SWA/AirTran Merger...timeline???

[kristenrice]

I was elated when AirTran arrived in Grand Rapids....only to find out a year later that they'd been bought by SWA...

We were planning on flying AirTran from GRR to MCO in the middle of June 2012. All of the info I'd read on the merger said it would be "completed" by "the middle of 2012"...conveniently, right when we're planning to fly. We're starting to look into airfare and flight times on Delta, just to get a general idea of what we're dealing with. It's not pretty yet...the prices are OK, but the times are terrible!

I found this statement on the SWA website, regarding the merger...

"The transition will take time. Southwest currently expects it will obtain a SOC in the first quarter 2012 and estimates it will take several years after receipt of SOC to fully transition AirTran into Southwest Airlines to become one airline.

Our plan is to integrate AirTran into Southwest over the next several years, and we anticipate Customers will only see the Southwest brand at the end of that time."

As I understand it, we should have no issues booking on AirTran for June 2012 since the "full transition" to SWA will be just beginning. We're flying with a group of 15...8 adults, 6 children (under the age of 10) and a lap baby so we are not interested in SWA. We're planning on purchasing seats, regardless of which airline (Delta or AirTran) we choose. We'd really prefer AirTran though because they offer non-stop service to Orlando from Grand Rapids.

We're even considering making the drive to Detroit if it means we can get better flight times. Right now, our options on Delta from GRR are a 6:45am departure (with a 3 hour layover!) or a 3:00pm departure that doesn't arrive in Orlando until after 6pm. If we drove to Detroit (the night before), we could take an 8am or a 10am, non-stop, and be in Orlando by 12:30pm.

Are we OK to still consider AirTran or should we be focusing on nailing down the best prices/times on Delta?

 

[Shelly F - Ohio]

You should be okay to book with airtran. As the statement indicates it will take several years to transition the two airlines into one.
Personally I would drive to Detriot for the better flight times. Why spend a whole day of your vacation trying to fly to Florida.

 

[disneychic2]

I agree. Flight time is every bit as important to me as price. I want to get down there as early and as quickly as possible. If Detroit will get you better times, I would do that. Of course, it's so far away, they could add other flights at your home airport. I would definitely check out other airlines. We've flown Delta and Continental several times to Orlando. But Airtran has always been our absolute favorite. Good luck!

 

[mickeymaker2003]

We're even considering making the drive to Detroit if it means we can get better flight times. Right now, our options on Delta from GRR are a 6:45am departure (with a 3 hour layover!) or a 3:00pm departure that doesn't arrive in Orlando until after 6pm. If we drove to Detroit (the night before), we could take an 8am or a 10am, non-stop, and be in Orlando by 12:30pm.

If going to Detroit the day before works for you (and involves staying in a hotel the night before), could you just take the 3 pm flight from your home airport the day before your vacation really starts? You could stay at either an airport hotel or book a room at Disney for a day earlier. Then you can be at the parks well before 12:30.

 

[DebbieB]

From something I read yesterday, they are already starting to align their schedules and adjust their routes. For example, both Southwest and AirTran had early morning non-stops to MCO out of PIT. Starting with November I think, they eliminated the Southwest morning non-stop, the first one isn't until 1:25pm. AirTran has one at 7:50am and another at 12:10pm. Southwest announced that they are eliminating their PIT-PHL flights with the schedule that was released this week.

http://swamedia.com/releases/9e4da5...download/958c2a84-bf8d-8f04-2380-63004e2d8013

 

[kristenrice]

Before AT came to Grand Rapids, we would drive the 3 hours to Detroit and get a Park and Fly room near the airport the night before our flight. It worked out great and was usually about $400 cheaper (even when factoring in the cost of the hotel!) than flying Delta out of Grand Rapids. Now that AT is in GR, there is no savings to drive to Detroit.

I am flying AT to MCO from GRR in October. This will be my first time flying AT out of GR and I really lucked out with the flight times. Our departure is at 12:30pm and our return is at 2:40pm. They are both the only non-stops of the day and I couldn't have picked more perfect times! Under normal circumstances, I'd prefer to leave earlier, but I have to work until 4:30am that day so I'd like to get a 4-hour nap in before I leave.

I'm fairly certain that my dad (who is paying for everything) is also more concerned with "good" flight times. He is not against leaving in the morning, but not at 6am! This will be the first trip for most of the grandkids (all but our 2DD's) and dad wants to maximize their time there. Ideally, we'd be landing no later than 3pm. I think that if we have to drive to Detroit to achieve that, then that's what dad will have us do.

On a slightly related note, does anyone have any experience with AirTran's group sales? I looked at their website and they have two different group options with one that is decidedly better than the other.

Here is the "Group Travel" criteria, which we meet...

To request reserved space for group travel, please complete the Group Travel Request below if your group meets the following criteria:

10 or more people traveling together
travel is within the AirTran route network
travel is on the same flight
travel is from a single origin to a common destination

Now, there is also this option...Event Savers

Planners can receive substantial savings off most of AirTran Airways' already low fares for any group, meeting or convention with 10 or more attendees if your event travel meets the following criteria:

Ten (10) or more people traveling to the same event, but not traveling together
Travel is within the AirTran route network
Travel is from various points to a common destination

This option has the following benefits...
program benefits
One free* roundtrip coach ticket for every 30 passengers who travel
10% discount on most of AirTran Airways' already low fares
No Saturday night stay or minimum stay required
Priority advance seat assignments at time of ticketing
Change fee waived once per reservation
Confirmed Business Class upgrades at time of ticketing for certain fare classes

We would meet the criteria for the Event Savers if we split up and flew out of both GR and Detroit. Am I reading that correctly that the assigned seating is included? That would be a HUGE savings ($6/seat x 14 people x r/t = $168!) The change fee waiver may come in handy too if we decide to switch flight times. Oh, and dad likes the idea of splitting up between GR and Detroit because he'd love to give us all the BC upgrade at check in. That wouldn't be possible if we all flew together. Splitting up actually works out good. Dad will be retired by then and DH and I have "odd" schedules (DH is police, I am EMS) so we don't work on that Friday. It would be very easy for our families to drive to Detroit on Friday. My siblings and their spouses work 9-5 jobs so they could leave from GR any time on Saturday.

Hmmmm...so much to think about...

I can't submit a quote request to AT until the actual flight that we want has been released. Right now, it looks like they are released until the end of May so we still have to wait. Delta is sitting at about $350/person now and I am fairly confident that AirTran will be able to beat that price.

Thanks for everyone's input. I appreciate the candor and humoring me while I sit and daydream about a trip that is still 11 months away. (Which seems like just around the corner since dad has been planning it since 2005!)

 

[kksmom92]

I too am from the GR area and due to the flight times (and prices), I found it better for us to fly out of Detroit this upcoming Jan on Delta. (we booked our tickets a few months ago)

At first we were going to drive over to Detroit, spend the night and fly out first thing in the morning.. but instead we are going to be taking the last flight out, getting a hotel down there and spending the night so we can go to Disney first thing in the morning. It will end up costing us now a little bit more as we have to pay for the parking (we were going to stay at a hotel with the park & fly package) but at least we can be down there for the rope drop now.

 

[MickeyEars]

kristenrice-
I was reading your last post and you said that it looked like AirTran's schedule was released until the end of May. If you don't mind my asking where are you seeing that? Our next Disney trip is May 30-June 8, 2012 and I would love to see what's available on AirTran.
I can only get AirTran's fares up to early March so if you could point me in the right direction I would be ever so grateful.

Thank you so much!!!

Carla

 

[kristenrice]

kristenrice-
I was reading your last post and you said that it looked like AirTran's schedule was released until the end of May. If you don't mind my asking where are you seeing that? Our next Disney trip is May 30-June 8, 2012 and I would love to see what's available on AirTran.
I can only get AirTran's fares up to early March so if you could point me in the right direction I would be ever so grateful.

Thank you so much!!!

Carla

I could be wrong (probably the case!), but when I tried filling out the "group sales" quote request form, there was a drop-down to select the flight we wanted the quote for. The calendar had "clickable" dates through the third week of May. I didn't click on anything, though, so it might lead to a dead end.

 

[MickeyEars]

Thank you for getting back to me so quickly!! I just hate waiting but it looks as though I'll just have to.

Thanks again!
Carla

 

[LidoDeck]

We're anxious for Southwest to complete the transition, hoping they take over AirTran's flights into Portland Maine. Until then, we'll use the Manchester NH airport so we can fly Southwest. Different strokes...

 

[aubriee]

They've already started making changes. They are pulling Air Tran completely out of Dallas. The last Air Tran flight out of Dallas is Nov 22nd. Due to the Wright Ammendment Southwest can't fly out of DFW, so they're just pulling Air Tran completely out, which severly limits our options for flights. They and American were the only airlines that offered nonstop flights to MCO. I paid $148.00 r/t for our May flight on Air Tran, but am paying $277.00 r/t for my late Nov trip. I have never paid that much for airfare to MCO. I was lucky to get that price though, because it's been running over $300.00 (except for those few days that American dropped their prices a couple of weeks ago). Flights on Southwest for the same time frame are running $460.00.

 

[kristenrice]

I'm really curious to see how this will affect Grand Rapids. Before AirTran, the cheapest airline we had was Allegiant. They only fly 2-3 days a week to Sanford so I wouldn't even consider them. We were basically stuck with Delta, United, Continental or USAirways. There were no direct flights to Orlando and average r/t airfare was about $350. Back in 2008, we still had NWA (before they merged with Delta) and they had a few non-stop flights.

Now that AT is here, flight prices seem to have come down, but AT is still the only non-stop option. I am interested in what will happen when the merger is complete. I don't think the prices will change that much, but I really hope that they keep the non-stop option. To me, that is a HUGE incentive to fly with them.

 

[Minnesota!]

If going to Detroit the day before works for you (and involves staying in a hotel the night before), could you just take the 3 pm flight from your home airport the day before your vacation really starts? You could stay at either an airport hotel or book a room at Disney for a day earlier. Then you can be at the parks well before 12:30.

This is what I would do! Fly out near home the night before vs driving to Detroit. Spend the night somewhere in Orlando, and hit Disney the next AM refreshed...

 

[clanmcculloch]

I just checked both Porland ME and Boston MA and neither airport shows any flights to MCO after January 16. I wonder if that means SWA will start offering those flights? My dates in February do not show any additional itineraries from Boston and Portland isn't showing on the SWA site as an airport they fly out of so it definitely hasn't happened yet.

 

[DebbieB]

I just checked both Porland ME and Boston MA and neither airport shows any flights to MCO after January 16. I wonder if that means SWA will start offering those flights? My dates in February do not show any additional itineraries from Boston and Portland isn't showing on the SWA site as an airport they fly out of so it definitely hasn't happened yet.

On the link I posted above, it shows SW's flights for January to February. They are not showing either Portland or Boston to MCO non-stop.

 

[clanmcculloch]

Thanks Debbie. I had missed that.

What's interesting is that Manchester shows an increase of 1 nonstop to MCO but it doesn't reflect that SWA did away with several nonstops before this so there are still less nonstops than before. UGH!!!

I wonder why they would get rid of AT flights without replacing them on SWA? My understanding is that those AT flights were generally pretty full (at least after they'd consolidate the flights down to maybe a dozen per day).

 

[DebbieB]

Thanks Debbie. I had missed that.

What's interesting is that Manchester shows an increase of 1 nonstop to MCO but it doesn't reflect that SWA did away with several nonstops before this so there are still less nonstops than before. UGH!!!

I wonder why they would get rid of AT flights without replacing them on SWA? My understanding is that those AT flights were generally pretty full (at least after they'd consolidate the flights down to maybe a dozen per day).

Just because they are full does not mean they are profitable. Southwest seems to be walking away from alot of Orlando flights because they are mostly leisure passengers who don't want to pay high fares (I know they dropped Cleveland, Detroit, Washington Dulles). Most airlines bread & butter is from business travelers who pay high fares to fly last minute and don't care about price because they expense it. There is not much business travel to Orlando. If another airline has the route, they may decide to just let them have it rather than cut fares to compete. Then use those planes in other markets where they can make a profit.

 

[Fire14]

I was elated when AirTran arrived in Grand Rapids....only to find out a year later that they'd been bought by SWA...

Are we OK to still consider AirTran or should we be focusing on nailing down the best prices/times on Delta?

I personally would either book Delta out of GR or drive to Flint or DTW.

I speak from experience with Airtran changing/deleting flights. I booked BFF on AIrtran out of GR and they went and dropped darn flight and booked her on flight leaving at 545p and not getting to fl until 11p ish. Kinda blew the whole Girls day out plans. That nice nonstop get in around 3p flight went bye bye on us TWICE. And Airtran has been famous for changing arrival/ added stops too.

 

[Fire14]

Another idea to check out:
Try Lansing or Kalamazoo airports.