March and 1st Q #'s increases

[eolesen]

If WN wants to become a "denser" airline with less nationwide focus, then they are certainly on track. If WN wants to provide a balanced nationwide network that serves large, medium, and small cities, then they are not only not moving in that direction, but they are leaving significant opportunities for network airlines who not only do that but also are moving into WN's key routes.

Do I have to explain the Dozen Walmart theory for the umpteenth time? They both deal in volume, not "nationwide focus".

WN gets results by serving the markets that generate volume.

They don't need to evolve in the same way other carriers have. There's no reason to try to position themselves as all things to all people, or to serve every airport with dreams of one day having a jetway.

Their formula, as outdated as Quaker Oats may seem to be, works in pretty much the same way it has for the past 40 years. And there's no evidence that it won't continue to work for them.

 

[WorldTraveler]

no one said anything about expecting WN to serve cities that the legacy carriers serve with regional jets or smaller.

My point has always been that WN's CURRENT NETWORK will shrink in order for them to accommodate all of the growth opportunities that they are pursuing including DCA, DAL, LGA and whatever they do with int'l.

Not only is WN's CURRENT NETWORK exposed to increased competitive pressure which WN can't defend but many cities that thought they could count on WN - such as JAN - are finding that they were used by WN to give WN what WN wanted at the time and now that WN has other means to get what it wants, those cities aren't important to WN anymore.
and finally the question still remains as to the value to the US air transportation system in providing scarce airport slots and access to a low cost carrier that will use those resources to heavily serve a handful of markets rather in a large nationwide and global network as the legacy carriers do. There will continue to be legislators demanding that scarce national resources be used for the betterment of as much of the country as possible and not solely for the benefit of a handful of communities - as WN's network does.

for now, the evidence is there that WN is concentrating its network around fewer and fewer flights.

 

[700UW]

Learn to Read and Comprehend:
 
Southwest Airlines Traffic Up for March
 
Southwest Airlines announced operational results for March 2014. The airline’s system traffic, capacity, and load factor all increased from the same period of last year.
System traffic for March 2014 was 9.6 billion revenue passenger miles, up 1.6% from 9.4 billion revenue passenger miles in March 2013.
The airline’s capacity also increased by 0.8% to 11.6 billion available seat miles, or ASMs, from 11.5 billion last year.
Southwest’s load factor was 82.7%, an increase of 0.7 percentage points from 82% last year.
The airline estimated that passenger revenue per available seat mile, or Prasm, is up by approximately 1% from March 2013.
- See more at: http://www.frequentb...h.axGieLXF.dpuf

 

[WorldTraveler]

and its trips flown decreased... that is the only point that is being debated.

you managed to exclude posting that one.

how 700 of you.

 

[700UW]

And Capacity and load factor rose as did PRASM.
 
Increase of seats, not cuts.
 
Dont let the facts get in your way.
 
How WT of you.

 

[WorldTraveler]

do you argue with parking meters?

no one is debating what happened with capacity or LF.

the discussion is about trips flown - and it is down.

 

[700UW]

Lets see:

Increase in capactity
Increase in load factor
 
Increase in PRASM.
 
Profitable for over 40 years straight.
 
They must be doing something right, less flights more capacity, higher load factor and increase PRASM.
 
Here is a new logo for you:
 

 

[Kev3188]

the discussion is about trips flown - and it is down.

Is it, or is that just what you've decided it to be? I don't see anything in the OP stating that.

 

[robbedagain]

that may be too much for him 700!

 

[swamt]

I have already told him that SWA has added seats with larger A/C which allows them to move A/C elsewhere for the newly added flights at other locations.  At least you guys get it, seats have been added, matter fact more seats than before, therefore the flights were reduced in order to relocate A/C where they were better utilized for more efficient operations.  He just looks for any one little bit of an iota to slam SWA for.  He will twist a positive into some kind of negative as he did when I posted that SWA will be hiring for the DAL station when the W/A goes away.  

 

[WorldTraveler]

Actually, swamt, I said on here almost 3 years ago why WN wouldn’t accomplish in ATL what they said they would, in part because they use larger aircraft than FL which meant they would have to fill more seats.
Southwind T’d up one the conversation and there were a couple of us who argued that WN didn’t have what it takes to compete against DL. It took almost 3 years for articles to start showing up in the Wall Street Journal showing that WN would be losing its advantage – but it was predicted here – delays, higher costs, lower market share in the top markets.
If you read what I wrote THREE YEARS AGO and compare it to what has happened, it is more accurate than any media or Wall Street evaluation of the merger – and certainly more accurate than what FL and WN execs said.

And I noted THEN that WN would reduce ATL in favor of pursuing larger markets including int’l markets.

http://www.airlineforums.com/topic/51002-it-was-just-a-matter-of-time/

.... specific to ATL (WN's biggest DL challenge), FL right now carriers a far higher percentage of lower yielding conncting traffic than WN carries through its hubs...and FL uses smaller average size aircraft... the only way WN can grow WN's operation profitably given WN's higher costs is to get a much higher share of the local market... and grow it - both of which are going to be hard to do since FL has already stimulated the market with low fares and DL has more than enough capacity to keep WN from making gains.
.
WN enjoyed a huge advantage in the early 2000s on fuel prices and expanded considerably then - DEN and PHL were big additions to the system - possible because of fuel price advantages due to hedges... the network airlines lost their hedges in BK (part of why AA is so careful to avoid BK right now).... but WN's costs are not that much lower now...
As you look at comparable route systems (heavy NE flying will drive up WN's costs while 738s will help reduce them) between WN and the network carriers, WN doesn't look as good as many think....

WN will get its share of the ATL marekt -and perhaps the east coast but they will more likely look like one of a number of carriers in these highly competitive markets than they will in markets like DAL, MDW, LAS and PHX where they enjoy large market shares largely because they chose airports where there was little other service..and then offered service which was not any better and in many cases lower than what competitors offered in similar markets (DFW/ORD)

no one is doubting what WN has accomplished.. but what they are doing for their next act is not at all related to what they have done before...
1. They have largely operated their "hubs" in airports that no one else flew to or if they did, they had lmited service.
2. WN in just the past five years decided to take on UA in DEN and US in PHL... but they did it when both were in BK... all the indications that the tri-fecta that is DEN will result in F9 getting pushed out, not UA.... even though UA has allowed WN to carry almost as many domestic passengers as UA. In PHL, WN has pulled back on its growth as it found skating in a large network hub isn't as easy as they thought.
3. Much of WN's growth through the FL merger comes to/from the east coast... which is far more heavily delay prone than the south and southwest of the US. Managing delay prone operations is costly.... WN cannot operate on the same basis in ATL as it even has in MDW where its OT is well below other carrier OT.
4. WN has NEVER competed with a network carrier in a hub as large as ATL - cause there is no hub larger than ATL! FL's capacity amounts to about 1/4 of DL's in the domestic market.... to somehow think that WN is going to magically grow from 1/4 of the market size to a much larger size is more than dreamy... esp. when you consider that FL is carrying about 75% connecting traffic through ATL, far higher than other hubs for WN or any other carrier... and yet WN's average aircraft size is larger... so WN has to fill even more local seats because of 1. the need to reduce the percentage of flow traffic to lower levels to restore profitability (why do you think FL sold out to WN?) 2. because WN uses larger aircraft and 3. WN has to increase its market share to a size where it can effectively compete with DL - WN doesn't have a market share below 20% in any hub market where it competes with a network carrier - and WN has to do all of this while also raising fares because WN's costs are higher than FL's.
.
When you look at the best hub to hub matchup between DL and WN, SLC, DL's market share is unchanged in a decade.. and DL's average fares have changed with the rest of the industry. WN has NOT succeeded in growing in SLC.
.
DL's strategy for ATL is even more aggressiive than it was in SLC - add more domestic capacity esp. in key markets, use lower cost airplanes such as the 757 and the M80s and M90s which are having seats added to them to increase revenue at virtually no cost, and DL is virtually giving away free bags via the Amex card and to any elite member to neutralize the largest advantage WN does have.

.
It's not about clicking ruby colored shoes.. it's about looking at hard data and the real examples of how WN has competed in the industry... WN can spout all the marketing it wants to about what it will do in ATL, but DL is not sitting quietly, and WN has never succeeded at doing what they are trying to do in ATL where they will be just another airline that has tried to compete against DL, none of which has managed to succeed at doing so long term.
.
I'm quite ready to watch the contest... but I am also quite sure that WN is smart enough to accept what it can get and then go play in other places where it can more easily pick up revenue.
Remember also that WN is still months away from being able to integrate operations w/ FL and in just a couple years, they will be able to fly freely from DAL where there is a far greater opportunity to gain new premium revenue than they can get in ATL... add in all of the potential new Caribbean/Latin/Hawaii/Canada flying and it is actually quite doubtful that WN is going to get into a catfight with a far larger DL in ATL when WN could pick up a lot more revenue elsewhere w/o having to fight so hard for it....
finally, let's not forget that DL has the lowest costs of any US network carrier.. they are far better positioned to compete against WN than other carriers... when you factor in that AA is the highest cost carrier and also happens to have a number of key markets where WN would like to grow, I for one wouldn't go jumping up and down about how much damage WN is going to do to DL until we see what they choose to do to AA.

What part of, " Southwest's average ticket price has jumped.............. 39% .............in the past five years, while the average ticket price for domestic trips for the industry was up 10%, according to the Department of Transportation." , do you peeps not comprehend ?

All I am saying is SW won't have quite the advantage people though they would !
Will DL have to compete with them? Of course.

It was just a matter of time before SW fuel hedging was no longer a factor.

And do you really think peolple are going to pay the same price , for a no frills flight , as they would one that wasn't ?

Oh and BTW, no , SW doesn't charge extra for baggage..............they've already added it into the ticket price........39% worth apparently ! !

I have never said that WN wasn’t profitable or wasn’t doing things right in order to make money.
The issue then as it is now is that WN doesn’t want to compete against legacy carriers and they don’t have a track record of success doing so.
They are dismantling their own network as well as that of FL in order to pursue other growth opportunities, exactly as I said they would.
WN has certainly been profitable but their profits are not competitive with what DL is generating. That is precisely why the world’s most read business newspaper – the Wall Street Journal – as well as millions of investors have noted that WN’s golden touch is a little rusty these days while DL’s shares have grown at one of the fastest rates of any company on Wall Street. Wall Street is well aware that DL has recorded the world’s largest airline profit – EVER.
I have consistently said that WN would adapt – and they will – but they have and will continue to shift capacity away from markets they have flown for years in order to pursue new opportunities and that is exactly what they have done.

 

[FrugalFlyerv2.0]

Learn to Read and Comprehend:
 
Southwest Airlines Traffic Up for March
 
Southwest Airlines announced operational results for March 2014. The airline’s system traffic, capacity, and load factor all increased from the same period of last year.
System traffic for March 2014 was 9.6 billion revenue passenger miles, up 1.6% from 9.4 billion revenue passenger miles in March 2013.
The airline’s capacity also increased by 0.8% to 11.6 billion available seat miles, or ASMs, from 11.5 billion last year.
Southwest’s load factor was 82.7%, an increase of 0.7 percentage points from 82% last year.
The airline estimated that passenger revenue per available seat mile, or Prasm, is up by approximately 1% from March 2013.
- See more at: http://www.frequentb...h.axGieLXF.dpuf

 
700:  I don't know why you're bothering highlighting the stats/statements that you have selected. 
They do not fit the story WT is selling.
 
WT does an amazing job of picking up on a number or a stat, then honing in on it, ignoring everything else, and using that small piece of data trying to convince everybody how much better DL is.  He'll try to use that one tiny spec of data to reach wild conclusions.  Ofcourse if an error is pointed out in his data analysis, there is always a qualifier that he uses to fall back on to insist that he was correct all along.  His "analysis" of WN results for 1 quarter automatically leads him to conclude that WN is doomed in the very near future!   
 
Several years back when I first read one of WTs multi-thousand word posts on the DL forum the initial reaction was something along the lines of "wow - this person is sure enthusiastic about DL".  The more WT posts I've read, it became clear that this individual is obsessed with all things DL, to the point where he must try to convince everyone of his way of seeing and thinking.  I'm wiling to bet that if you told WT "today is a wonderful day in [insert city name] sunny with temperature around 70F" he would try to convince you that it is much more nicer climate inside DL's HQ building.  I've known many persons who are proud of the company they work for or have worked for, or if not the company then certainly their role in an industry, but never the obsession to the extent demonstrated by WT.  Even a 4 year old child would immediately grasp the biased analysis and cult-like worship of DL shown by WT.

 

[WorldTraveler]

sorry, but I have made it abundantly clear that WN does a very good job of running their airline to the benefit of all stakeholders and has done so far years....

the issue is solely that WN's traditional network is shrinking in order for it to be able to expand into new markets - and as much as you and 700 and everyone else want to argue otherwise, that is indisputable.

you can keep recycling the same data points about growing capacity and traffic - but I'm not debating that at all.

I'm noting that WN is having to get rid of service to the cities that were essential to WN and FL not that many years ago but which WN says are no longer part of the airline it wants to be.

BTW,
here is yet another article about how WN is losing its advantage relative to the legacy carriers, something again, I predicted would happen years ago.

http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2014/04/09/is-southwest-airlines-co-losing-its-edge.aspx

In other words, while other airlines have made great strides in avoiding late arrivals and handling baggage properly, Southwest Airlines has seen mixed results. For example, Southwest continues to receive the fewest complaints per passenger of any airline, but its on-time performance has suffered as it has begun serving busier airports, and its planes have become fuller.

Both Southwest units experienced significant declines in on-time performance, "bumped" more passengers due to overbooking, and mishandled more bags. Southwest also saw a slight uptick in customer complaints, although it remained the industry leader on that metric -- AirTran's customer complaints declined.

--
I noted the effects that serving busy airports would have on WN's operation and costs 3 years ago... go back and read the thread. I also noted that WN's costs would have to rise and they have.

--

"Customer-friendly policies, like free checked bags and no change fees, still differentiate Southwest from the pack. However, the carrier's advantage over legacy carriers like Delta Air Lines and American Airlines is narrowing.

"As Southwest finishes integrating AirTran and moves back to operating under a single brand, it will be critical for the company to improve its operational performance to make up ground on the legacy carriers. Otherwise, it risks becoming "just another big airline."

 

[Kev3188]

 
Bingo.
 
Only parts you left out were the pearl clutching when called out, the fulsome apology, and copious use of the words "you" and "grasp."

 

[WorldTraveler]

this is the most accurate statement you ever wrote, Kev.

I do not understand why it has received precisely one vote.
 

There is definitely something to be said for that. Money is great; so is not being miserable while earning it...

http://www.airlineforums.com/topic/56660-southwest-airlines-motivates-its-employees-with-a-purpose-bigger-than-a-paycheck/

Tell us, wise one, how some people manage to be happy regardless of what they have or don't have and then others are never happy.

You would like us to believe that everyone is like you at Delta while the grass is always greener on the other side of the pasture - or in the rearview mirror... but the evidence is overwhelmingly the opposite.