Originally Posted by
OscartheGrouch
Taxi speed issues again! Please note that our speeds are no faster than 30 kts. on a straight away and 10-15 in a turn. If you have issues with that please complain to the FAA and maybe they will put a governor (sp?) on our aircraft while on the ground. If I hear another "no faster than a brisk walk" I might puke.
The Oscar
Thankfully, SWA pilots understand that a commercial aircraft is only making money for the company, its shareholders, all its employees (particularly including its pilots) when that aircraft is MOVING. SWA aircraft average 6.25 flights per day or almost 11 hours and 45 minutes per day. There are many, many reasons why SWA continues to be profitable and provide the excellent QOL and compensation for its flight crews. Many of these reasons are missed by most other airlines. (Thankfully,
)
As to the "safety" critics out there regarding taxi speeds or any other issue, here you go:
All statistics obtained from the FAA, the NTSB and the US Dept. of Transportation.
Five Year Average from Jan. 1 2004 to Jan 1, 2009. The FIRST column number is Accidents per 1,000,000/ Takeoffs. The SECOND column number is Incidents per 1,0000,000 Takeoffs:
AA . . . . . . .4.1 . . . . . . .2.2
CAL . . . . . . 3.4 . . . . . . .4.6
DAL . . . . . . 3.1 . . . . . . .3.8
SWA . . . . . .2.6 . . . . . . .1.5
UAL . . . . . . 5.7 . . . . . . .6.5
AWE . . . . . .0.5 . . . . . . .2.4