I knew when I posted that someone would immediately make the point that I remembered the Head On commercial, therefore it was effective. That's why I went on to say that I would not, nor have I, ever purchased Head On, expressly because of the commercial.

I could give you a very long list of memorable, irritating commercials for things that everyone remembers - but nobody buys. Real genius would have been a Billy Mays commercial for WN. Oh well.

PIPE

 

Umm, what type of passenger is that KC10 FATboy? (just curious)

 

Probably the same type of guy sitting next to me today on my commute to work.

Unshaven, smelly, wearing a Jack Daniel's t-shirt with a wad of dip in his lip. He asked me insanely stupid pilot questions for 2 hours, stopping only to spit into a thermos.

I was riding Delta out of ATL.

Let's not generalize here KC10. Thanks to orbitz and the like, every airline carries America's garbage now, not just SWA. Talk to your management about raising fares to help better the caliber of your passengers and tell me how that goes.

FWIW, I see more sweatpants and bedroom shoes on the legacy carriers than the LCCs. These type of people are so "classy," that they demand a seat assignment.

 

Here is a reliable metric for you:
Profitable Yes or NO

I "LUV" how you guys are not willing to second guess your CEO, personally I think this is a huge blunder and will most likely cost him his job in the next 24 months.

How is it that Alaska posts 80+ million profit, jetBlue and Airtran significantly in the black. If this campaign was working WN would be flying with 100% load factor and have huge pricing power. The opposite affect is being seen, WN recently announced the 25, 50, 75 discount fares which is an indication that demand is not as strong as the local "Luv" pilots are hoping for. WN posted a loss last quarter after fuel expenses and their forecast was more of a warning than anything.

 

You got a problem with Jack Daniels? It's the nectar of the gods... at least on football Saturday in Knoxville.

 

Freight -

There is more going on at SWA then you are posting. Fuel hedge losses are huge at SWA. Those will take up to five years to recover from those. We are also second guessing our CEO. If you were able to view some of our private forums you would see that.

One thing I might have missed from all of the postings. Some routes that SWA does fly with competitors are not the cheapest. So Joe Smoe buys a ticket from Brand Y which saves Joe about $20 - $50 a ticket. But Brand Y has the bag fees. Joe Smoe shows up at the airport. Joe Smoe realizes he has to check in some bags at the ticket counter. Joe Smoe also wants to fly from point A to point B now, now, now. So he is willing to pay for bag fees no matter what. So in the end Joe Smoe actually pays for more for his ticket than at SWA.

Brand Y is banking on this for additional income. I believe this will work only in the short term, not long term. Consumers will get smarter, later on.

 

Whoa whoa whoa ... hold the bus. You guys SERIOUSLY took my statement and injected your own thoughts there.

The type of passenger I was thinking of is one that would be energized by a cool diddy ... the young, the hip, likes to have a goodtime/enjoys life and freedom, the fashionably beautiful people. Ok, so I am joking with the last one.

It is a brilliant campaign. You see happy employees, happy about their jobs, happy that they aren't nickel and diming the customer. Not only do YOU have the freedom to move about the country, so do YOUR BAGS! It is an amazingly simple concept and the little diddies and raps are perfect for the targeted audiences and makes them feel good and helps you remember the point of the ad campaign.

If you think that this type of commercial plays to all audiences, you guys are smoking crack. This is why there are several variations of the same ad campaign and as such, I am almost positive that certain markets would only see some of those commercials, not all.

This reminds of a commercial Southwest used to have. It was the DING, you're free to move about the country line of commercials. I have tried finding the commercial on SWA's website and youtube, but they have since moved on. Anyhow, the commercial had a farmer in Kansas, he is on a tractor and he's cutting down corn. And as he goes a little further, theres a $59 sign in the cornfield floating there, or something to the effect.

That commercial was not for the farming community? Why? Because the farmer was cutting down corn. You don't cut down corn. You harvest it with a combine .. not cut it down with a tractor.

I guess its something that the city folk or ad executives didn't "think" about that when they designed the commercial -- or perhaps they did and wanted to confuse people, who knows. Because to them, the commercial was about freedom and the ability to go anywhere in the US for $59. The ad worked, but probably raised some eyebrows in the midwest.

 

I guess the difference is that SWA doesn't care who's in the back while the Legacys want suit/slip wearing customers who pay more. How's that workin' for you bottom line? American? United? Delta? CAL?

I've flown you all as a revenue pax. Why don't you try a customer service approach instead of pi$$ed off crews and fees out the back side?

PS- I know it's not totally YOUR decision and needs to start from the top.

PSS- If you are so angry about what you make for what you do while stewing about what the CEO makes, then you need to become a CEO. Meanwhile, don't make the customer suffer your discontent.

 

Airlines that charge for bags collectively have thousands of furloughed pilots

SWA that doesn't charge for bags has no furloughs.

From my perspective it is working just fine.

 

I disagree with the fact that people will nickel and dime an airfare from ABC to XYZ as the sole determination for choice. Sure, a small percentage will but the majority look for schedule convenience, competitive fares and of course, favorite carriers all else being fairly close.

When I was stateside, I almost always flew Southwest even though they were not always the cheapest. Other than transcons or international flights, I just want to get on the aircraft, sit down and be carried from ABC to XYZ on time. I don't want to pay an extra $15.00 or 25.00 for each bag (especially golf clubs); pay for a sandwich and a soda;a headset and even a newspaper. Who the hell needs it on an hour or an hour and a half flight.

Just one opinion. BTW, Pelican, spellchecks are available at most retail stores or with proof of three flights within the past 90 days.

G'Day Mates