SOUTHWEST TO BUY AIR TRAN

[SharoninSAT]

IAM seeks AirTran election for CSA's/Res

"AirTran Crew Members (ramp/fleet, PCE/passenger service, reservations) today celebrate a historic victory. Results are in, and a majority number of AirTran Crew Members agree with every other major work group at AirTran: Union, YES!"

AirTran employees vote to join IAM

Congratulations AirTran Crew Members!!!

 

[WorldTraveler]

Seniority integration by DOH, in my opinion,
is closest to fair for everyone concerned...

IAM seeks AirTran election for CSA's/Res

given the relative differences in age of the airlines, a DOH system will not be viewed as fair by alot of people - but that is the challenge that you have when merging two airlines with very different histories and cultures.

Seems like things are getting tense between the pilot groups.

WN will have to manage that carefully but if that extends to more customer facing workgroups, the LUV culture could be permanently changed.... northern cities like MDW BWI PHL NYC could have a very different culture than what exists in more desirable southern cities, including ATL. Having hundreds of FL employees displaced from ATL to be replaced by WN employees will do nothiing for morale.

As for discussion of WN's growth at DFW, I'm not sure they really care if they are free to grow rapidly at LUV which the WA will allow. With 738s and even 200 flights/day with rationalization towards nationwide instead of short-haul flying as required by the WA, WN has enormous growth potential at DAL.
.
Does the agreements regarding the WA and DFW allow WN to operate a pad operation at LUV? While not generally used in the US, if it is allowed and WN has growth opportunities that are constrained by the facility, I could see them setting up a paid.
.
WN has alot of growth prospects on its plate including alot of potential flying to the Caribbean and Mexico... but I still stand by my statement that it will take alot more effort for WN to grow to the size of MDW at ATL than they think. Right now, FL is carrying 75% connecting passengers through ATL based on DOT data which by anyone's definition is too high of a percentage for any airline's domestic hub to be profitable. WN carries about 50% connecting pax through MDW which is one of its higher percentage ratios of connecting passengers on its system. IN order for WN to be able to grow above FL's flight levels (which are at about 200 flights/day as of this summer), WN will have to increase the percentage of local passengers to cover basically 1/4 of the current level of FL's flights (or the equivalent of 50 new flights/day worth of local passengers) PLUS make up for the difference in the average aircraft size used by WN vs FL (FL's average aircraft size is about 15 pax fewer - whcih will dramatically affect costs as FL workers are brought up to WN's levels and is why the 717 may prove to be unattractive to WN after more than a couple years).
Although DL is cutting capacity at some hubs, including MEM, it is adding domestic capacity at ATL in anticipation of WN's arrival. DL already has 5X more flights (including DCI carriers) and 4X more seats.
Further, in ATL esp. DL is aggressively pushing the Amex Gold credit card which provides for a free checked bag for multiple people in a reservation which will take away one of the biggest advantages WN has which is lower fees.
When you look at all of the opportunities that WN will have to grow and expand its network, the increased number of seats that WN will have to fill just to make ATL profitable by WN standards for other large stations, and the increased costs that will be added to the ATL operation as FL wages are brought up to WN levels, I think growth at ATL will be alot slower than alot of people think.
.
Of course if WN is forced to accelerate retirement of older aircraft, all bets are off on how soon WN will be able to grow internally post merger.

 

[eolesen]

The full text of the Wright compromise is available at http://www.govtrack.us/congress/billtext.xpd?bill=s109-3661

In my opinion, operating a pad operation would most certainly violate the intent of the 20 gate provision, which was in part to limit the number of flight operations at DAL without implementing slot controls.

If you read the final law, they don't explicitly define "gate" however there is language in the "Charters" section which restricts airlines who lease gates from operating at non-gate locations.

That says to me that the intent of the authors was that any location used for loading/offloading passengers and baggage fall under the definition of a gate.

 

[WorldTraveler]

The full text of the Wright compromise is available at http://www.govtrack.us/congress/billtext.xpd?bill=s109-3661

Operating a pad operation would most certainly violate the intent of the 20 gate provision, which was in part to limit the number of flight operations at DAL without implementing slot controls.

If you read the final law, they don't explicitly define "gate" however there is language in the "Charters" section which restricts airlines who lease gates from operating at non-gate locations.

That says to me that the intent of the authors was that any location used for loading/offloading passengers and baggage fall under the definition of a gate.

I would agree with you that in principle there is no room for a pad operation... but it is harder to define how a pad is used and is probably more efficient than gates so if you really wanted to push the limits of the law as it reads, a pad could be a viable option...

plus, if WN used a pad, it could challenge the legality of the definition and acquire a gate or two at DFW in the process of giving up a gate or two at DAL while adding a pad operation at DAL.... remember that WN was the airline that fought for years to gain access to the market in the first place... I don't think for a minute they have lost their ability to compete for a minute....

however, there still is an enormous opportunity to grow WN's operation in N. Texas just by using larger planes and rationalizing the routes that WN flies to more efficiently use the facilities it does have.
.
It is still very possible that even in a couple years WN could be flying at least 3-4 flights per day to all of the top domestic markets from the DFW area which would seriously change the airline competitive dynamics of the metroplex and probably a lot more than 3-4 to key business markets like NYC, BOS, WAS, CHI, LAX, and SFO among others. those markets have far more value than most of the shorthaul flights than currently operate from DAL. And WN still has room to grow the DAL operation by about 50% in the number of flights using the planned number of gates.

 

[BoeingBoy]

Seniority integration by DOH, in my opinion,
is closest to fair for everyone concerned...

Probably so for most of the employees. There hasn't been a DOH merger of pilot groups in the last two decades. Arbitrators seem to be favoring relative position by equipment/seat. US/Shuttle and DL/NW have gone that way, UA/CO seem to be heading that way.

Jim

 

[SharoninSAT]

Southwest is still waiting for clearance from the U.S. Department of Justice for the deal but said Thursday it expects to receive all regulatory approvals by May 2.

Southwest also announced that Bob Jordan, executive vice president of strategy and planning, will become president of the AirTran subsidiary once the deal closes. He'll oversee the operation as AirTran is folded into Southwest, a process that will take until 2013. Jordan will continue to be based in Dallas.

Southwest sets closing date on Airtran acquisition