The industry as a whole saw nice results including WN but the vast majority of the improvement has been because of lower fuel prices which have helped airlines across the board implement competitive strategies and pay their people more.....
that is true with WN and it is also true with every other airline.
It is not a knock on any carrier to note that low fuel prices and a strong pricing environment - itself due to consolidation - are reaping strong results for US airlines.
It is equally valid to note where each carrier is increasing their costs and how their costs are growing.... in WN's case, it is more so in increased labor costs than for any other carrier.
Given that WN's labor groups are all trying to get contracts settled, it says that the labor cost increases are due to the FL merger.
No other airline is seeing huge labor cost increases without also increasing the pay rates of one or more labor groups with post merger CBAs.
again, it is not a knock on anyone... just a reality of what is going on and it explains fully why WN mgmt. has been so reluctant to sign new CBAs
