Southwest Fans... are you reconsidering

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Larger airlines have more planes available and can usually substitute another plane.

Well..not if you don't have the pilots to fly these planes..

Delta, United, American all have pilot shortage, SWA does as well.

As far as stats (from a November report reflecting 2022 numbers) in order of the world it's AA, Delta, United and then SWA in 4th in terms of carriers by several metrics but one being the number of aircrafts in their fleet. SWA is the number one in the world for low-cost. SWA isn't budget like Spirit and it isn't as if being a "Legacy" carrier means you don't cut corners as you say.

 

[EACarlson]

It's possible the Feds may hand down fines, they are already investigating the incident. Unless you want the company to potentially go under you'd have to weigh the odds here. About the only thing I can think of is a perk like A-list as a promotional thing but it couldn't be done company-wide, it'd have to be targeted like it has before and for a confined time period like the promotional companion pass (which ours is good until March 8th). They've done the promotional A-list with a time frame before earlier on in the pandemic. A-list will cost them in terms of points earning since you earn more points if you fly revenue flights but other than that it's just Boarding Position although the same-day change/same-day standby is a good perk but I'd say most leisure travelers don't utilize it, my husband who travels a lot for business has used that frequently enough.

I don't think the DOT is going to have reason to issue fines. If SW met the regulatory responsibility to issue necessary refunds in the time period required, then there is not much else to fine them for. They've done more for passengers than required, rebooked on the next available SW flight, and covering reasonable costs for travelers show that they aren't trying to skirt responsibility for this. It's usually the blatency of the violations that cause the fines to be levied. I don't expect SW to be profitable for the year because of everything they are doing to try to mitigate this disaster.

SW knew they had an out-dated IT system and did nothing in apparent effort to save $$$. Clearly that didn't work out so well when combined with severe winter weather.

I completely agree and believe the chairman of the board should be forced out immediately, he was the SW CEO for many years before stepping down last year. I'll give the current CEO a bit of a break because of it.

As far as stats (from a November report reflecting 2022 numbers) in order of the world it's AA, Delta, United and then SWA in 4th in terms of carriers by several metrics but one being the number of aircrafts in their fleet. SWA is the number one in the world for low-cost. SWA isn't budget like Spirit and it isn't as if being a "Legacy" carrier means you don't cut corners as you say.

I put SW and JetBlue in the Low Cost Carrier group, separate from the Ultra Low Cost Carriers like Spirit, Frontier. SW still doesn't interline, they don't put their fares on aggregators or third party booking, their business model does not match the three legacies and they weren't national before deregulation so they aren't a legacy.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

I don't think the DOT is going to have reason to issue fines. If SW met the regulatory responsibility to issue necessary refunds in the time period required, then there is not much else to fine them for. They've done more for passengers than required, rebooked on the next available SW flight, and covering reasonable costs for travelers show that they aren't trying to skirt responsibility for this. It's usually the blatency of the violations that cause the fines to be levied. I don't expect SW to be profitable for the year because of everything they are doing to try to mitigate this disaster.

I've only heard small murmurs about fines. I doubt they would IMO but they are investigating. From what I had read they were investigating how they got there and if that meant something more than basically a verbal slap on the wrist. I agree that SWA isn't trying to skirt responsibility (part of the reason I couldn't figure out what kind of promo they would give out when considering what they have already been doing over time and in light of this recent issue).

I put SW and JetBlue in the Low Cost Carrier group, separate from the Ultra Low Cost Carriers like Spirit, Frontier. SW still doesn't interline, they don't put their fares on aggregators or third party booking, their business model does not match the three legacies and they weren't national before deregulation so they aren't a legacy.

Yeah I agree I call them low cost I don't call them budget thought which is what the PP mentioned. SWA does actually put their fares on aggregators but only for business travel and have for a while now.

 

[keishashadow]

Half off second fare IMO wouldn't really help/make people feel the best because it requires at least 2 people to go. My husband travels a lot for business (he'll be gone in 4 days for a work trip for example and flying SWA), he's solo. There are a lot of solo travelers (and def. ones caught up in the mess) that would get upset that they are being treated unfairly.

and therein is my point, winnowing out the business traveler segment in a promotion such as this would apply to those likely most nervous to book a brand new flight with SWA…the casual leisure flyer.

If they can entice them to book two new different flights (the 2nd with a discount that ’sounds’ like they are getting a deal), it would increase their revenue. More importantly, develop a degree of brand loyalty.

It’s astounding to me how all some people need to hear is they are getting a ‘sale’ & they jump to book a flight without checking other options.

as you stated, already found promos that appealed to you. Having companion fare, you are pretty much committed to SWA bookings for a year. It’s their new/casual customers they need to court now with a different sort of promo.

We will just have to wait & see how this pans out. my thots are just my take on the situation as my crystal ball is cloudy on this one lol.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

and therein is my point, winnowing out the business traveler segment in a promotion such as this would apply to those likely most nervous to book a brand new flight with SWA…the casual leisure flyer.

If they can entice them to book two new different flights (the 2nd with a discount that ’sounds’ like they are getting a deal), it would increase their revenue. More importantly, develop a degree of brand loyalty.

It’s astounding to me how all some people need to hear is they are getting a ‘sale’ & they jump to book a flight without checking other options.

as you stated, already found promos that appealed to you. Having companion fare, you are pretty much committed to SWA bookings for a year. It’s their new/casual customers they need to court now with a different sort of promo.

We will just have to wait & see how this pans out. my thots are just my take on the situation as my crystal ball is cloudy on this one lol.

The companion pass takes 135K points earned this year to earn (it was 125K last year). It's difficult to get it. You have to spend thousands on your CC and basically sign up for a personal SWA and a business SWA CC to get it as the bonus points boost you. You can also fly 100 flights but let's be real very few get it this way. We had companion in 2016-2017 back when it was 110K points and it was done via my husband temporarily living in Maryland flying back every 2 weeks along with getting the SWA CC that had the bonus attached. He barely earned A-list this year to carry on to 2023. He did have a promotion where they would continue his A-list benefits (that had been extended due to the pandemic) through 2022 if he had done 4 RT flights back in fall of 2021.

What I'm talking about is a promotional Companion Pass that is only good for a short time usually when travel is slower and comes with blackout dates. This one is for Jan 4th-March 8th and excludes some dates. It stops before Spring Break for a reason.

They have revamped the program last year such that travel credits no longer expire which def. gets the infrequent leisure traveler because now the travel credit can just sit there as opposed to expiring 1 year after you booked the flight. Anytime Fares now get you EBCI included in the fare. WGA+ fare was introduced giving the benefit of slightly better points earning as well as same-day change/same-day standby without fare difference which on paper might help get newcomers but not sure how well it's working out don't have info on that.

I hear you on your idea but I disagree it's fiscally feasible and realistically going to net a positive effect. All the frequent sales are pretty easy to snag customers but customers have to actively look at SWA to see their sale (often running 3 days at a time but frequent ones) and for PR reasons right now that's going to be a tad tough.

Of course this is just us casually discussing our opinions

 

[keishashadow]

course this is just us casually discussing our opinions

yep, nice to be able to do so here and then see how it plays out

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

yep, nice to be able to do so here and then see how it plays out

Truly I'm not all that interested in how it plays out as if one of us was more right or more wrong. I just considered it a conversation .

But for the sake of the fact that SWA is one of the main reasons we have a new airport (begrudgingly) and that they dominate our airport in market share I'd like for them to stick around that's really all I'm at the end of the day looking for how it plays out

 

[robinb]

I’m not “married” to any airline. We will still consider WN in the future.

 

[PurdueTodd]

From Indy to MCO, we only have 3 that are nonstop….SW, Frontier, and Spirit. So, SW will always be a contender for me.

 

[DL1WDW2]

I was loyal to SW and to Disney …not any loyalties for anything anymore.

 

[RD-SOX]

We will be going in July again and we will still use Southwest. We have been lucky over the years, finger crossed for us.

 

[keishashadow]

Truly I'm not all that interested in how it plays out as if one of us was more right or more wrong

Same, that was a offered as conversation and admitted curiosity wondering if SWA will offer anything to their less frequent travelers in a conciliatory sense.

 

[keishashadow]

We will be going in July again and we will still use Southwest. We have been lucky over the years, finger crossed for us.

speaking of curiosity lol, did you find a decent fare to book for this trip? Still waiting for ours. Hate the thot of paying nearly $500 pp when the yearly norm used to be $250 to $350-at most for those same dates.

 

[katallo]

We are waiting to see of fares adjust down at all for April/May. Currently, other than early morning or late evening most into MCO are so high. I cannot accept paying $353 for a one way 2 hour flight

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Same, that was a offered as conversation and admitted curiosity wondering if SWA will offer anything to their less frequent travelers in a conciliatory sense.

Just wanted to let you know SWA is running a "as low as $49" sale from yesterday to tomorrow

 

[RamblingMad]

I used to be a fan, but I gave up on them over a decade ago. Their service levels went down, and I didn't care for their new queues. The new queuing system introduced over a decade ago really turned me off from using them. Their planes also seemed to be getting older and older and older.

 

[CapeCodTenor]

We generally don't fly SW, though we have. I don't like them because of the open seating, never been a big fan, and their schedules. The last time we flew SW we had a baby with us, and while that helped us to get onboard early, it didn't work when we had to change planes in Chicago. The problem is that all the flights through Chicago, had only a half-hour to change planes, and me and the DW, with a baby in the stroller, had to run 20 gates to get to our connecting flight. We were able to make our connecting flight, and got three seats in a row, after someone gave us one of their seats, but won't do it again. Being within a 90 minute drive to two airports, I would have considered it for our June trip to the World. After this recent meltdown of their that's not gonna happen.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

We generally don't fly SW, though we have. I don't like them because of the open seating, never been a big fan, and their schedules. The last time we flew SW we had a baby with us, and while that helped us to get onboard early, it didn't work when we had to change planes in Chicago. The problem is that all the flights through Chicago, had only a half-hour to change planes, and me and the DW, with a baby in the stroller, had to run 20 gates to get to our connecting flight. We were able to make our connecting flight, and got three seats in a row, after someone gave us one of their seats, but won't do it again. Being within a 90 minute drive to two airports, I would have considered it for our June trip to the World. After this recent meltdown of their that's not gonna happen.

I don't know why airlines put such tight schedules together. I mean I know why but yeah. I think they all do it just depends on destination. I think the thing everyone would want to keep in mind is boarding time. Even with an assigned seating you'll be cutting it close with things like overhead bin space, getting someone settled, and heck even making your connecting flight to begin with.

Atlanta is one that I've seen tight schedules with Delta, Atlanta being a hub of theirs they probably figure they can get in and out quickly but it puts a lot of strain. I remember flying to Saint Lucia in 2013 and we connected in Atlanta. We only had enough time to get to our gate before we were boarding our flight to Saint Lucia.

We are going to Puerto Rico in a few weeks. We are flying SWA but the connection in Orlando was only 35 mins. Sure they probably could get it done in that time although I'm too wary with all the flight issues from so many airlines this past year to feel comfortable with it but it's also that SWA starts boarding 30mins ahead. My husband has A-list and a new adjustment this year is those who are Companions get to have sequential boarding so long as they are added at least 24 hours in advance (for A-list that would likely mean 36 hours in advance) so basically it would have removed any benefit we would have had with A-list and unless we counted on an early landing in Orlando would have just meant a very late boarding just on the basis of the connection time of getting off the plane, getting to the new gate, etc. We were able to split it up where we fly into Orlando the night before and take the early morning flight to Puerto Rico.

Tight connections on any airline for me regardless of assigned seating are just not at all what I would want to book. In our case for Saint Lucia the issue was only 1 flight per day there and 1 flight per day back and not every day of the week. That was nearly 10 years ago I don't even want to think what kind of mess that could be these days with airline travel.

 

[Magical2017]

We have st used flight credits book a trip to San Juan this summer. We have Allianz trip insurance just in case but we shall see.

We generally don't fly SW, though we have. I don't like them because of the open seating, never been a big fan, and their schedules. The last time we flew SW we had a baby with us, and while that helped us to get onboard early, it didn't work when we had to change planes in Chicago. The problem is that all the flights through Chicago, had only a half-hour to change planes, and me and the DW, with a baby in the stroller, had to run 20 gates to get to our connecting flight. We were able to make our connecting flight, and got three seats in a row, after someone gave us one of their seats, but won't do it again. Being within a 90 minute drive to two airports, I would have considered it for our June trip to the World. After this recent meltdown of their that's not gonna happen.

This is my main beef with them. Otherwise, it's been great for us. I budget in the early bird seating but that does not guarantee anything. That is another reason I prefer non-stop flights with them. We used airline credit to book a trip to San Juan for this summer so we shall see how it goes.

 

[keishashadow]

Just wanted to let you know SWA is running a "as low as $49" sale from yesterday to tomorrow

Thanks, yes the Tuesday sale wherein somebody catches a deal The flight leg I booked Sunday is now $50 more pp lol.

At least w SWA if u do find a lower when ckg can modify it

ATL can be a real joy when u have to use train to switch terminals Last I heard, SWA is only using one. Don’t quote me