Southwest acquired AirTran

[lakelandgal70]

I have never flown SW. Have flown numerous times on Air Tran. Love them. Cheap rates. Actually flying in June to my DR in PA and got good rate. SW was too expensive. I really hope this doesn't mean a hike in rates. I will have to be going to PA every 3-4 months and that will be pricey.

 

[disneyismyname]

I've never flown Southwest but I love Airtran!!! Hope this doesn't screw up prices.

 

[FINFAN]

I will be thrilled if the $75 fee Airtran charges for any changes disappears...and the luggage fees also However, SW prices have gone kinda crazy whilt AirTrans have been manageable (tho sporadic) I agree with hoping for the best of both.

 

[ChiCat]

I hate Southwest.

Loved Airtran.

I hope SW doesn't ruin them.

Ditto sort of. I've never actually flown with SW because it's never been cheaper than Airtran or Delta or AA or whatever airline I'm flying. Airtran especially I've had several super cheap flights with

 

[quirty30]

Love Airtran. I live 2 miles from O'Hare but have flown Airtran several times out of either Midway (about 30 miles away) or Milwaukee (about 70 miles away.) The flights out of O'Hare have been outrageously expensive the last 2 years and Airtran has been our saving. I started flying with them because of the low prices, but I continue to fly with them because of the customer service. I fly quite a bit, and I have never encountered more friendly staffers on any airline. I have no doubt the merged carrier will continue to be a relatively low cost one. And I sure hope it doesn't affect that great customer service.

 

[Dizzyworld]

I think the problem in our area will be PRICE. The two airlines used to compete with each other and without competition, SW can feel free to raise rates as high as they want now!

This is what concerns me too.

 

[Traveliz]

From all the FAQs from when this was first announced -- months ago -- it appears that nothing of Airtran will remain with SW. So it seems at least if none of the things that people like about Airtran will "go to" Southwest.

We live no where near (well three hours) to an airport that flies SW so we never have. Not when the airport that has Airtran is 45 minutes away and has free parking.

I am so sad. I will try and find the FAQ that stated all this and link.

Here it is:
http://www.lowfaresfarther.com/what-it-means/customers/

Liz

 

[sskem96]

We fly Airtran exclusively. They are the major carrier at our small local airport, but we sometimes drive to Midway because the flights are cheaper there since there's so much more competition. We rack up free flights and business class upgrades pretty quickly with their rewards program. We never pay extra for our seats, we just choose them 24 hours ahead of time when we check in on line, and we never have a problem getting seats together at that time and they're free to book at that point. The lack of assigned seating is my biggest fear with Southwest. We may have to start driving.

 

[mom2val]

While I don't hate SW I have never flown them due to higher prices and flight restrictions.

I LOVED Airtran and would usually choose them first ( and avoid American when I could.)

I am going to venture that we will all see higher prices due to the merger.

For those in the Dallas/Fort Worth area we may have even larger problems at least for a while, due to the Wright Amendment* restrictions on direct flights.

We already pay some of the highest airfares in Texas.

Details on the Wright Amendment here-http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wright_Amendment

"The Fort Worth Star-Telegram's Sky Talk blog writes since AirTran became a subsidiary of Southwest this past Monday, "it had been anticipated that (Southwest) would have to end AirTran's service to Dallas/Fort Worth Airport pretty quickly because of the Wright Amendment agreement."

However, AirTran's website is still showing seats for sale out of Dallas/Fort Worth through Nov. 21. That doesn't seem to be sitting well with Fort Worth Mayor Mike Moncrief.

Moncrief, one of the architects of the agreement, is quoted by the Star-Telegram as saying he's willing to allow Southwest "a couple of months" to draw down its DFW service.

"(B)ut to wait until December...that's not acceptable," Moncrief adds."

This just makes me sick to my stomach. I do not want to fly Southwest out of Love Field. I do not want to have to change planes and not have a nonstop flight. Airtran has 2 gates at DFW. I will have to pay $150 more per ticket to fly American Airlines nonstop from DFW. I am afraid to buy my tickets from Airtran now bc I do not want to get put on a Southwest flight were it will take me twice as long to get to MCO. I hate hate hate the mayor of Fort Worth!

 

[jessica52877]

The prices is what concerns me too! I fly airtran exclusively and LOVE it!! I don't mind paying for my seat. No one wants to fly across country next to a stranger. I am not interested in lining up like a herd of cattle or having to have internet access at the perfect time.

 

[Judyat]

We love Southwest. They have great sales Tuesday - Thursday. Bags fly free. I can book and rebook if the price goes down and get a credit good for a year. So we're not locked in to a price and we don't have to worry about a change fee. There isn't one. We can do early bird and not have to worry about checking in 24 hours in advance for a good number. I could go on and on. We've never had a bad flight and they are very accomodating. They fly out of an airport less than 30 minutes away so that we don't have to go into JFK or LaGuardia which is a real hassle. We just hope we can say the same about Air Tran if we need to fly them. We have gotten many flight awards and they are easy to use on any flight even the most expensive. We've been able to book next day flights with our awards. I don't know of any other airline that does that without charging you 2 or 3+ times the points. Needless to say we could go on and on. We love Southwest!

 

[DonnaL]

I totally agree with Judyat about SWA......we just love them also.....have only had one bad (?) experience in all the years we've been flying them out of PHL....and that was an unfortunate mechanical problem on a PHL/MCO flight which caused us to be routed back up the coast and make an unscheduled (emergency) landing in Baltimore. However, even that was handled wonderfully IMO......once we landed amidst fire trucks waiting on the runway (Yikes!!) and got to the gate, the FA's asked us to remain in the gate area since another flight was due in within 20 minutes and scheduled to remain in Baltimore overnight. They were gong to reboard us and our checked bags on that plane and we would be on our way to FL within the hour. Everything was done very quickly and efficiently and true to their word we were on way within the hour......now that's great customer service......unlike another trip years ago on USAirways when a mechanical problem forced us to remain stranded in the PHL airport (we had to change flights there from a smaller, regional airport) for over eight hours while the gate agents tried to find another flight for us.....we ended up on an American Airlines flight and then they lost our bags to make matters worse. However, we have also flown Airtran several times in the past few years out of ABE (Allentown/Bethlehem, PA) since it's closer to us than PHL and I have nothing but praise for Airtran also.......so I'm very much looking forward to seeing how this merger/buyout plays out......because both airlines are great IMO......I will never fly another legacy airline again unless I absolutely cannot get either an Airtran or SWA flight to my destination.

 

[iheartdisney]

I would rather fly Southwest into New Orleans and drive 3.5 hours than fly Airtran directly into Pensacola when I go visit my folks. I have flown Airtran once, and that once was enough. Overbooked and the WORST customer service, and WORST fellow cutomers I have ever experienced.
DH had to fly Airtran once for work, and again, he said he will never do it again.
JetBlue or Southwest all the way for me!!!

 

[Friendly Frog]

"The Fort Worth Star-Telegram's Sky Talk blog writes since AirTran became a subsidiary of Southwest this past Monday, "it had been anticipated that (Southwest) would have to end AirTran's service to Dallas/Fort Worth Airport pretty quickly because of the Wright Amendment agreement."

However, AirTran's website is still showing seats for sale out of Dallas/Fort Worth through Nov. 21. That doesn't seem to be sitting well with Fort Worth Mayor Mike Moncrief.

Moncrief, one of the architects of the agreement, is quoted by the Star-Telegram as saying he's willing to allow Southwest "a couple of months" to draw down its DFW service.

"(B)ut to wait until December...that's not acceptable," Moncrief adds."

This just makes me sick to my stomach. I do not want to fly Southwest out of Love Field. I do not want to have to change planes and not have a nonstop flight. Airtran has 2 gates at DFW. I will have to pay $150 more per ticket to fly American Airlines nonstop from DFW. I am afraid to buy my tickets from Airtran now bc I do not want to get put on a Southwest flight were it will take me twice as long to get to MCO. I hate hate hate the mayor of Fort Worth!

Oh no! My worst nightmare. I had hoped that somehow SW could/would still fly flights (old Air Tran) out of DFW. This is terrible news for those people in our area. Grrrrrrrrr! This will make WDW trips from DFW way more expensive and gosh only knows how American will hike up prices once Air Tran is gone.

Does Delta even fly out of DFW anymore? I thought they closed operations there?

 

[heatherleigh]

I try to avoid SW, but will ride every now and again, to save a buck. I flew a round trip last Thurs. with SW, and was shocked that my plane was delayed BOTH ways. It didn't bother me, because it worked out to be to my benefit, but it was a surprise nonetheless.