem to be producing results. $4.00 a gallon jet fuel for an elevated time frame will do economic damage for the industry. Question is how much can airlines recapture the cost without demand destruction. Nobody knows that yet. The Max 7 will be a great tailwind for SWA. Lowers unit costs and is perfectly gauged for the network. Can’t come quick enough.