1st Q Numbers look great!

[WorldTraveler]

lowering fares to stimulate traffic is hardly revolutionary.

US did the same thing in other carrier hubs and concentrated the practice most heavily in AA markets as a prelude to justify how much money an AA/US merger would generate when the practice was stopped.

Further, in complete contrast to your assertions about an AS/WN merger, AS is the lowest cost carrier just like FL was. You can bet that regulators will look very carefully at what happened to FL's network as WN dismantled the competition.

btw, as much as I NEVER would have thought I would say it, Delta is the largest carrier at DSM.

DSM is the perfect example of a city in the middle of the country that benefits from being "between" the two power hubs that NW built and also easily connectable to the ATL superhub.

 

[WNMECH]

btw, as much as I NEVER would have thought I would say it, Delta is the largest carrier at DSM.
 

 
And this is exactly why the Southwest Effect is working there.

 

[does this plane go to paris]

Since the Original Topic is about great numbers, WN continues to post great numbers. Year over year numbers for the month of Sept. are:
 
WN flew 5.1% more RPM's. WN reported an increase of 0.7 ASM's, increasing load factor from 77.1% to 80.5%.  PRASM is estimated to have increased 5%.
 
Great news for the stock and profitability, but getting harder to non-rev.

 

[WorldTraveler]

and trips flown is down by 5%.

WN is increasing gauge, carrying more passengers over a larger network with less frequency, and increasing efficiency.

And the domestic system is still the strongest part of the US airline system.

 

[swamt]

Since the Original Topic is about great numbers, WN continues to post great numbers. Year over year numbers for the month of Sept. are:
 
WN flew 5.1% more RPM's. WN reported an increase of 0.7 ASM's, increasing load factor from 77.1% to 80.5%.  PRASM is estimated to have increased 5%.
 
Great news for the stock and profitability, but getting harder to non-rev.

Yes I was late posting today, thx for the reminder.  Great Sep numbers:
 
Southwest Airlines September Traffic Rises - Quick Facts

 

[xUT]

Let the parties begin for the end of the W/A:
 
Southwest Airlines celebrates imminent end of Wright Amendment
 
A Very Special Southwest Deck Party
 
Let the good times begin...

United used to do annual parties at SFO.
The biggie was when the 1st 747-400 was inaugurated.
People from all over the bay area came to see it.
But that was then... Enjoy it while you can, it may not be there forever...
Take Care,
B) xUT

 

[swamt]

United used to do annual parties at SFO.
The biggie was when the 1st 747-400 was inaugurated.
People from all over the bay area came to see it.
But that was then... Enjoy it while you can, it may not be there forever...
Take Care,
B) xUT

I hope it never goes away.  They have been doing weekly deck parties every single week for every year I've been here.  And your right we too always have a party for new A/C and new paint schemes.  I do understand what you are saying though, I hope they never go away, it's the culture that needs to stay forever...

 

[WorldTraveler]

Do your "the numbers look great" include DOT statistics that show that WN for the month of August had the worst OT of the big 4 carriers - and actually the worst of ALL large jet carriers AS WELL AS the highest number of chronically late flights (more than 70%) with nearly 3% of WN's flights reaching that dubious distinction?

http://www.dot.gov/sites/dot.gov/files/docs/2014OctoberATCR.pdf

The best in class among the big 4 had ZERO chronically late flights and an OT percent that was 9 points higher.

 

[does this plane go to paris]

LUV is on fire this morning on Wall Street, up more than 6%, nearly double what other carriers are posting. 

 

[swamt]

LUV is on fire this morning on Wall Street, up more than 6%, nearly double what other carriers are posting. 

Yes that was fun to watch. Ended at almost 5.5% up.  Hopefully the ebola scare is long gone.  With fule  prices dropping and soon to be announced 3Q numbers, the stock should easily continue to rise... 

 

[WorldTraveler]

Given that WN is hedged, the chances are high that low fuel prices will result in some fuel hedge losses.

Overall fuel prices will be lower unless WN hedged too much but any carrier that has hedged based on high fuel prices will experience some hedge losses.

further, WN is still benefitting from the strong domestic market and yet wants to move into Latin America at the time that performance in that region is deteriorating.

Wall Street may well decided that WN's need to grow is too late and comes only after network carriers have had the time to develop their own strategies which will mitigate WN's success.

it is far from certain that WN will actually increase stockholder value by growing in Latin America esp. considering how well the domestic market is doing right now.

 

[WorldTraveler]

swamt,
it is also important to note that DL said last week that the crack spread is rising which means that even though crude oil prices have dropped, it doesn't mean that jet fuel prices may be dropping as much.

Also, dropping crude fuel prices will help refiners who will pay less for crude. It is worth remembering that one and only one US airline is both a jet fuel consumer and producer.

 

[swamt]

Stock is looking good once again.  As we approach the 35.00 mark wonder if we will make it to the 55.00 previously picked before the ebola scare.  We announce Thurs 3Q record numbers once again.  Delta made less money this Q than they did last year 3Q.  Last year I think they made 1.3 billion, this Q was something like 354 million.  The only reason I bring this up is that if Delta would have done alot better then their stock price might have helped the entire industry to gain a little quicker.  According this article some are expecting another boost in the stock after the announcement.  Keep the good news and record numbers coming in SWA...
 
Time to Focus on Southwest Airlines (LUV) for Strong Earnings Growth Potential

 

[WorldTraveler]

DL took charges for fuel (WN will too) and also for parking the 744 fleet - which will happen over time.

DL's pre-tax/specials operating margin was still 15% plus - as will WN's.

it's interesting that you want to note DL's net income including special items and after tax... did you also note that DL paid more profit sharing $384 million) than they made in net income on that basis?


WN's reports tomorrow should be good.

I hope they say more about how DAL is doing although it started in the 4th quarter.



BTW, WN's on-time performance recently has been very strong.

I suspect we will see some positive movement in your OT performance when DOT data comes out for the fall.

well done!

 

[swamt]

More record numbers. 27% jump in 3Q earnings---Nice;
 
Southwest beats Street 3Q forecasts
 
And here is how we celebrate those numbers;
 
Southwest Airlines staff know how to dance