It can't happen yet, but the door has opened.


Why? They don't need to waste $$$ on route authority or gate space. It's already available through Volaris.


I fail to see how they're against outsourcing when they codeshare with Volaris. If they wanted to do it themselves, why didn't they?

I never said acquiring AirTran had to do anything with outsourcing. I said that SWA costs will continue to increase with the acquisition. The airlines CASM was already increasing while the PRASM was decreasing before the AT purchase. The merger will make that trend continue. This will increase pressure on outsourcing.

True story:
About a month ago I'm on the crew bus in the EE lot heading to A con. At the last stop a 48-52ish FA get's on with her roll aboard and a small animal case with a cat inside! The poor feline was crying the whole bus ride in and it was all the 12 of us on board could do not to laugh. FA's wonder why we kid about them being "cat herders"

Volaris pays their Captains 60K. I bet all SWA flying south of the border is here to stay done by them. Outsourcing to cheaper force works, but who knows.. I am just a pilot.

It cannot happen now, period. It can only happen if SWAPA caves in on its current scope language. But it still wouldn't make sense for SWA to try since outsourcing DOES NOT decrease your costs.

Because of time. International route authority takes time to win. SWA is willing to accept the higher cost of using Volaris until it can get its own route authority where it can use its lower cost model. And more importantly, control its brand.

See above.

That may well be true.

You'd be right if outsourcing reduced costs. It does not.

Carl

You're making the mistake of thinking that pilot pay plays a significant role in costs. Our RJ competitors pay much lower than that, yet their CASM is higher on many routes than ours.

Carl

Duplicate post.....

Lots of RJ CA's get paid much more then 60K. Some regional FO's who work the contract make that. In my single year as an RJ CA I made 75K, on 3rd year longevity. Many regional CA's are in the 7-10+ year longevity range. Outsourcing to regionals costs more because contracts often require the Major to pay for fuel, gates, mx, training costs, etc. This makes the contract expensive.

A simple codeshare does not cost those things. Outsourcing to Volaris saves SWA $$$. Just like how they outsource their heavy MX to San Salvador. They don't need to spend money on route authority, gates, gate agents, or ground personnel. They don't even have to pay outsourced ground handling, because it isn't their flight.

Exactly. And don't forget the "cost" of lost revenue as we drive away customers with a substandard product.

LAX 16 Meeting
 

Any Left Coasters going to the council 16 meeting tomorrow?

Scoop

I see we're talking outsourcing again so I'll add a little fuel to the fire. Overworked DC9 and MD80 guys, here's my current trip that could be yours, if only the E175 "RJ" was flown in-house.

Day 1: MSP-MDW-MSP-BZN. 15 hour overnight in Bozeman eating free hotwings and drinking $3 Moose Drool.
Day 2: BZN-SLC-SNA. Done by 9:30am, 20 hour overnight in sunny Orange County CA.
Day 3: SNA-SLC-YVR. In by 1pm, 17 hours in Vancouver BC hanging out at the Flying Beaver.
Day 4: YVR-MSP-ORD-MSP. Back in time for most commuters to catch their ride home. That 1200nm leg from YVR to MSP is sure "regional," eh?

But hey, DALPA has no interest in recapturing this flying. Really, what mainline pilot would want to lower themselves to this??