Legacy??

[drunkenbeagle]

where does SWA fall into the mix?

SWA has a very different business model. The "legacy" "majors" (whatever you want to call them) realized 20 years ago that they can't make money. Wall Street measures them instead on "revenue per seat mile." Since making a profit is too complicated for them to do, they size aircraft to the route they are flying, to maximize revenue per seat. Maintence, marketing, gates, basically every other cost gets ignored. They are profitable on intl routes, where the prices are set artificially high (legally).

SWA has the same model as Ryanair in Europe (making money). They operate under only 2 types (737s). Any mechanic can work on any A/C. Any pilot can fly any A/C. Every gate can take every A/C. They can adjust pricing easily to fill seats.

Cactus operates exactly the opposite way. (Okay, I'm a little pissed. I got bumped of usair for w&b 2 weeks ago to let 4 FAs on, with no compensation... Pretty lame. On a full fare no less...) But Cactus is still a good example of a legacy hub and spoke carrier that has no chance of being profitable (ever).

 

[skydog]

What exactly is it that puts a legacy airline into the legacy catagory?

Legacy is the latest term coined by the large airlines in a desperate effort to differentiate themselves from the so-called lesser airlines, whom they describe with terms like start-up, LCC, and up-start.

It all began with American Airlines back in the late 80's and early 90's. American was getting its a$$ handed to it by Southwest Airlines in terms of statistics. In every measure: on-time performance, mishandled bags, customer satisfaction, etc, Southwest was turning in better numbers than American. So in typical AA fashion, instead of taking steps to correct that, they petitioned the DOT to redefine airline terms so that American and Southwest were no longer inthe same category. Southwest was a major airline, which is defined as having over one billion in revenue, while American became a global airline, which was defined as five billion in domestic revenue, and one billion in international revenue. The term didn't last long.

There have been lots of airline descriptors that all refer to the same thing: trunk, major, global, network, legacy. Perhaps dinosaur should be added to the list.

 

[tprops4me]

I am glad everyone referenced Southwest. That was who I was wondering about. I was just curious if they ever stood a chance to be in the legacy category. Now that I know it is all smoke and mirrors, I can quit wondering about it. Thanks all.

 

[SeanD]

Has SWA started routes to Mexico or Canada yet? If so wouldnt this put them into the legacy catagory?

 

[USMCmech]

And low and behold, he worked at a legacy, and I worked at a regional. Labels are accurate in this discussion.

Labels ARE meaningless, paychecks aren't.