SW Buys Airtran!

[AimeeMichele]

I am so upset about this. I refuse to fly Southwest as I find their seats very uncomfortable, their cattle calling for seats deplorable and their fares to be comparable to United and American. I LOVE AirTran's WiFi, option to buy seats in advance or you can select a seat without a charge 24 hours before your flight, Business class options, their seats IMO are very comfortable, cheaper fares, and their staff very friendly. Once they merge and SW turns AirTran into them by taking away everything I love about AirTran, it looks like I'll never be flying out of Midway Airport again. At least in Chicago there are lots of options. I feel bad for those that loved AirTran and are now going to have to fly SW instead. Yuck.

 

[NancyIL]

That's a great rate! Unfortunately, to PHL it isn't that cheap (MCO yes...luckily ) We can't fly Jet Blue, they don't fly out of Phila.]

But the point is...your original flight times WERE changed...even tho they DID give you plenty of notice... To my family, that is unacceptable. Some folks are just not able to be flexible with their times...not even by a 1/2 hour. But diff'ernt strokes for different folks...if you are comfortable w/ that risk, go for it! Just so happens, my DH & I are not.

My $59 fare from San Juan to Orlando is now $264, so I am glad I booked it as soon as fares were released.

Almost all airlines tweak their flight schedules. Sometimes a flight change works in my favor, as it did on two Delta flights I booked for 2011. When it doesn't, I try to change to a better flight. In the case of my SJU-MCO flight that now departs 30 minutes later, the only other flight to Orlando is at 7:30 a.m., and I can't take that because I will be arriving in San Juan that morning by cruise ship. A 30-minute time change is not a big deal.

My AirTran flights to Orlando have almost always left on time or even a few minutes early. How many AirTran flights have you been on that departed late?

 

[bubba's mom]

My AirTran flights to Orlando have almost always left on time or even a few minutes early. How many AirTran flights have you been on that departed late?

Enough before I stopped flying them...one reason we stopped. I am just one of those people who expect to fly when I book that time. I don't expect it to be changed (whether in my favor or not is not the point).

 

[evaready51]

This will be good for SWA and good for their base of passengers. Everyone is derying less competion but where were all of you when DL/NW & UA/CO were merging? The legacy carriers have frozen SWA out of gates at slot controlled airports, DCA,LGA, and they figured it out if the legacy don't let them in they just buy their way in.

Capatalism at work!!!

 

[PSUGuy]

Here's hoping they stay in Allentown, at least until after March 11, 2011. We're loving our March itinerary, 5:50 pm direct from ABE to MCO, spend the night at the Hyatt, back on a 2:30 pm direct on 3/11. If they pull out of ABE, we're back to a night time drive to PHL to catch a 6:30 am flight, and AirTran has been lower than SW out of there the last few years, at least in early March.

Bill From PA

 

[CaptHomer]

American now will have No competition to Orlando from DFW. The day of the $200 RT is gone. Same thing happened when American had no more competition to Las Vegas. The $200 RT is now $300-$350.

Hopefully it will take a year or more to happen so I can use up all my Rewards.

 

[dburg30]

JMO but higher fares/reduced number of flights to Orlando is the big picture. Assigned seats, change fees and checked luggage fees is really secondary. Current SW seating isn't really a "cattle call".

I actually like SW's boarding... and it's the same as any boarding. I dont see why people keep calling it cattle call, but dont call other boarding cattle call? The plane pulls up, everyone gets in a line to get on the plane.. Same thing here. Actually I would guess that SW actually boards quicker and gets off the ground a little easier BECAUSE you dont have assigned seats. You have people there ON TIME and ready to board, not eating, shopping, bathroom etc when they are supposed to be boarding since "I have a seat I'll just get there right before departure" and wind up being late...

And one thing at least we probably will stop seeing the "Airtran just changed my schedule from nonstop to layover" type stories..

I'm also with someone that wondered why they would sell anyway?

 

[deide71]

This will be good for SWA and good for their base of passengers. Everyone is derying less competion but where were all of you when DL/NW & UA/CO were merging? The legacy carriers have frozen SWA out of gates at slot controlled airports, DCA,LGA, and they figured it out if the legacy don't let them in they just buy their way in.

Capatalism at work!!!

Capitalism at work...Buy out the competition until you increase your pricing power. Of course this make good business sense but it certianly does not serve the consumer. Does anyone actually believe less competition equals lower prices and better service?

 

[kaseyC]

Arrrrrgggh. I went through this when Midwest was my favorite airline and it turned into a nightmare without the comfy business class seats. I started to fly Airtran and fell in love with Airtran instead of Midwest. Here we go again.

Southwest is ALWAYS more expensive out of Milwaukee to MCO on flights that I want. I really am disappointed with today's news. We will end up paying more for our flights and getting less. I want my business class seats! GRRRRR.

UGH!!!! First Midwest, now AirTran.

I'm with you two!! First my beloved Midwest and now Air Tran. SWA has been consistently more expensive than Air Tran out of Milwaukee.

 

[bubba's mom]

I actually like SW's boarding... and it's the same as any boarding. I dont see why people keep calling it cattle call, but dont call other boarding cattle call? The plane pulls up, everyone gets in a line to get on the plane.. Same thing here. Actually I would guess that SW actually boards quicker and gets off the ground a little easier BECAUSE you dont have assigned seats. You have people there ON TIME and ready to board, not eating, shopping, bathroom etc when they are supposed to be boarding since "I have a seat I'll just get there right before departure" and wind up being late...

That is EXACTLY the reason they have open seating...because it IS faster. They say so themselves. That said, I do like the number with the letter boarding system they started...more organized boarding. (altho last flight, out of 3 of us, someone managed to check in online in between my DH & I...that was weird! But...we let him go ahead w/ his buddy and the 3 of us went behind him.)

Does anyone actually believe less competition equals lower prices and better service?

Not necessarily...but I do believe companies want to make $$$....and this is one way to do it I guess?

 

[npcougar]

I actually like SW's boarding... and it's the same as any boarding. I dont see why people keep calling it cattle call, but dont call other boarding cattle call? The plane pulls up, everyone gets in a line to get on the plane.. Same thing here. Actually I would guess that SW actually boards quicker and gets off the ground a little easier BECAUSE you dont have assigned seats. You have people there ON TIME and ready to board, not eating, shopping, bathroom etc when they are supposed to be boarding since "I have a seat I'll just get there right before departure" and wind up being late...

 

[chicagodisneyfan]

I am sure a number of Airtran employees are loving this - there are some raises in store for them!

Southwest is heavily unionized and has some of the highest pay in the industry.

 

[tobikaye]

I am sure a number of Airtran employees are loving this - there are some raises in store for them!

Southwest is heavily unionized and has some of the highest pay in the industry.

Only if they still have jobs. I took a quick look at both route maps and it appears that there are many airports that SW and AT both service. Unless SW greatly increases the number of flights out of these airports, there will likely not be enough jobs. Also as pointed out in the quote below from DebbieB, there are many airports very close together that SW would probably only want to keep one of.

May not be 100% true. AT serves DFW, SW has said they will not continue service there, they will continue Love Field. Another example I saw on flyertalk was AT services Canton/Akron Ohio, SW services Cleveland. They are only 50 miles apart, Canton may not survive.

I had a similar thought on this, but for the Dayton airport that has AT since Columbus and Indianapolis have SW. Looks like there are many smaller markets that had AT near larger SW markets. I think the only thing that may save Dayton is the competition out of Cincinnati, which currently does not have either SW or AT.

 

[lundve]

I for one am happy because Richmond,VA was not a Southwest city and I often drove to Norfolk just to use Southwest. I have never flown Airtran so I do know much about their customer service. We have always loved SW.

 

[maciec]

Another one not happy about this! We have had nothing but wonderful experiences with Airtran out of BWI and PWM. The only complaint that I have about Airtran is that their seats are hard and uncomfortable. I also don't like the fact that there is not a 100% guaranteee that I will be able to sit with my family. I have no problem paying for the assigned seats on Airtran.

 

[bookgirl2632]

I'm a loyal SW customer, so it really doesn't matter to me one way or another. I love they way they do business and am thrilled with their Rapid Rewards program. This just increases the number of places they will fly for me.

 

[DebbieB]

I had a similar thought on this, but for the Dayton airport that has AT since Columbus and Indianapolis have SW. Looks like there are many smaller markets that had AT near larger SW markets. I think the only thing that may save Dayton is the competition out of Cincinnati, which currently does not have either SW or AT.

It will be interesting to see what will happen at CVG. Delta has done some major downsizing, I was surprised when I was there earlier this month how empty it is. It's ripe for the picking for a LCC. SW came into PIT when USAir downsized.

 

[JB2K]

I am sure a number of Airtran employees are loving this - there are some raises in store for them!

Southwest is heavily unionized and has some of the highest pay in the industry.

If memory serves me correctly, only the ramp (outdoor) workers are unionized at Southwest.

I imagine for the AT employees who successfully transition to SWA, they will see some improvement as Southwest is the only U.S. airline to turn a profit, every quarter.

And then again, there are those AT employees in large SWA cities (Phoenix, Orlando, Las Vegas, etc.) -- I am expecting seniority lists, etc. to be merged. Though SWA is suggesting they will do everything possible to keep all current AT employees, the truth of the matter is this is the first time Southwest has ever expanded through a merger -- wait and see...

As for those AT fans pooh-poohing this merger -- you're in a plane for a couple of hours -- do you really need Wi-Fi and XM Radio that badly?

 

[chicagodisneyfan]

If memory serves me correctly, only the ramp (outdoor) workers are unionized at Southwest.

And then again, there are those AT employees in large SWA cities (Phoenix, Orlando, Las Vegas, etc.) -- I am expecting seniority lists, etc. to be merged. Though SWA is suggesting they will do everything possible to keep all current AT employees, the truth of the matter is this is the first time Southwest has ever expanded through a merger -- wait and see...

As for those AT fans pooh-poohing this merger -- you're in a plane for a couple of hours -- do you really need Wi-Fi and XM Radio that badly?

Sorry - but the pilots, flight attendants, mechanics, reservations agents, ramp agents, customer service agents, aircraft cleaners etc - are ALL union. SW is literally the most heavily unionized airline out there.

Southwest has previously purchased Morris Air. Not the first time SW has bought another carrier.

With the exception of pilots who have strange merger rules, I expect NO merged seniority for ground ops. Airtran employees would keep their pay, but lost most if not all seniority. Of course I could guess wrong!

 

[JB2K]

SW operates out of Baltimore and Airtran out of DC.

It should be noted when it comes to the D.C. area, SWA also has flights from Dulles (IAD).