David Puddy

Way off the mark? If the 700 MAX were such a great airplane from a CASM perspective more than your airline would have ordered it. The A220-300’s very low CASM is already proven. And passengers actually rave about flying on the A220 according to my Delta buddies. Bigger bins, bigger windows, 2x3 seating and bigger lavs - what’s not to like?

If Ryanair in Europe is leaning away from an all-737 fleet, so can SWA. Considering that the Airbus backlog is huge while the A220 backlog is modest (but growing), the A220-300 is the logical consideration unless SWA wants to keep all of its eggs in one basket going forward...

e6bpilot

Hey man. I want another airplane at swa as much as any of our guys and gals do. I just think representing the 220 as the end all is disingenuous. When Gary retires and Nealon/Watterson are in charge, look for some big changes. Until then, sit back and watch the 737 do what it does best...make money.

Smokey23

David last time I checked, accountants buy airplanes....not pilots. Perhaps you should plead your case on beancounterforums.com.

Proximity

You don't understand...at SWA we care about customer experience, but only if it's something we can provide without spending money.

We're getting brand new airplanes (well we will eventually get) with no charging ports and internet from 10 years ago. These are 6-7 hour airplanes. We now allow free movies and free texting which only encourages people to use their devices more. Apparently our customer don't want charging ports and are happy with our internet...

I ride on Delta (AA and UA might be good to, just don't ride them much) quite frequently...they quality of their product compared to ours concerns me.

David Puddy

Like Delta, SWA is a very good negotiator and I am not worried about what SWA would pay for a bulk order. Airbus would likely bend over backwards for a SWA order. With Delta’s order, the result was an airplane that is significantly more ergonomic and comfortable than the 737 and Airbus - even the newer versions. But Delta didn’t pay extra for the interior because it was actually designed to be ergonomic and different from the start. Everyone knows 737s are tubular and uncomfortable - a 5+ hour flight on a 737 is tortuous. SWA would benefit from the current product offering and likely wouldn’t need to change much - it already offers huge bins, 2x3 seating, big windows for better light and large lavs.

Sure, I ain’t an accountant, but I know a lower CASM contributes to more profits. Pretty soon we will see more A220s from Delta, JetBlue, Air Canada and Dave Neelman’s Moxy flying around North America and people will start to take notice (especially if the flexible A220s open-up new routes due to their lower operational break even). SWA needs to address the sole-supplier risk issue and adding more 737s isn’t the answer. If Ryanair in Europe with its hundreds and hundreds of 737-800s is now adding Airbus to the mix, and Westjet in Canada transitioned from only 737s to 4 fleet types (Q400, 737, 767 and 787), SWA can be open too. Times and risks change.

Grumpyaviator

The max8 is probably makes best business sense in its class, we’re not interested in larger. And with only 175 seats the cabin is very comfortable. I fly AA and DAL frequently and if you’re not in first, SWA’s cabin is more comfortable than their coach cabins; although we do need gogo and usb to have a competitive product.

But the orders for the max7 speak for itself, it’s a loser. It is not the best plane in it’s category from a business sense, and the long-term success of the a220 will far outweigh the upfront cost. Hopefully mgmt looks beyond their own tenure and makes the best decision for the company’s future.

Grumpyaviator

Sorry, this is APC, I meant to say “it’s a looser”.

WHACKMASTER

I’m a huge fan of the A-220 as well and if I was GK and had the purchasing power of SWA I’d try to score an order for 500 A-220s at a MASSIVE discount. We have 500+ -700NGs to replace and some of them are getting quite worn.

The A-220 is a superior airplane to the MAX7 that it compares to in size. Pilots, pax, and even the accountants have reason to like it better than a Boeing product, but here’s the rub.....

Unless you work for SWA, you cannot grasp how resistant to change senior management is and how it takes them eons to implement any change once they’ve decided to make it. It’s pathetic to watch. Our IT department/development is utterly impotent. For crying out loud, we can’t even take foreign currency yet and this is something that’s been identified as a problem for years. Our WiFi is garbage and has been for years as well.

So while I too am praying we get the A-220, I just don’t see it happening until GK is gone and someone seemingly more forward thinking like Tom Nealon or Andrew Watterson takes the helm.

barabek

So true! Can't agree more with this post.

WHACKMASTER

Probably considered bad form to be agreeing with me on here though. Careful who sees that