I will be first in line for ExTO v2.0 just like I was for the first iteration.

 

Nearly 100 FLL employees (RAMP/CSA) were given the option of moving to 4 other stations or take an exit package yesterday. Ops Agents haven't heard anyting yet. It sounds like they're going to 37 flights in June.

 

from the earnings call transcript -

Mary Schlangenstein

I appreciate it. I wanted to see if you could talk about the extent of the

reductions in O'Hare and Atlanta?

Andrew Watterson

There are about -- we took about half of O'Hare down of about 30 something

flights, about 15, 18 flights on the season day of week. So it's about a 50%

reductions at in Atlanta. I can be on the top of my head, Ryan, it was 30%. I

want to say the third [indiscernible] it's unfortunate we had been restoring

Atlanta over the course of post-pandemic. We could never quite get back to

the level of performance we needed at the scale we needed and so it's

been reduced back down to a level, so just shortly coming out of the

pandemic. And so it's still substantial activity there. It's just not as big as it

was before.

 

Anyone done a lot of IAH and ORD flying lately? I have. It's a drag on the entire system. IAH just doesn't generate any passenger traffic. On a day with good weather, it often takes 30 minutes from taxi call to being number one for departure. So you have a half full airplane of discount fare paying pax sitting on the ground for 30 minutes and being subjected to an awful airport experience due to our "gates" there. ORD they are just trying to run like a normal SWA station with no pad in the operation. When things go awry there, as they often do, you end up with multiple airplanes holding out for long periods of time and there is just nowhere for the disruption to be absorbed, so it sticks around all day. Those two airports in particular we are stuck in a tiny corner with monster competitors that are going to defend their turf like a hungry German Shepard. They are both very inefficient to operate from and we can't generate any premium revenue there. It was a good idea that didn't work out.
ATL is going to continue to shrink. I have posted about it before, but the only reason we still have a crew base there is because of AirTran folks. It is the AA STL crew base of the SWA system. It will shrink and shrink and eventually be either insignificant or close. We can't compete against Delta there. They have the scale and political juice to keep an absolute strangle hold on ATL and that will almost certainly never change in our lifetimes.
Probably the only reason anyone would pay a premium to fly SWA is because we offer a robust network with tons of options to get to where you're going basically on time and with all your crap. Think SoCal to the Bay Area and back. The more that we weaken our core product in order to maintain these weak stations, the more we alienate those customers. I have a good friend who is an A list business traveler almost strictly in California and she is pretty annoyed at the current state of the network and the way that we have slowly allowed "other" customers to dilute the premium product that she has earned. She is the customer that we want who pays a premium to fly on us. How do you keep those customers? You fix the network and show them some appreciation. Hopefully that's what's happening, but I am not so sure.

 

Also the new rules going in effect to provide transparency to consumers buying tickets is going to be a big tailwind for SWA in the future, who has always subscribed by this way of doing business. Now competitors are going to have to disclose fees at the time of booking. This is going to do some damage to the shadow ULCC model that just about every other airline utilizes to sell basic economy or whatever they call it.

 

And what would a new CEO do? Make Boeing build more 8's? Cerftify the 7 faster? How about making Airbus build more airplanes for SWA? Better yet, buy another airline. You will still have capacity issues for the next 18 months. Their are no good options and a new CEO won't change that. Capacity wise SWA is screwed for the next 18 months or so. Most solutions are a least two years away.

Bob is the first CEO of SWA that I know of that admitted on TV and CC that SWA product maybe at it's end. It was designed when high frequency, low load factors and most importantly low cost were the way to go. It made billions. They even admitted that can not monetize much more within the product they have. They won't touch bag fee's. They mentioned 60% of SWA customers book on them because of the two free bags. So they won't even entertain it.

No matter what, whether its BJ or a new CEO, changes have to be made. I just don't think it matters who is running it. Unfortunately, if you are junior here, you will be on the bottom for a while. We are overstaffed for the amount of block hours we fly. So min guarantee is going to be the norm after the summer. So fly your ass off and make some extra cash with the new pay raise. You will be seeing lots 87-89TFP in the fall.

 

Most of that transparency the DOT talks about, most consumers know already. SWA has a yield problem. The big three average between 19-21 cents per mile. SWA averages 17 cents. Doesn't seem like much but when you are pumping 42 billion seat miles, thats pretty substantial. All the other airlines have the abilty to upcharge products. More importantly, people are paying for it. SWA can't. They have monetized as much as they can go. Hence why in the earnings release he said "Additionally, we are evaluating options to enhance our Customer Experience as we study product preferences and expectations, including onboard seating and our cabin." That's not a light hearted statement. He also said are they deep into the process. I don't pretend to know what will come out of it, but that is a massive change in tone of the airline and what SWA would look like. We sit on the ops side of thngs. Nothing will change all that much, but for CSA, ops agents and FA's, for an airline like this, thats alot.

 

Delaying classes is nothing out of the ordinary with SWA, or this industry. Back in 2008/2009, they had people in the hiring pool for 2.5 to 3 yrs and they eventually came on. Don't believe any rumors. Just keep collecting some kind of paychecks and wait for their call. Good luck!!

 

I think we will be massively underwhelmed with the new boarding process. Ran into a management person who said they are going to be playing music in the jet bridge to speed up boarding. This person was very excited about it and said it was what they have been working on for a new boarding experience.

 

Thats old news. They tried it in Denver for a while and abandoned it. Turns out that more auditory stimulation is the last thing our customers need. The speakers are still in a few of the jet bridges. I think what they are working on now is a new way to generate revenue and hopefully cut down on preboard abuse. I am prepared to be disappointed as usual. Most things that headquarters deems a "big announcement" are met with a shrug by line swine.