Houston City council gives SWA green light to fly INTERNATIONAL out of HOU
- Thread starter gizmo_sc
- Start date
WorldTraveler
Corn Field
- Dec 5, 2003
- 21,709
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- Banned
- #2
Good for the city of Houston and congrats to WN who is adapting. Those who don't want to be a part of WN's new initiatives presumably have the option to continue to work the core WN domestic network.
Some sources are reporting that UA has said they will pull down IAH flying by 10%, not start IAH-AKL, and halt terminal expansion at IAH, carrying out the threat they made during the WN hearing process. IF so, WN wins twice as UA opens the door to competitors. If UA is making the statement to cut IAH on the basis of anything other than that it made good business sense, then their earnings will suffer. If they are cutting at IAH because it was the right thing to do from a business perspective TODAY, then the people of Houston should understand that UA was simply making a political statement out of their routine business decisions. UA won't be the first company that ever did that - but it does say that the chances are very high that the plans UA previously announced don't make sense, particularly in light of the integration headwinds UA is facing.
Since WN still has a couple years before their planned first flight from HOU to Latin America, alot can change - but notably WN is returning to its core Texas roots as it expands its business model.
Some sources are reporting that UA has said they will pull down IAH flying by 10%, not start IAH-AKL, and halt terminal expansion at IAH, carrying out the threat they made during the WN hearing process. IF so, WN wins twice as UA opens the door to competitors. If UA is making the statement to cut IAH on the basis of anything other than that it made good business sense, then their earnings will suffer. If they are cutting at IAH because it was the right thing to do from a business perspective TODAY, then the people of Houston should understand that UA was simply making a political statement out of their routine business decisions. UA won't be the first company that ever did that - but it does say that the chances are very high that the plans UA previously announced don't make sense, particularly in light of the integration headwinds UA is facing.
Since WN still has a couple years before their planned first flight from HOU to Latin America, alot can change - but notably WN is returning to its core Texas roots as it expands its business model.
signals
Veteran
WN seems to be poised to give UA a bit of competition. But it is a no-brainer that WN was given the green light since they are paying for the airport expansion.
SharoninSAT
Veteran
Great news!!!
How much job creation within Southwest would this mean? And would it be external hires or just internal management hires and transfers? Seems there will be plenty of experienced people in the job market if the AA/US deal goes through. But rumor always had it that Southwest won't hire anyone who worked at American. Is that true?
QA4Jet-A
Veteran
I know of two current employees at WN that worked at Eagle & American.
blue collar
Veteran
- Mar 17, 2008
- 1,241
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No, not true at all. They're picking up people from AA right now
- Thread Starter
- Thread starter
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If HOU runs about 24 flights extra for this it will be jobs for , ramp-customer service and ops agents. I would say about 150 extra employees for SWA in HOU. First it would be posted internally and if they don't fill the jobs thru internal postings. The it would go to external canidates. When SWA posts externally the applicants must submit online. There is an online application to complete, once you are past that you are granted a interview. FYI few years back SWA got 90,000 applications, interviewed 6,000 and hired about 830.
SharoninSAT
Veteran
The estimated $156 million HOU International Terminal, which will be fully funded
by Southwest in exchange for rent-free use of four gates over a 25-year lease, is
expected to break ground at the end of September for completion in late 2015.
http://www.bizjourna...n-plan-for.html
by Southwest in exchange for rent-free use of four gates over a 25-year lease, is
expected to break ground at the end of September for completion in late 2015.
http://www.bizjourna...n-plan-for.html
I'm a little thrown off by the numbers. Does any one remember how much this was suppose to cost us? 100-110 million. Now we're up to 156 million. Why the more than 50 million in differences??
SharoninSAT
Veteran
swamt, this is the question I posed to the Documentation Dept.
and this is the response I received back from them.
Thx Sharon. Wasn't expecting you to do that. But thx for the extra effort. To me, 56 million off from the original estimate is too much. When bidding contracts, in general, it is expected to be 5-10% of padded room for misc reasons, from cost of materials increasing to weather delays etc... But to be a whopping 56% of the original bill off is more than what this "documentation team" is telling us. Very curious to why they did not sign a name to the letter. So their reasoning is the original estimates were off. I would have expected something like; "there were changes made by Southwest to enlarge some of the facilities" or "Southwest decided to make some major structural changes to the original plans, therefore the increase of 56 million to original bid." Sharon I really do appreciate your time to send the letter and get feed back. Now I am madder than before because I think we just got blown off. No company the size of the company building the terminal in Houston is this stupid to get a bid wrong by 56%. If it were me I would have fired them for not being smart enough to give a better "representative bid". I think there's more to this than what we are being told, and it concerns me more now than it did before... Things that make you go Hmmmmm. Is anyone else concerned with this cost difference? Or does most of you just not care??
NewHampshire Black Bears
Veteran
- Aug 20, 2002
- 10,154
- 681
Ya,
really wooking forward to a looooong ride from HOU to SCL on a one class 737 and plenty of Peanuts !
OUCH !!!!!!!!!
really wooking forward to a looooong ride from HOU to SCL on a one class 737 and plenty of Peanuts !
OUCH !!!!!!!!!
SharoninSAT
Veteran
Southwest Airlines and Houston break ground on new Hobby international terminal...
By Terry Maxon
[email protected]
3:55 pm on September 30, 2013
Houston Mayor Annise Parker and Southwest Airlines CEO Gary Kelly appear together during Monday's groundbreaking at Houston Hobby Airport.Joined by Houston and state officials, Southwest Airlines broke ground on a $156 million Houston Hobby Airport facility that will be Southwest’s first international terminal.
Southwest doesn’t fly internationally now, but expects to be doing so by the time the five-gate facility is finished in two years.
The carrier in its announcement said it expects its first international flights out of the new terminal “will begin in late 2015 to destinations in the Caribbean, Mexico and the northern cities of South America.”
“With this new international terminal, we are not only literally breaking ground at Hobby Airport, we are charting new territory for our company and for low-cost and high-value air travel,” Southwest chairman and CEO Gary Kelly said in the release.
“This will be Southwest’s first international terminal in our 43-year history, and we look forward to bringing lower fares and more international flights to a city that could benefit from increased competition,” he said.
Among the dignitaries was Houston Mayor Annise Parker, who had supported the project despite heavy opposition and injured feelings from United Airlines, which operates domestic and international flights out of Houston’s other major airport, George Bush Intercontinental Airport.
“Establishing international air service at William P. Hobby Airport will benefit Houston passengers in a variety of different ways, including increasing competition, boosting the local economy, and strengthening the ties that already exist with our friends in Latin America,” Parker. “And perhaps the best news of all, it comes at no expense to the Houston taxpayer.”
Southwest is managing and paying for the project.
Hobby is Southwest’s seventh busiest airport with 156 departures a day to 43 cities (as of August). That puts it ahead of No. 8 Dallas Love Field, which has 129 flights to 18 cities.
A 2006 compromise that ends restrictions on domestic flights out of the Dallas airport in October 2014 still contains a prohibition on international flights from that airport. So Hobby will have international service, but Dallas fliers will need to make a stop at some airport like Hobby to get to non-U.S. destinations on Southwest.
