Southwest is like Walmart?
 

I am a Southwest pilot and I ride Mesaba Airlines a couple times a year from MSP to a northern Minnesota city and back. Thank you very much for allowing me to jumpseat on your airline. Of course you guys and girls are always welcome on us.

Now to the title of this post. The other day when I caught a ride the captain was very cool, as is my usual experience. However, not more than 2 seconds after he signed the ACM form he turned to his F/O and started comparing Southwest Airlines to Walmart. Frankly that comparison is not new to me so I really don't care about that. Plus if we're like Walmart then I better get a red vest because I love working here. :D

I just think making a comment like that within earshot of another pilot is a bit unprofessional. Aviation is a small community. Management is already tearing apart most pilot groups, lets not do it to each other.

Take care!

S.B.

If Southwest is the Walmart of airlines, then Mesaba is the Dollar store :D

That Capt is obviously barely literate; how'd he ever make it to Capt? The Wal-mart and Southwest management philosophies are at opposite ends of the spectrum. Southwest pays and treats their employess well while Walmart is a hair above legal slavery. It maybe that there is more than a little jealousy behind that comment.

It depends on the context. Did he make the comment in a positive tone or was it obviously negative? With Wal-Mart, it seems people either love it or hate it. If it was negative, perhaps it had nothing to do with how SW treats their employees. It might simply be that he was comparing SW's low fares to WM's "always low prices" attracting a certain demographic with their clientèle. I don't know....just playing devil's advocate.

Sounds like a good theory.

The Costco of airlines perhaps? Cheap and they treat their employees well?

you could have responded in one of two ways:

1. remind him how much more money you are making at SWA vice Mesaba..

or

2. just told him to CMH (Chow My Hog)... (which is personally how I would have responded)...

cheers!!

This could be a thread hijacking, but having just renewed my Costco membership for $50, I've decided Costco isn't all that cheap. That's difficult to offset over the course of a year.

Unless you're my wife, who would say, "See, now we just have to buy more in order to make the membership worthwhile."

I think skybus is more fitting of the title "The Walmart of Airlines". I'd love to see how they put 156 seats on an A319.

LOL, couldn't agree more. How are you supposed to put flight attendants on commission?! :confused: More, crap they sell? But here I was thinking the F/A was there for safety purposes, boy I must really be wrong.

Southwest - the Wal-Mart of Airlines?! That's craziness!

Last time you checked, how many people were knocking down doors trying to get in with Wally-world?? Not many, I'd guess ;-)

Now that was funny!!!!:D :D :D

Exactly. There are more than a few airlines I'd compare to Wal-Mart before SWA. Most of them, in fact.

-Ben

I still give him a few points for balziness......Keep your chin up SB, 95% of the commuter guys you meet (I am an ex commuter puke) are standup dudes and dudettes.

Watch your DVD yet?:D

guys....................... Southwest has and always be the "wal-mart" of airlines, more in regards to the types of people that fly on Southwest, not Fly for Southwest, you ever see some of those 300lb hillbilly's................... Company is great, pilot group is great, the are treated well, butwhen it comes to the PAX, it i like you are flying with folks who only shop at Wal-mart.


PS A lot fo people seem to forget that the only reason why SWA pilots seem to be getting paid far higher than any other narrow-body pilot is because, everybody else fell far below them after 9/11. Nobody praised SWA pre-9/11 now here we are 6 years later and everybody wants to go there.......................

although I would have never said it....... there is some truth in the comment. Let's remove all the emotion from it. Maybe the comparison was simply that people (the passengers) want the cheapest price. period. Luxuries like first class or a high quality product have taken a back seat.

Low cost carriers have changed the industry, I fear permantly.

Just a thought,

Stick

I too want on the wagon...........................:)

Yes, flying is now considered the means from getting from your home to your destination, it is no longer considered part of the adventure. However, when the cost of air travel is on someone else's dollar, it's luxury all the way.

NICE, you just quoted your own post...

oh it is DEFINITELY all about the PAX and not the pilots...

everytime i walk by one of SWA's gates and i see the 400# nasty people sitting on the floor so they can get a good seat make me want to thrown up!! and i ESPECIALLY like it when they are sitting there on the floor with a box of bojangles chicken.......that is my fav!!

the airline and its aircraft are really nice, but i cant STAND to fly them simply because of the PAX.....

Put the headphones on as soon as you get on the airplane, doesn't matter if you are listening to music or not, just make sure they think you can't hear them!

i dont like being prejudiced against an airlines passengers.... i dont think its just the low cost airlines that you guys are referring too. fly down to florida ... i did it on cal, delta, and jetblue and was shocked on all of them. People asking for 3 cans of soda, one of every snack, kneeling on the seat backwards the entire flight so they can talk to the person behind them..... i mean these people pay 60 bucks one way to florida and want every penny its worth. On jetblue they offer like six different types of snacks.... people want "one of each" and you sit there like good Christ weren't you taught manners? its a whole new ballgame here folks. i love the flights of business travelers.... they know the game, have manners, and as long as your honest with them they are cool. and on the delta flight it was a kid from the inner city's first flight and he started rapping aloud while listening to his ipod. he also screamed( because he was wearing ear phones) "i hope this ***** dont blow up" after takeoff. The lady next to him "sir your being very rude" and he shut up.

Thats a very good point. When was the last time that you really respected a door to door salesman.... or telemarketer, or the person peddling drinks @ mcdonalds... This is a bad idea.

Talking to a couple of young F/A's in training today, I was shocked when they asked me if they are "actually expected to help people get out in an emergency..." Apparently they don't understand the responsibility they are accepting!! 'Least we know these F/A's aren't there for Safety!

A lot of em, especially at the regional level, are so naive it makes me wonder if they are really that dumb or its just a character they play. They think they'll be flying to Paris for a 48 hour layover, serving champagne and chatting with celebrities. Then they find out the gig is 5 legs to bumfudge, anywhere slinging diet coke and pretzels.:rolleyes:

Maybe he said "when I'm on Southwest, I feel like I'm in Wal Mart". I can totally understand that statement. You are surrounded my loud, large obnoxious, penny-pinching people, the prices are low and there are Wal Mart bags everywhere (being used as luggage). Again, just trying to play devil's advocate:D

It seems we all have this love-hate relationship with passengers. We definitely need them to keep our jobs, but some people are just impossible. From the rude, selfish, and obnoxious passengers, to the equally dangerous pretenders who spread misinformation (usually to the people who are afraid of flying) being in the cabin can be a pain. I loved the advice for looking like you are busy. I sit down (right behind the wing) put on the headphones and sleep or watch the wings.

Why is it that there is this "Bash Wal-Mart" mentality? Everyone posting here has automatically assumed a Wal-Mart comparison is negative..... Check the facts: Wal-Mart is the most successful corporation in the world!

Any before the "this and thats" chime in.... The only reason how you know what the "average" Wal-Mart customer looks like is because YOU have been there as well. EVERYONE shops at Wal-Mart, some are just too chickensh*t to admit it. As for Wal-Mart being "White Trash," YOU shop there, so take a look in the mirror, then come down out of your ivory tower.

Why would I pay 150.00 for a buddy pass on CAL when I can pay 120.00 and have a guaranteed seat on SWA?

Just my 2 cents.... Of couse at Wal-Mart prices, that would be my half cent.

I'd think it was pretty unprofessional of the FO to say that about SWA within earshot of you. As an Fo, when we've got jumpseaters, especially up front- I'll just keep my opinions about their operation to myself.

... just a small courtesy to them.

This goes for our society in general. Thanks to all the PC bovine scatterment(there's some right there), people have lost all sense of how to act in public. We are terrified of correcting someone's obnoxious behavior for fear of being sued and we don't correct children b/c it might harm their precious self esteem to be told they are out of line. In general, this population needs to start holding each other to a higher standard of behavior. Simple things like please, thank you, holding the door, and your welcome go a long way to making life a lot more pleasant. Go watch the movie Idiocracy. Its poorly made(but funny as hell), but pretty scary b/c I can see how we could progress towards its view of the future.