Originally Posted by ewrbasedpilot

Taking off from intersections with 5000 feet of runway behind them is another way they save money............. (Saw that in AUS two days ago). My FO and I were both kinda shocked to see that....................but, whatever. I'm sure they'll have a great reason for doing that when they reject at high speed and go barreling off the end. Many on here don't seem to understand that flying from EWR, JFK, ORD, etc., are totally different than flying from FLL. It's a fortune in takeoff and landing fees, gate leases, employee costs, etc., and SWA doesn't have to recoup that overhead, do they? They also don't fly to Beijing, Narita, or Paris in a B-777, do they? Had any first class meals on them lately? How about having a bag checked to a foreign destination? Flown first class on a 15 hour flight on them? How much foreign income have they brought into the USA? Don't get me wrong, SWA is a brilliant airline (I still have the letter Herb Kelleher sent me, personally signed, thanking me for buying ten shares of his stock back in 1980!), but they are NOT a full service carrier. You can ride in a VW with all your friends for cheap, or in a Mercedes if you want the bells and whistles. Yes, they are both transportation, but are two totally different animals. Many on here still don't understand that..........................