I was certain STL was going to be the pick until I heard in DAL that the City of STL wanted SWA to move to the Lindbergh terminal and foot the bill for the updates/upgrades necessary.

Every airline that has made MCI a hub dies. And for us, MCI seems too close to DEN to make much sense in the network.

IMHO, we need some place to take the burden off MDW. STL fits the bill.

I think BNA is the eternal pipe dream. Especially with the nightmare BNA has decided to turn their ramp into. That new terminal is pretty much the dumbest thing I have seen since MCO’s Terminal C.

 

Whats wrong with MCO terminal C? It makes way more sense than the BNA terminal that’s totally disconnected from the rest of the airport. I hope AA gets those new gates cause I want nothing to do with them

 

Kinda reminds me of the Comair terminal in CVG. Here's a nice new terminal but you have to ride a bus to get to it because you're scooter trash.

(the Allegiant/ Frontier terminal in Austin is probably a better comparison though)

 

frontier and spirit are getting them and you have to ride a bus to get there.

 

Good. Suckers.

 

In my NH class in 1994 the VP of Schedule Planning said that BNA would never be a base because they could originate a plane on the East Coast and get it to BNA in time to be an originator. Basically getting an extra leg out of it. If they did that with numerous East Coast originators that would make it difficult to justify a base. There, now you have a clue

 

That fact that it would make a lot of employees happy , is reason enough this place will never make BNA a base . Flight crews are the enemy , everyone knows that

 

It would be a great airline without planes and pilots.

 

STL is what it is and will probably stay that way until the city comes to the realization that SWA is the only game in town and will be for some time. STL got burned big time by TWA, so I can't say that I blame them for being risk averse. There used to be a thriving community where the extra runway that they no longer need is located.
Their current plan is to demolish Terminal 2 and consolidate to terminal 1 and renovate it. I actually think that is a solid plan. It is a good connector station and a midway reliever airport. Overnights are cheap. It won't become a crew base.
BNA is just too close to ATL. Most of the growth there in the future isn't SWA related. Unless there is some sort of mini domicile or virtual base plan, I wouldn't be too bullish on it becoming a base either.
KCI I could actually see. Splits the difference between MDW and DEN. The city has made a huge commitment. Better customer experience for connectors. They can play it against STL.

I don't think SWA is opening another traditional crew base for at least 5 more years, if ever. I think the future is growing our network in conus, especially out west, followed by more slow network growth in profitable US markets.

I don't run an airline, though.

 

the propaganda this week in training is we need 1-2 more based pronto. Of course they also said we need to settle the contract. So as always, they're feeding us a line of BS.

He also did say the satellite bases the FAs have isn't working out well.