SWA to add 50 new INTL cities

[robbedagain]

agree with you swamt   esp on the AS/DL relation.   Does AS overlap significantly with SW?    Just my take but I think from BWI that if Canada service starts the first city(cities) would be YYZ  (given that AC uses a Dash 8 mostly)  may be YUL and or YVR        Do you think WN will get food food for these intl flights or just keep it as it is with the snacks they serve?    Congrats again to all the folks at WN

 

[WorldTraveler]

BTW, rumors are flying again about AS and possible mergers, and we are one of them, as well as AA and even Delta was mentioned but the relationship between Delta and AS has gone south so bad as of late that pretty sure we will all see a disconnect between these two soon.
Here's more on international announcements;

a WN acquisition of AS would be the best thing that could happen for DL because it would result in the certain closure of SEA as a hub and the opening of more gates for DL.


SEA as a domestic hub makes no sense for anyone.

the only reason why AS uses SEA as a domestic hub is because they have nothing else and it was the only way to create lots of mass which AS has needed in order to grow.

WN would undoubtedly terminate most of AS' codewhore relationships which is another plus for DL.

next, WN would likely cancel dozens of routes because just like the legacies would do because WN's costs are too high relative to AS' to operate large chunks of WN's route system. given that WN has a very recent history of dismantling FL's route network based on WN's higher costs, the chances are pretty high that the argument can easily be made that WN would do the same thing to AS - to the detriment of many communities.


finally, given how much WN/AS would dominate many western US markets where the two are already #1 and 2 in many markets, there would likely be massive airport divestitures, SNA being a likely one.

go for a merger with AS, swamt. DL will be the biggest beneficiary.

the communities that AS serves and AS employees will be the biggest losers.

 

[swamt]

agree with you swamt   esp on the AS/DL relation.   Does AS overlap significantly with SW?    Just my take but I think from BWI that if Canada service starts the first city(cities) would be YYZ  (given that AC uses a Dash 8 mostly)  may be YUL and or YVR        Do you think WN will get food food for these intl flights or just keep it as it is with the snacks they serve?    Congrats again to all the folks at WN

I don't think we will ever go to serving meals on flights.  Maybe the snack packs will get a little larger for the extended flights (over 2000 miles), a first for SWA as well.  Most people know to eat prior to boarding on SWA, and it helps by not serving meals to keep the fares lower than the other airlines for the same flights.  Thx for the kind words robbed, 15' and beyond is looking very positive. Here's a video of SWA's fist flight to CR from BWI...
 
Southwest Airlines launches service to Central America

 

[Glenn Quagmire]

Wait, you mean they actually were able figure out how to get there?

According to the troll, they have no idea how to operate outside of the USA.

Congratulations to SWA.

 

[Kev3188]

How was the ice?

 

[WorldTraveler]

you mean the ice that they chipped off the plane on pushback or the ice that formed "inflight"?
 

Wait, you mean they actually were able figure out how to get there?

According to the troll, they have no idea how to operate outside of the USA.

Congratulations to SWA.

I'm sure you have documentation to back up that charge.

 

[robbedagain]

anytime swamt  
 
of course he has the documents  just like you have documents that support your theory which everyone here sees right thru.

 

[WorldTraveler]

actually, my theories are based on data which I don't gather or hold but do report.

 

[swamt]

swamt  WN is geared up for the first ever San Jose flight out of BWI   not sure the exact date but Ive seen a lot of the ads for it here bro   IT seems like its gonna be a huge hit for SWA  and theyre looking at possibly adding Canada in the not to distant future out of BWI

SWA is now gearing up for even more flights out of BWI.  BWI will be huge for international for SWA.  Great news from GK himself here;
 
More International Flights Coming To Baltimore

 

[robbedagain]

Thats great however the construction the airport been talking about is slated to start give or take in april dl is moving to the D concourse where we used to be currently swa has couple of flights that come in and taxi straight to the intl gates where theyre offloaded n later the planes are towed to swa terminal

 

[FrugalFlyerv2.0]

Canada will happen, just don't know when for sure. I will predict by 2020 if not sooner we will be in Canada.

  

Just my take but I think from BWI that if Canada service starts the first city(cities) would be YYZ  (given that AC uses a Dash 8 mostly)  may be YUL and or YVR

It may be a good time to start talking to Westjet again?

 

[WorldTraveler]

WestJet has relationships with AA and DL and the chances are they do not allow further US partners.

WN's growth will be concentrated heavily in Latin America and the Caribbean. Everything they have said and are preparing for over the next couple years is based on those markets, not Alaska, Hawaii, or Canada.

WN might expand into those markets in time but they are smart enough not to try to bite off more than they can chew and Target just showed us that Canada is a different market that requires different strategies. If there is any US market that has the most value that WN does not serve, it is Hawaii.. but chances are that WN will still focus first on Latin expansion as a "substitute" to serving Hawaii.

 

[FrugalFlyerv2.0]

Westjet can always drop AA and/or DL and start to codeshare with WN.
I think it could actually be a better fit for Westjet than either AA or DL.

Westjet is a WN clone, so it would appear that the WN strategy indeed works in the Canadian market. Besides the stupid metric system, higher taxes and better hockey, Canada is just like the USA. The fact that Target couldn't make it work while WalMart is flourishing validates my previous sentence. Canada is also a much larger (32 million) market and higher yielding market than Hawaii - at least the judging from the prices I see from where I am in the USA to YOW and YYZ indicate that. (Target's main problem was pricing and limited merchandise stocking of it's Canadian stores - but that's a discussion for a different board).

 

[swamt]

  

It may be a good time to start talking to Westjet again?

Maybe another purchase is in order.
 

Westjet can always drop AA and/or DL and start to codeshare with WN.
I think it could actually be a better fit for Westjet than either AA or DL.

Westjet is a WN clone, so it would appear that the WN strategy indeed works in the Canadian market. Besides the stupid metric system, higher taxes and better hockey, Canada is just like the USA. The fact that Target couldn't make it work while WalMart is flourishing validates my previous sentence. Canada is also a much larger (32 million) market and higher yielding market than Hawaii - at least the judging from the prices I see from where I am in the USA to YOW and YYZ indicate that. (Target's main problem was pricing and limited merchandise stocking of it's Canadian stores - but that's a discussion for a different board).

Westjet is a WN clone and the two would fit together and combine very, very easily.  And your right, if SWA were to purchase Westjet, then SWA could just terminate the agreements with AA and DL.  The rumblings of another purchase are floating around still.  A Westjet tie up would be a great gain for Canada and SWA...

 

[WorldTraveler]

Westjet can always drop AA and/or DL and start to codeshare with WN.
I think it could actually be a better fit for Westjet than either AA or DL.

Westjet is a WN clone, so it would appear that the WN strategy indeed works in the Canadian market. Besides the stupid metric system, higher taxes and better hockey, Canada is just like the USA. The fact that Target couldn't make it work while WalMart is flourishing validates my previous sentence. Canada is also a much larger (32 million) market and higher yielding market than Hawaii - at least the judging from the prices I see from where I am in the USA to YOW and YYZ indicate that. (Target's main problem was pricing and limited merchandise stocking of it's Canadian stores - but that's a discussion for a different board).

you don't seem to realize there are contracts in the business world and it is highly doubtful that either AA or DL would codeshare with WestJet or vice versa without some length of time that is required in the contract.

WestJet and WN had coversations at one time but WN didn't have the technology to support Canadian flying so WestJet moved on.

life passes you up if you aren't prepared.

and the US and Canada do not allow outright control of their own airlines by foreign airlines.