ngneer
Advanced
- Aug 20, 2002
- 244
- 0
High costs (what else?) at Sea-Tac are the stated reasons for the possible move to Boeing Field.
Going Boeing?
Going Boeing?
Wn Considers Leaving Sea
- Thread starter ngneer
- Start date
L
luvn737s
Guest
Why pick an airport that is smack dab in the arrival path of the primary airport? Maybe they'll dedicate a 737 "The Spirit of EDCT" Or maybe they'll file to SEA, shoot the approach and cancel when they break out and proceed VFR to King Co. They're pretty creative over there at ol' WN. 
N924PS
Veteran
- May 9, 2004
- 2,036
- 1,529
whlinder said:
It's so nice to watch those Canyon Blue, Desert Sunset Jets burning up JetA (albeit at hedged prices) while enduring the PHILLY PHACTOR. Add some more flights. You'll find yourselves mired in the ATC quicksand that has been sucking down USAirways and the other PHL users for a long time now.
Is it worth it? Or could you be using those airplanes to fend off AirTran and JetBlue before they gain promininence SW markets?
corl737
Veteran
- Jun 13, 2005
- 565
- 6
N924PS said:
There are ways to work WITH the ATC system to reduce delays that are being implemented. US Airways never took the initiative to get rid of the inefficiencies, possibly because the flight crews get paid by the hour so ATC delays created money for the union's pocket. SWA won't stand for it, however, and is doing something about it. Not only will SWA burn less fuel but all the carriers should benefit - no thanks necessary.
Is it worth it? You bet it is! Thanks to the "hometown" carrier pissing off it's own customers SWA now carries nearly 10% of the PHL domestic traffic. Not bad for only being there a year, huh? As for AT and JB, they're worthy competitors and are being watched. But with 30+ new aircraft being delivered in 2005 there are plenty of planes to continue PHL growth.
(Passenger traffic reference: SWA Press Release)
By the way, just to satisfy my curiosity I checked the FAA Aircraft Registry to see if there was some significance about you forum name, N924PS. I found the number isn't registered. Is there a story here you'd like to share?
corl737
Veteran
- Jun 13, 2005
- 565
- 6
luvn737s said:Why pick an airport that is smack dab in the arrival path of the primary airport? Maybe they'll dedicate a 737 "The Spirit of EDCT" Or maybe they'll file to SEA, shoot the approach and cancel when they break out and proceed VFR to King Co. They're pretty creative over there at ol' WN.
[post="277526"][/post]
Call it "creative" or whatever you wish. All I know is that the SWA management team created the nation's most successful airline by always looking at every available option. Does BFI make sense? No one will ever know unless the possibility is fully examined.
BFI isn't as hemmed in by SEA as you might think. The runway centerlines are not parallel so arrivals/departures occur below the SEA traffic flow. It's very similar to flying into MDW vs ORD... which seems to be working just fine.
L
luvn737s
Guest
Huh? How many times does a MDW arrival fly directly over ORD at 2500 AGL?corl737 said:BFI isn't as hemmed in by SEA as you might think. The runway centerlines are not parallel so arrivals/departures occur below the SEA traffic flow. It's very similar to flying into MDW vs ORD... which seems to be working just fine.
[post="277548"][/post]
WN (aka "Anychansa") is trying to get attention for the Wright Amendment issue by threatening to move to BFI and stiff SEA on fees towards airport improvements. You would think they would at least be up front about that.
corl737
Veteran
- Jun 13, 2005
- 565
- 6
luvn737s said:Huh? How many times does a MDW arrival fly directly over ORD at 2500 AGL?
WN (aka "Anychansa") is trying to get attention for the Wright Amendment issue by threatening to move to BFI and stiff SEA on fees towards airport improvements. You would think they would at least be up front about that.
[post="278783"][/post]
Ok. perhaps using DFW/Love as the example would have been a closer representation to the BFI/SEA configuration. At any rate, in the pecking order, the traffic at ORD always have priority over MDW arrivals/departures. Still, I have flown in/out of BFI often with absolutely no delays caused by or to SEA operations. If your goal is to find obstacles to succeeding you are sure to find them.
As for exploring the BFI move ... You can make whatever connection to Wright Amendment issue you want. Pure and simple, however, is that SWA is in a cost reduction mode and is examining every avenue available as a first step - except employee concessions. If BFI can generate comparable passenger traffic at less cost, guess where the business goes?
The airlines must make it obviously clear that they can't just absorb increased charges imposed by airports or the industry will falter even farther. Airport ammenties are nice but without airplanes at the gates they're useless. The industry can thank SWA for having the courage to stir the pot. When airport authorities realize they need to assume a greater part of the costs of their window-dressing improvements we'll all have more of our revenue staying in house where it belongs! (Can you believe DFW spent over a million $ for artwork in the new international terminal? I'm sure travelers are thrilled to be having that added to their ticket prices.)
The Wright Amendment repeal efforts are 100% about reducing costs and improving profit margins. DFW would probably permit a profit but not at acceptable margins. (Unlike most airline stock shareholders, SWA owners have come to expect - demand even - that the airline maintain a profitable business plan.) Increasing utilization of existing infrastructure is always more efficent than unnecessarily duplicating facilities.
luvn737s said:Huh? How many times does a MDW arrival fly directly over ORD at 2500 AGL?
WN is trying to get attention for the Wright Amendment issue by threatening to move to BFI and stiff SEA on fees towards airport improvements. You would think they would at least be up front about that.
[post="278783"][/post]
Your comment about overflights is way track. Flights from O'hare continuosly fly over the traffic pattern at MDW. DCA and ADW fly over BWI. LUV flies over DFW. Most often, the traffic to the less travelled field descends earlier on arrival and passes under the other fields arrival. Sometimes the traffic flies well over and then has to drop quickly for arrival. In the other cases the aiports are farther apart but having the BFI's runways at a different angle mitigates most of the proximity problem.
As for linkage--laughable. SWA would move to BFI if it was better financially regardless of the Wrong ammendment. And stiff SEA on fees--I'm sure SWA had lots of imputs on how to improve Alaska's hub. It sure hasn't given SWA extra gate space that the Airport Authority claims it's always had available for SWA. The whole crux is that Airport boards spend money with little regards to the cost to their users. SWA is saying we've got another option and they're taking a look.
OP
ngneer
Advanced
- Aug 20, 2002
- 244
- 0
- Thread Starter
- Thread starter
- #12
Indeed, SWA would be negligent if they didn't look at all their options. They know that their fuel hedges have given them some time to plan and develop other cost saving strategies and this is one possible piece of the puzzle.bwipilot said:
I suspect that BFI is not as affected by fog as SEA is. I was in Seattle some years ago waiting for a co-worker to arrive a couple of days after me. His flight was delayed by fog at SEA and eventually landed at BFI; then they bused everyone back to SEA. But that's just one anecdote. Anyone have any good, hard information about the fog situation?
924PS was a reg. for a PSA MD-80 I believe....Airliners.net
925PS was the closest I could find.
Ahhhh those were the days. Back when this airline thing was fun!
925PS was the closest I could find.
Ahhhh those were the days. Back when this airline thing was fun!
MR AIRPORT
Member
- Apr 8, 2003
- 52
- 0
WN's deal is they go into these airports that are in need of low fares or underserved in markets then they build up a repore with ATC so that they can zip in and out of the airports. Flying short finals, trying to get close to the to the runway with gate space. Listening to ATC in PHL they try to get themselves slid in between two arriving aircraft that have been vectored around. PHL ATC has told them they have to wait like everyone else. PHL will always be a problem and now I think it's a big problem for them. They don't like everybody else. In some airports they don't have to wait and they get right out. SEA and PHL are two good examples of where they are screwed. They don't like going into high delayed ATC airports. That's why they pulled out on DEN a few years back. Their fuel hedges are running out shortly and they are starting to realize that they need to save money where they can. They soon will be having the problems the other carriers are having. The employee costs with the increase in fuel will be giving them fits, but they should have a few buck put away for a rainy day.
