Southwest slashes flights

[safetymom]

Southwest slashes flights: Hard times spare no one, not even the darling of the discounters. Southwest will lop 88 flights from its schedule in October, significantly more than the airline's normal fall adjustment. "We are not producing the kind of profits that we need to be, so there are two levers to pull— revenues and costs," CEO Gary Kelly tells The Wall Street Journal (subscription required). Many of the cuts will come on short-haul routes with high frequencies. The airline says the change could boost annual revenue by about $60 million, which would likely be seen right away in its bottom line. Southwest also is using a new computer system that's intended to add flexibility in building schedules. The new approach allows the discontinued flight to be redeployed on any route across the carrier's network. Southwest will also change departure times on more flights than it has in the past. But, there are potential problems. Cutting frequencies could alienate passengers and send them to competitors. "You're asking a risk because you could make things worse," Kelly acknowledges.

 

[MikeBW]

safetymom,

Do you have any information when SW will put their Feb. fares up?

 

[maraakl]

I would not expect those until the middle of Sept.

 

[maraakl]

Safety mom,
While this is not good news to some, it is better than pulling the flight after it is booked.

 

[disneydebi]

Does this mean they are cutting flights that they previously had on the schedule? We're booked for November....

I called SW and their reservations agent that I spoke with knew nothing of this...

Anyone have any additional info?

 

[safetymom]

I would just keep watching your flights. It would probably depend on how full the flights are.

 

[Lewisc]

SW just added around 24 new N/S flights. They haven't bought that many new airplanes. Some people (newspapers) are now realizing what was known around the internet, SW cancelled a number of short flights with the new schedule. This is old news. The planes to service the PHL flights had to come from somewhere.

If your flight is on the current schedule don't worry. BUT don't assume the flight you took this year will still be on the schedule next year.

 

[safetymom]

http://www.usatoday.com/travel/flights/today/sky.htm#swa

 

[NotUrsula]

I'd say it's extremely unlikely that many of these are going to be on the Florida routes, which are VERY profitable. I think that you'll see it much more on the regional short-hauls that mostly serve business customers.

 

[safetymom]

I think this should serve as a reminder that all the airlines are struggling to make a profit.

I agree it probably won't affect the Florida routes but not everyone takes a non stop to FL.

 

[treehugger]

Here's another link, this one gives detailed info on the likely routes to be cut. Thankfully, Albany is not one of them.

http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/040823/southwest_flights_4.html

 

[Lewisc]

http://www.southwest.com/about_swa/press/prindex.html (July 15)

SW announced the new flights (for the Nov 1 schedule) back in July. When the schedule was released some flights were eliminated (some of the LAS-LAX runs for example).

For whatever reason SW is now releasing the (already public) information regarding flights that are being cut as of 10/31.

Think about it, SW is added new N/S flights. They either have to cut flights or buy new planes.

 

[DVC-Don]

SW is adding a third NS from Albany, NY to Orlando in late November.

 

[jimmiej]

Originally posted by MikeBW
safetymom,

Do you have any information when SW will put their Feb. fares up?

I was told by an agent, early to mid-Sept. Another DISer said it was Sept. 18 last year.

 

[chicagodisneyfan]

Southwest has NOT slashed flights! So please do not read into this anything more than a more efficient use of airplanes. This was one of the reasons it took so long for the fall schedule to be posted - they were significantly reconfiguring the schedule.


Taken from their website:
It is important to note that, although there may be a slight difference in the number of flights at a particular Station, our overall capacity will remain essentially unchanged. (Several shorthaul flights may be taken off the schedule and replaced elsewhere with a fewer number of longhauls, for example, keeping the overall flight time the same.)

“It is a redistribution of resources, with the net effect of Southwest having the capacity equivalent of five extra aircraft to deploy,” said Vice President Schedule Planning Pete McGlade.



Associated Press says:"It's just taking the planes and redeploying them. The capacity remains the same," said Ed Stewart, a Southwest spokesman. "We should see increased revenue by putting planes in places where lots of people want to fly."

 

[safetymom]

I posted this to make people aware that there had been changes. It wasn't to make a gloom and doom notice. Since many people plan trips long in advance wanted to make them aware there were changes. Changes obviously that included moving the planes to different locations.