Swa Pay Cuts A Coming?

[SWAFA30]

You got to be kidding SWA has been the cancer of the industry for years, driving down prices, salaries and working conditions.

As easy as it is to pin the blame on Southwest, it is ultimately dishonest and intellectually lazy to do so. It has only been in the past decade that the Legacy carriers have had SWA exposure on a significant percentage of their routes. Before then, we were but a blip on the industry radar screen and even now there are still large and significant portions of the domestic market that remain "SWA Free". Include on that list, the rest of the friggin' planet since Southwest does not fly outside of the lower 48.

Driving down prices is only a problem and ultimately predatory by legal standards if you are charging less than it costs to produce the product. At the risk of adding insult to injury, I must point out that Southwest currently is and for most it's existence has been profitable. Salaries and working conditions at other carriers have come down as airlines have tried in vain to maintain sprawling hub networks, diverse fleets, and global route networks all while charging prices at or below levels of a purely domestic carrier that only flying 737s.

The problem is not Southwest or jetBlue or AirTran or Frontier. The problem is an utter failure to differentiate the product the Legacy carriers offer compared to Southwest. The list of "perks" the big boys offer that SWA does not is long and oft repeated. Assigned seats, service to obscure markets, international ops, complicated codeshares/alliances, sophisticated FF programs, special treatment for elite level flyers, first and business class...the list goes on and on and on. A superior product, marketed and delivered properly should easily command a higher price. That's the way it works with houses and cars and TV sets but, somehow the concept of "Paying more to get more" has become foreign to this industry. In the end I guess wanting more for less is human nature and existed long before Southwest came onto the scene.

Steve Wolf hit the nail on the head predicting the SWA presence in the east!!!!!!!

[post="267372"][/post]​

So then the Legacy carriers with a large presence on the East Coast had fair warning and chose not to take heed. Whose fault is that?

 

[wnbubbleboy]

You got to be kidding SWA  has been the cancer of the industry for years, driving down prices, salaries and working conditions. Steve Wolf hit the nail on the head predicting the SWA presence  in the east!!!!!!!

[post="267372"][/post]​

The Cancer is a company that files for bankruptcy. Decimates it workforce. Accepts goverment bailouts then outsources Res to another country.

Sell crazy someplace else, we're all stocked up here.

 

[KCFlyer]

You got to be kidding SWA has been the cancer of the industry for years, driving down prices, salaries and working conditions. Steve Wolf hit the nail on the head predicting the SWA presence in the east!!!!!!!

[post="267372"][/post]​

Hmmm how are they a cancer? The employees are pretty well paid...they've got pretty good benefits....their company makes a profit (that they all share in). In fact, if there is any "cancer" in the industry, it's US and UAL - THEY are driving down prices with attempts to fill seats and pricing so low as to require a 120% BELF.} Along with that, they are driving down salaries, and working conditions. Ask any airline employee who doesn't work for a bankrupt carrier.

 

[AirplaneFan]

(luvthe9 @ May 7 2005, 01:11 PM)
You got to be kidding SWA has been the cancer of the industry for years, driving down prices, salaries and working conditions. Steve Wolf hit the nail on the head predicting the SWA presence in the east!!!!!!!

This is one of the most ill-thought out comments I have ever read on this board. I am sure the buggy whip manufacturers were cursing Henry Ford a hundred years ago too. Southwest Airlines is progress. Have you ever thought of what the aviation industry would have been without SW? A lot of people who work at the other majors would not have THEIR jobs if it weren't for SW. As SW has swept across the nation these 35 years they have added hundreds of thousands of jobs. When all the majors were forced to compete with SW with lower prices they had to add aviation jobs. It seems that many of these SW critics would like to have it both ways, allow a SW to form to encourage their companies to hire more aviation workers, then immediately have SW go out of business so they could get the benefit of sky-high wages without any real competition.

 

[BoeingBoy]

As easy as it is to pin the blame on Southwest,.......

[post="267383"][/post]​

Very well said - my hat's off to you.

Jim

 

[EyeInTheSky]

However, each WN employee on average produced 17% more ASM's.

[post="267199"][/post]​

I can't speak for all the employee groups but I know the U pilots are more productive. They have us at around 95 to 105hrs. per month. The 5 over 100 are credit time. I'd love to go back to 85, 20 days is to much.

[post="267326"][/post]​

[/quote]

Are you high? They are running out of pilots because most of the blockholders are flying block time...and no more. The morons in management assumed most U pilots would gladly become Sky Whores flying 100+ hours a month. There are some but they are in the minority. Lastly, leave SWA alone. They are not to blame for US Airways problems. Plenty of fingers can be pointed inwards, if you get my drift.

 

[WNjetdoc]

You got to be kidding SWA has been the cancer of the industry for years, driving down prices, salaries and working conditions. Steve Wolf hit the nail on the head predicting the SWA presence in the east!!!!!!!

[post="267372"][/post]​

I believe the comment by him or one of your other loser CEO's was, "their coming to kill us". Turns out you guys are killing yourselves. The truth is you're killing me with your posts luv9, you just throw out mis-information and try to pass it as the truth....the truth as you see it, :down: :down: .

WN isn't the cancer or the root of your problems, it was your silly @ss, unproductive work rules, that most all employee groups HAD, so now you have to work more for less pay, it sucks but it is what it is, don't like it then look for anothe job son, .

 

[WNrforlife]

You got to be kidding SWA has been the cancer of the industry for years, driving down prices, salaries and working conditions. Steve Wolf hit the nail on the head predicting the SWA presence in the east!!!!!!!

[post="267372"][/post]​

Typical response from a BK Carrier has-been. Have fun standing in the unemployment line when your airline finally goes Chapter 7!!!

 

[sfb]

Just as an aside, and comparing first quarter numbers again:

Southwest's labor cost per ASM: 3.16 cents
US Airways' labor cost per ASM: 3.62 cents
jetBlue's labor cost per ASM: 1.90 cents

And yet, again, average salaries are higher at WN, and deservedly so, since their employees are more productive. jetBlue actually produces 37% more ASM's per employee than US and 16% more than WN, and a very junior workforce means low wage costs.

While the labor cost advantage enjoyed by jetBlue looks formidable at first glance, they're also running a different business, relying on very high utilization rates and long stage lengths to counterbalance the lowest yields in the industry. It's not quite clear how the picture would look in a system more like WN's (with lots of short-haul flights needing to be turned quickly).

 

[SWAFA30]

It's not quite clear how the picture would look in a system more like WN's (with lots of short-haul flights needing to be turned quickly).

[post="267716"][/post]​

The E190s are a comin', I guess we're about to find out.....

 

[luvn737s]

A little snippet for you from the latest annual reports:

Delta load factor 74.7% - net loss $5 billion
NOrthwest load factor - 80.2% - net loss $862 million
Continental load factor - 77.6% - net loss $363 million
American load factor - 74.8% - net loss $761 million
United load factor - 79.2% net loss - $1.7 billion
USAirways load factor - 73.5% net loss $611 million

Southwest load factor 69.5% net profit $313 million

Apparently enough markets are being stimulated to result in a profit.

[post="266987"][/post]​

Those full-service airline load factors are not likely to drop, but their costs are.

If you hear 6 air horns blaring, GET OUT OF THE WAY!!!

 

[wnbubbleboy]

The E190s are a comin', I guess we're about to find out.....

[post="267888"][/post]​

Don't be suprised if you see a RJ built for us by Boeing.

 

[SWAFA30]

Don't be suprised if you see a RJ built for us by Boeing.

[post="268064"][/post]​

As long as we can continue to operate the 73G at a BELF in the mid 60s...why bother??