Us Airways Comments On Southwest & Airtran

[Rico]

There is nothing wrong with SWA, just different strokes for different folks.

But my point stands that SWA arrival into an airport does not strip all the previous carriers traffic away, rather the opposite occurs.

THAT is why airports love to see SWA come in, not because people are clamouring to fly SWA, but instead that the people who have, and would like to continue to fly upon the original carriers can do so at decreased fares.

Over time there has been an exodus of the established carriers in many cities, leaving behind their market share because of the reduced yeild, not load factors. In revenue enhanced situations (such as a hub airport), the dominant carrier can hold it's ground, just not at what would have been a decent secondary market (ie: BNA, BWI, MCO, and now... PIT), or under direct point to point competition.

Anyways, I respect SWA. They are a tough and smart competitor, but the real threat we need to adapt to is no longer SWA. It is, and will become even moreso jetBlue that we need to watch + learn from.

 

[WNjetdoc]

Last time i flew on one of your WHITE TRASH GHETTO jets with people who think Dennys is a big night out i wasnt impressed. People DO LIKE flying US and not all, if any, are impressed with tacky faux leather seats and fa/s who like like they were hired out of a trailer park. So go  back to what u know best...flying AMERICAS TRASh- U are Now Free to move about the country..in a flying trailer park!!!  

[post="249531"][/post]​

Nice mouth there sparky, do you kiss your mommy with that mouth? Oh yea, she fly's WN too, .

You can slam our passengers, "white trash", as you call them, but they seem to pay very well, with GREEN MONEY. BTW, it may seem, to you, that we fly a lot of "white trash" as you call them, we also fly a lot of every other racial slur you more than likely use. Im sure you use any and all racial slur's behind closed doors, just like a spineless jellyfish would do.

The bottom line is we fly a lot of people, of all racial and economic backgrounds, so I think what really bothers you is that WN fly's A LOT more passengers than U and that is killing you and U....get over it pal, you're letting it eat you away and its not healthy, LMAO, .

 

[ELP_WN_Psgr]

8. Star Alliance - Dividend Miles - I can fly to 733 destination in 132 countries. A TWELVE FOLD difference from the Vapid Rewards plan. Picture this!!Hubby:Honey let's use my SWA Vapid Rewards and take the whole family to Oakland or better yet let's all go to that other garden spot Odessa TX.
Wifey: But I WANT to go to Spain, especially Barcelona and Madrid can't we go there???
Hubby: No sweetheart not for free, we'll have to buy tickets on US Airways for that!
Wifey: WA WA I want to go to Spain!! Mother was right about you!

Stop it, Bob, you're killing me! LOLOL. ROFL. etc etc!

Perhaps I married more wisely, it's hard to say. Although it was tough convincing my wife that the free Texas Highway Department ferry boat from Galveston Island to the Bolivar Peninsula counted as a cruise, I have to confess that I have never had to confront the scenario your described.

As far as the rest of that stuff...elite lines, assigned seats...that's what is wonderful about this great country of your's and mne and our's. It's all about choice. You have to have those things, choose an airline that gives you those things.

Strange as it may seem, I don't like, need, or want those things. Maybe I am just too egalitarian for my own good......which is strange coming from a Republican.....but my money and the other passengers' money are the same color and we should all be treated alike....we should all be treated well. That's been my gripe at Delta - seems like treatment of passengers is a zero sum game....if the staff treats first class preferred platinum elite sky miles passengers better, they have to treat the run-of-the-mill coach passengers worse. I like the freedom to pick my seat once I get on the plane and see who is onboard. (sitting next to thin people is infinitely preferable to sitting next to those who appear "corn fed" to put it politely, as I discovered not too long ago when assigned a seat next to an individual whom I would guess to weigh 460 lbs....on a CRJ. Yuck.

SWA can't spell BTR much less get me there

But see, Bob, I could find common ground for us to agree to disagree and respect each others' choice of airlines, but you always feel compelled to make some smart @$$ remark like that. You like US. Fine. I like WN. Fine. I try to avoid taking potshots. You grab every opportunity to take a potshot. Besides, Southwest can too spell Baton Rouge. It's spelled M-S-Y and I-H-10.

 

[usairbear]

Let's see now:

Pittsburgh-Philadelphia round trip same day on USAirways:

May 3rd = $636.40

May 4th = $78.40

I and many others will not forget how we got screwed and who did it.

Hint: It wasn't Southwest!

 

[Rico]

Really...

Screwed...?

That's the word you want to use for a same day walk up fare under a grand.

Please

Grow up. You know that 78$ for anything nowadays, let alone a walk up fare on an airline ticket is a steal. So instead of acting like a jerk, just count yourself lucky that such low fares are avail. for a little while.

Because no one, SWA or any other airline keeps 'em that low forever pal.

Run the walk up fares where there is no competition for SWA if you do not believe me. No, it will not be 900$, but it will not be 78$ either. Last time I had to price something for my brother (out of a city we do not serve), the 2 week out one way fare was well over 400$ on SWA, and that was with two stops.

 

[DLFlyer31]

SWA can't spell BTR much less get me there.

Ironically, neither can USAirways. USAirways no longer serves BTR and neither does United (so that codeshare won't do you any good). The closest US can get you is MSY...no different than WN.

 

[ELP_WN_Psgr]

Because no one, SWA or any other airline keeps 'em that low forever pal.

Run the walk up fares where there is no competition for SWA if you do not believe me. No, it will not be 900$, but it will not be 78$ either.

I took the liberty of running them for you, on similar stage lengths (to PIT-PHL or PIT-MDW)

You're right.....only 1 was below $79. The rest were a little higher. Not much, though.

RDU-BWI $ 81
MCI-OKC $94
BHM-MSY $97
HRL-SAT $99
BNA-MCI $95
MCI-STL $75

I think the general rule of thumb is that walk up fares on flights of an hour or so ought to be around a hundred bucks.

And no, they don't stay that low forever. But I have found, over time, that Southwest's fares generally track (or lag) the CPI.

They started operations in '71. After tweaking the fare structure a bit, they settled on fares of $26 and $13 between Dallas & Houston, depending on when you flew. That was in 1973.

If you look at the CPI from 1973 to 2003, the $26 ticket in 1973 would be.....$108 in 2003. The $13 ticket would be $53 and change.

The walk up, full unrestricted ticket is 94 bucks...less than the $26 ticket is worth in constant dollars. And yes, you can get advance purchase tickets for $34 which is far less than the $13 cheap ticket of 1973.

The point is that the $79 walk up fare Southwest is bringing to PIT is liable to stay at that level...or something real close to it, for a long time. It is not their way to run everyone out and then jack the price up to unconscionable levels. They might tweak it upwards....but as has been demonstrated, the 300-450 mi flight---in markets where they have no competition---is generally priced between $75 and $100.

 

[BoeingBoy]

What a load of poop.

You want to know what really happens when Southwest comes in...?

[post="249356"][/post]​

Ok, let's look at what really happens when WN comes in....

Two markets where US had 100% of the market - PHL-PVD and PHL-MHT.

PHL-PVD

Pre-WN
50 pax each way per day
$328 average ticket price
US has 100% market share
$16,400 total paid to US

Post-WN (3Q04)
546 pax each way per day
$57 average fare paid
US has 36.35% market share
$6,194 total paid to US

PVD-MAN

Pre-WN
43 pax each way per day
$309 average ticket price
US has 100% market share
$13,287 total paid to US

Post-WN (3Q04)
473 pax each way per day
$56 average ticket price
US has 37.07% market share
$9,856 total paid to US

The numbers tell the story. US passenger numbers went up, so some of the growth in the market helped US. But not enough to come close to offsetting the drop in fares.

Jim

 

[lowfareair]

Really...

Screwed...?

That's the word you want to use for a same day walk up fare under a grand.

Please

Grow up. You know that 78$ for anything nowadays, let alone a walk up fare on an airline ticket is a steal. So instead of acting like a jerk, just count yourself lucky that such low fares are avail. for a little while.

Because no one, SWA or any other airline keeps 'em that low forever pal.

Run the walk up fares where there is no competition for SWA if you do not believe me. No, it will not be 900$, but it will not be 78$ either. Last time I had to price something for my brother (out of a city we do not serve), the 2 week out one way fare was well over 400$ on SWA, and that was with two stops.

[post="249601"][/post]​

Really? Over $400? What route was that on? Just wondering, because AFAIK, WN keeps their walk-up fares capped at $299...

And that $78 is not a walk up fare, it is an advance purchase fare w/o a minimum/Saturday night stayover. I expect it to be under $120 r/t for a long time (provided inflation stays on a relatively stable growth rate). Walk up fare will likely be under $200 for a LOOOONNNGG time as well.

 

[savyinvestor]

Just curious. So how much more have you and will you pay for all those perks? Oh, I forgot you don't your company probably does. Savy

 

[KCFlyer]

Because no one, SWA or any other airline keeps 'em that low forever pal.

Forever is an awfully long time, but living in MCI, back when TWA was the only game in town to take you from KC to St. Louis, the unrestricted round trip fare was in the neighborhood of $500. And this is back in the 1980's. When Southwest entered the market, the unrestricted round trip dropped dramatically. Up until about a year ago, Southwest had competition from AA on that route, the unrestricted round trip price was $150. A year or so ago, AA left the MCI-STL market...Southwest was the only game in town if you wanted to fly MCI-STL. And the unrestricted roundtrip fare has remained $150. Granted, a year or so isn't forever, but at some point don't you think they would have "raped" the folks who fly MCI-STL if that's what their plan was?

An earlier post stated that companies were in business to make money. Why is it that the airline that is the "white ghetto trailer trash " airline with the "turd colored" (to my knowledge, my turds are not blue...if your's are Bob, you might want to see a doctor) has consistantly made money, but those who charged "what the market will bear" haven't?

 

[savyinvestor]

No bait there. A travel department generally requires one to travel as economically as possible. From what I've seen that wasn't and isn't the case until just recently. Savy

 

[mweiss]

Why was it didn't you charge $1.85 to begin with?

[post="249527"][/post]​

Apparently because it never occurred to you that another gas station might move in across the street.

There are a handful of methods that one can use in setting up a pricing model. If one can be assured of a monopoly, one can price according to the market demand curve. If one has a monopoly that is not assured, and one prices according to the market demand curve, then one is inviting a competitor to move in.

Charging $1.85 to begin with is a means of keeping the competitor from looking at your market in the first place.

 

[nycbusdriver]

Charging $1.85 to begin with is a means of keeping the competitor from looking at your market in the first place.

[post="249637"][/post]​

...and, as an entrepreneur, putting your family squarely in the lower middle class, at best.

And we're now back to the "Walmartization of America" argument.

 

[mweiss]

You know that 78$ for anything nowadays, let alone a walk up fare on an airline ticket is a steal.

[post="249601"][/post]​

Excuse me? 16 cents a mile is a steal? At 16 cents a mile, even the US of 2000 could have made a profit on PIT-PHL. Well, maybe not... <_< but any other carrier in the nation could have.