drunkenbeagle
Gang Member
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).