tallpilot

Southwest spent its initial years marketing to business travelers. They achieved cost savings through productivity not by eliminating or charging for service options.

They get lumped in with discount carriers now but it's historically inaccurate.

dracir1

SW marketed cheaper fares at full service with an emphasis on their rewards programs which happened to be popular to business travelers. They didn't mostly TARGET business travelers specifically vs others. Their emphasis started out being a cheaper ticket with quality (albeit sometimes comical/quirky) customer service - via an appreciation of its employees. They also had lower overhead/costs in smaller airports (Dallas and Houston) as well as a more efficient fleet than the traditional fleets of the 70s. It was further assisted by wise business decisions like fuel hedging and paying labor less (but with substantially improved benefits packages - like friends and family discounts, etc.)

Fast forward 20-30 years and the modern ULCC model takes only small parts of the SWA model and cheapens it even more. Cheaper and more fuel efficient fleets. Paying labor considerably less but without the benefits. Gimmicky promotions and nickel and dime ancillary charges.

The new ULCC model worked for a while. However, the REAL issues with the model today is that it never had a great service presence both to the customer and the employee. Gate space wasn't discounted and no fuel discounts were realized. Also, the seat is extremely uncomfortable (until recently). That, coupled with a lack of customer friendly website has resulted in a model that proves to be less and less sustainable as the desires/tastes of the modern traveler evolve. Right now, purchasing a ticket on Spirit or Frontier website is an annoying experience and many of the destinations are served by other airlines that are only slightly more expensive overall but offer a MUCH more pleasant flight experience. Essentially, the ULCC in the US is just a faster version of Greyhound. SWA is no longer a ULCC or even an LCC - it doesn't need to be since it has such a loyal following via its rewards program.

The result - the ony real discount is the aircraft lease and a slight fuel burn advantage.

spooldup

This is very much true. I still think that increasing quality of the product/service offered would make up for the increased expense due to more full planes and happier/returning customers.

Most people I talk to will never fly frontier again due to CS and reliability issues. Most of our pilots dont even fly frontier. I sure dont if I have somewhere to be on time or if I am worried about a cancellation meaning 5+ hours or another day until the next flight. Even then, I try to only fly standby.

I think the sole biggest improvement we could make with minimal expenditures is bringing gate agents back in house along with more of them and paying for more rampers to be in our bases. Those are the biggest issues I deal with that result in delays, cancellations, and upset customers.

dracir1

Your suggestion is certainly true. But, I think the answer is actually simpler than that.

A considerable part of the problem starts at the website. The app just isn't smart in very simple ways. Say for instance - seat assignments. Let's say there are two friends traveling together or varios people all wanting to travel together but having different last names. Since many customers don't want to pay to have their seat assigned prior, they allow the "system" to assign it for them. Often the assignments will be completely random and not next to each other even if the tickets were all purchased at the same time. So, the group then decides to go to the gate to try and rework the assignments - this taxes the gate agents that are already overtaxed (and sometimes have attitudes).

There are 1,000 little common sense improvements that can be made that are of very little cost but make a tremendous difference.

Dragonslayer69

ATC and weather delays are the biggest issues facing F9. They just aren't a problem for anyone else. Get with the program.

fivebyfive

Not to menyion a '24 summer travel repeat of F9 passengers choosing european destinations such as France and the Eiffel tower over domestic is cause for worry.

hercretired

this quarter would have been much better but JAX Center, Ukraine, and Hurricane Katrina impacted what may have been our best quarter in history. The leadership team here clearly knows how to run an airline, so kudos to them.

With that said, I am ready to take some questions.

PositiveRate20

I actually think it's planned. I believe F9 is intentionally splitting up parties in an attempt to get them to pay extra to sit together. Why wouldn't they?

SPAWNmaster

Glorifying? Jack Welch was a terrible leader (look at what happened to GE Capital and their consumer finances division and subsequent breakups). His legacy was one of dismantling customer value by squeezing supply chains to failure. BB cuts our customer experience down to the hide in the same vein. And like Jack Welch BB will ultimately steer the ship in the wrong direction. Superstar? You completely misunderstand me. Again your comparison is unjustifiable. But keep quibbling in latin you’re impressing all the salty Denver boomers here who we hate swinging gear for.

ERAUAV8R

don’t forget about Brexit