Southwest buys Airtran

so now that there are 3 "major" airlines (Delta, United, Southwest). Who buys the pieces of the last non-merged one left?

Any takers for USAirways?
 
This brought me out of my self-imposed retirement. Good luck to SWA!

SWA requires you to have a type rating. They dont' care how you get it. They do not require you to pay them, or anybody else for it. They just expect you to bring it with you, just as they expect you to bring a college degree, ATP, and 1000 TPIC. If you don't want to pay to get the type, then go to work for an airline that operates 737's; upgrade to captain. Bingo, you have a 737 type rating, and it won't cost you a cent.

The day you stop talking about what things "should be," and accept what "is," you'll be a lot happier.
 
MikeD said:
Difference was, you had a specific training program detailed to get you a job, so long as you passed the program, and you had minimal hours. All those programs you speak of......definitely PFJ, etc.
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PFT, but not PFJ...

PFJ means you pay for a required seat that would otherwise be offered for pay.
 
I'm too lazy for a lookup and really just want the cliff notes of the 200something Wright amendment and what it means for SWA?
 
WTH, I go to work for a day and come back to find this? Craaazaaay.
 
Here are my thoughts:

1. Airtran and SWA are not dependent on Regional Airlines to feed passengers to them. Currently SWA carries more US passengers than any other airline. When the two carriers merge, it only gets better.

2. Most other airlines depend on Regional Airlines to feed up to 52% of their passengers. With the new fatigue rules as well as the ATP requirements, Regional Airlines will be forced to park planes over the next 18-36 months. This will cause fewer passengers to be fed to the legacy carriers. This is a problem that SWA will not have.

3. SWA's model has always been 737's. However there are not any airlines available to merge with that have all 737's. If fact there aren't any other all 737 airlines. So if SWA waited for a merger opportunity with a 737 airline--it would never have come.

4. SWA needed to expand to international markets. This merger gives them a chance to do it in a controlled fashion using Mexico and the Caribbean as launching points. SWA also already flies 100 million passengers a year. That is a lot of potential passengers to be able to feed onto the international flights. I would expect international capacity to grow which in turn will feed the return US flights coming from international destinations. I would expect that SWA will one day carry more international passengers than any other airline. I would not be surprised to see an ATL launch to Europe one day since SWA has those 100 million passengers to feed such a route.

5. Putting the 717's on smaller routes is a good idea The new CRJ's are going to be close to the same number as passengers as are the 717's.

6. ATL has been an obvious hole in the SWA system. The O&O traffic in Atlanta is one of the largest population bases in the US with just one commercial airport. There is a lot of business there.

7. The seniority issues aren't going to be as big a deal as other carriers since Airtran is such a young airline.

8. Expect pilot pay to increase to the highest in the industry for current Airtran pilots.

9. Travel agents are not going to like it much since SWA doesn't sell tickets outside of their own system. Those travel agents (online and offline) that did sell Airtran tickets will no longer sell those tickets.

10. SWA picks up 37 new destinations in one swoop.

11. I believe SWA is making a mistake not charging for baggage and ticket change fees when most other airlines are doing it. SWA is leaving a lot of money on the table. The fees model does work and SWA is missing out.

12. I'm sure there are some other airlines wishing they had looked at Airtran the way SWA looked at Airtran.

13. This will most likely impact Delta most of all and American least of all.
USAir will also be affected to some extent.

14. This puts SWA into a solid planned logical growth mode for the next 5 years. That is better than any other airline.

15. 1.4 billion dollars is a lot of money, but the numbers do work.

16. Can someone top the 1.4 billion dollar bid? Probably not.

Overall a great combination of two airlines.

Joe
 
Whenever SWA starts hiring again, will they require that you have get the 717 type on your own dime?:)
 
Doug Taylor said:
Good luck guys. I wouldn't wish a merger or acquisition on my worst enemy. Even when they "work" and they're relatively low drama, they're a massive pain in the butt.

I pretty much go to work and expect a memo that amends the previous memo about a procedural change for an item that was changed previously but then the memo isn't procedural, it's more or less guidance but well, "technically" we're trying to do this, but well, it's written this other way.

Aye yi yi.
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x2 doug....

Amen...

Don't even think of coming back to the -90, you won't recognize it.
 
Doug Taylor said:
Oh man, did they screw up my baby? WTF man...
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Of course, they did. they are putting 160 seats in it, making it a pain for the fo's and FA's, and paying less than a 124 seat A-319.

Wait till the ATL Bubbas figure this out! Council 44 will fix it! They rule Suthernjets anyway...
 
scooter2525 said:
I'm too lazy for a lookup and really just want the cliff notes of the 200something Wright amendment and what it means for SWA?
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In a nutshell, from 1979-1997, SWA could only have routes within Texas and to states that touched Texas. In 1997 Alabama, Kansas, and Mississippi were added to the Wright Zone. In 2005 Missouri was added too. In 2006, after MUCH nasty debate (and a thrown block by Jet Blue) SWA was allowed to fly to destinations outside the Wright Zone, but they have to make a stop within the Zone enroute.

The Wright Amendment, penned by the Ft Worth congressman Jim Wright, expires after 35 years-which is 2014.

What it means for SWA, is that come November 1st, 2014-they can fly where they want, when they want, and how they want.
 
TripSix said:
In a nutshell, from 1979-1997, SWA could only have routes within Texas and to states that touched Texas. In 1997 Alabama, Kansas, and Mississippi were added to the Wright Zone. In 2005 Missouri was added too. In 2006, after MUCH nasty debate (and a thrown block by Jet Blue) SWA was allowed to fly to destinations outside the Wright Zone, but they have to make a stop within the Zone enroute.

The Wright Amendment, penned by the Ft Worth congressman Jim Wright, expires after 35 years-which is 2014.

What it means for SWA, is that come November 1st, 2014-they can fly where they want, when they want, and how they want.
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Thanks for the quickie. I had a flight to luv field and there were no direct flights or ones without a few stops and I wondered why. Sucks for SWA till then.
 
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