RedeyeAV8r

Can you SWA guys answer a question?
It has been a while since I flew PAX and that was way before 9/11.

On International flights, I thought it is now a requirement to have assigned seating?

When you take over the International flights from Air Tran is there a plan for SWA to go to Assigned seating? and if so do you think SWA will do this for all flights or just INTL the flights.

NimbusSurfer

There will be assigned seating on SWA international flights. As to whether or not we will change how we seat domestically, I don't know.

GizmoNC

I found this on Dallas Mornings News Airline Blog:

A Quote from TOM PARSONS;



Southwest and AirTran begin codeshare flights | Dallasnews.com - News for Dallas, Texas - The Dallas Morning News



AirTran serves Mexico City and Cancun from San Antonio and hopefully we will soon be able to take a short flight to San Antonio and connect to nonstop flights into Mexico on a single ticket.


Southwest announced it was acquiring AirTran in September 2010 and closed the purchase in May 2011, but it could take another year, if not longer, to fully merge. The biggest issue in the whole system is the lack of seat assignments on Southwest and wanting to fly to international destinations.

I have heard that progress is being made on a program for Southwest to address the seat assignment issue. Airlines have to have seat assignments on international flights, and right now, Southwest can’t do that, but AirTran can, so international service will be on AirTran until the issues are worked out.

KC10 FATboy

No I don't act like Southwest as a company thinks blah blah blah. I was responding to the Southwest cheer section on here who was having orgasms over Southwest flying international. And this wasn't the first time I've seen this so that's why I commented.

As Southwest abandons what made Southwest famous, they're slowly morphing into a legacy style carrier with associated higher cost structure. Southwest logged another year where expenses out grew revenue. Also, passenger miles and occupancy were down while ticket prices went up. And if and when Southwest decides to jump into the transoceanic flying, things are going to get even more costlier. Frankly, I don't ever see it happening. Stick with what made you famous.

shoelu

Where do you come up with this stuff? SWA is one of the most recognized airlines for customer service.


Southwest Airlines has consistently received the lowest ratio of complaints per passengers boarded of all Major U.S. carriers that have been reporting statistics to the Department of Transportation (DOT) since September 1987, which is when the DOT began tracking Customer Satisfaction statistics and publishing its Air Travel Consumer Report.

Named JD Power 2012 Customer Service Champion for performance in People, Presentation, Price, Process, and Product.

Awarded Value Airline Brand of the Year for 2012 by the Harris Poll based on familiarity, quality, and purchase consideration.

Received the top ranking by Forbes in 2012 for The Brands American Women and Men Desire Most.

Recognized by the Temkin Group for their 2012 Best Airline Customer Experience, and Southwest subsidiary AirTran followed in second place.

Named tenth most admired Company in the world in FORTUNE magazine's 2012 survey of corporate reputations.

untied

I can answer that one....

Southwest offers low frills for low fares. People don't expect much, and they aren't disappointed. You don't complain about "bare bones" service because you expect it to be lacking. (That explains why the complaints are lower).

Legacy carriers offer higher levels of service for a more discriminating crowd. We might get a complaint from a first class passenger that the vintage of wine served was not to his liking.

So....even though our passenger is in a comfy "bed" seat with a large TV and a high level of service, they are more likely to complain. They simply expect more.

Southwest is excellent at what they do. If they want to be successful at long haul, international flying....they will have to change who they are.

That sounds like a bad idea to me. Why mess with success??

satpak77

I disagree with this post. SWA has won numerous Customer Service awards / customer treatment awards, over the years. This is not by magic.

Legacy carriers, such as "old" AA, rank at the bottom for customer service. Bigger, costlier, and worse in customer service. This includes international, which myself, who personally has flown AA as a paying passenger (to include in First Class), and I have witnessed many areas where Customer Service could be improved

I agree SWA is successful. This does not mean they have to stick to the domestic model forever, or avoid changing with the times. "Going international" does not mean tomorrow, 50 new flights to Europe. But, I don't see why one flight a year, one to Cancun, then another flight following year to Dom Rep, is impossible. Maybe just a seasonal flight for starters. Cities such as those are no-brainers, you are gonna fill the plane no matter what. Midway-Cancun and Islip-Santo Domingo. You will fill the plane all day long.

International involves host nation customs, slots, ATC, local hiring, etc. It obviously is not "a new route into Nebraska" etc.

Avgwhitemale

I have no dog in the fight here but... SWA will receive complaints if you cram a bunch of people onto a 737 and drag them to Hawaii while offering six helpings of peanuts and a 2" padded seat to sit on. The complaint will probably come from the single dude crammed in between two screaming kids and a mom wearing fuzzy bunny slippers she recently purchased from walmart for 2.99.

RedeyeAV8r

No Dawg here either, but SWA already Flies Coast to Coast non stop which is the same flying time from the West coast to the Islands .
IDK if they received complaints about the BWI-LAX but the Flights are FULL.

I'm no expert, but SWA IMHO, will do well to the Islands as the bottom line for most flyers is $$$. They will Bi$$CH about NO Food , NO Movie NO 1st Class Upgrades, but when the time comes to fly again, they go to the Lowest Bidder.

shoelu

No one is talking about "long haul", we don't have a long haul aircraft in our fleet. The stage lengths that will begin out of Hobby will be in the 5 to 6 hour range to the Carribean, South and Central America. We do these types of stage lengths already with no major complaints.

A quick look at United flights out of IAH shows 737's offering non-stop service to Caracas, Venezuela and Quito, Ecuador and only offering a snack in coach. Of course that is out of Intercontinental and not Hobby so one would need to figure in the great circle route distance between IAH and HOU to make sure the SWA range would be adequate.