forgot to bid

You mean like Islip?

I don't think Morristown NJ's airport allows airline service, but man if it did, that's where someone could do some damage picking off people who'd otherwise have to travel into EWR.

pilotrob23

i was told off by another wn pilot? Leg humping? That was original dude. Im going to go read Nuts now for the 16 time and pretend i didnt hear that. And just cause i taxi at v1, doesnt give you the right. I gotta get ready?! Gotta go read luv poems to my giant shamu 737 in my basement, as i rejoice in this comeback!

johnso29

Ummmmm......say again. Extremely garbled & unreadable.........

Geno

I don't think CAL is the target in EWR, it's revenue.

CHQ Pilot

SWA has had to switch things up when the gas prices skyrocketed in 2008. I don't know what the revenue management people would say, but I have a feeling they saw a drop iin passengers willing to drive to ISP, MHT, etc when gas hit 4.00 a gallon. Passengers were more inclined to purchase a ticket and put up with higher ticket prices and parking than drive and pay those expenses in gas. SWA, I have a feeling, is trying to get into markets they may not have in the past, so they are set up when high gas prices return.

20-30 minute turns as the standard system wide started to go away when the TSA imposed the carryon restrictions. SWA had all the staffing models built around people carrying on a majority of their baggage. They knew the number of ticket agents and ramp agents required and could sucessfully turn an aircraft in 20 mins. When they had to accommodate more baggage that the passengers were checking, it in turn slowed the ramp which slowed the turn times. There still are a quiet a few cities where 20 min turns work, but I believe the planning mindset is now to start with a 25 min turn and go from there, which becomes longer with higher load factors between certain city pairs.

corl737

"Revisionist" is an understatement!

I recommend this source as a good, concise history lesson on SWA (even though it hasn't been updated since the mid '90s) ...

Handbook of Texas Online - SOUTHWEST AIRLINES

DeadHead

MMU isn't really set up for anything other than corporate/GA traffic. I think any broad expansion to 121 service would require a huge commitment from any interested airline, as well as, the town.

Don't quote me on this, but I'm pretty sure the local politics in the area do what they can to keep the noise levels originating from the airport down to a minimum.

Other than that, I tend to agree with you. People in NJ would love another centralized airport in the state that isn't EWR.

Nortonious

Suggest you read my original post again. Never "revised" history. Just used a healthy dose of sarcasm to point out to all the "Congressional-Lobbyist-Conspiracy-Theorists" that congressional legislation can cut both ways. Sometimes you're the windshield, sometimes you're the bug. Wright Amendment had long since served its original stated purpose of protecting DFW airport's early viability and was doing nothing more than handcuffing SWA.

If you've convinced yourself that SWA is the evil empire, then there is nothing more to discuss.

DeadHead

I personally hate the lobbying notion as a whole, at the end of the day it comes down to who has the most amount of money to help "tip" the scale towards there sides' interests.

Looking at it from an outsider's perspective it is unfair to see that SWA needs to benefit in one way or another from almost any airline transaction that falls under antitrust matters as defined by the DOJ.

That being said, your right, sometimes your the windshield and sometimes your the bug. SWA is not the first, and by no means will they the last, to lobby heavily in Washington.

forgot to bid

How come its illegal to bribe a government official unless the government official is a lawmaker? Just odd how that works and I'm being apolitical here. We're all lobbying in DC. Every airline in this discussion is.

But imo, if the government doesn't stand on principle then they'll get sued and I hope they get beat down. Right now DAL/LCC was told they cannot pick their competitors (Westjet, Airtran, Spirit, Jetblue), but a few months later UCAL picks SWA and the DOJ is fine with it and then says "we have no other competition issues with it."

If an airline wants to lobby that you've got to uphold the law or that a law is unfair, good for them. If they see an advantage and lobby on it, fine. I have no problem with SWA lobbying that no other airline should be allowed to fly passengers domestically but them. Fine with that, that's fair, free speech, and yes we'll bicker about it but its not SWA I have the primary issue with.

Its the government signing off on it and picking favorites, that's what I have a problem with. And anybody saying "that's fair! ha ha!" Well I have a problem there too.