MK, perfect example of the need to know who is being polled/asked about a company's performance. This ATW award is more of an industry insider's view of the company. The WSJ poll queries customers. Though it is nice to be recognized for the fact that our merger has gone more smoothly than others, I am concerned about the number of frequent flyers who are less than pleased with the way things have developed.
Over the short run, the number of disgruntled frequent flyers may not mean a whole lot because with the consolidation of the industry, FF'ers are not left a whole lot of choices in route/provider selection. From Dallas to Europe, you either fly AA or you change planes somewhere in the U.S. Same thing for Atlanta and Houston passengers...just substitute Delta or United.
Over the long run, I think most of them will re-think their airline loyalties if problems in service and FF programs continue. My perfect example of this is St. Louis. When I was recalled in Nov. 2004 and went to the St. Louis base (other choices...LGA or DCA), there were still something over 100 flights/day from STL with non-stops to every major city in the U.S. As the company decided to eliminate most of the domestic nonstops, they kept saying "our customers will not fly Southwest."
Today STL has something like 30 departures/day on AA, and the majority of those go only to ORD or DFW. That business had to go somewhere. STL people didn't just start using Greyhound or driving cross country.
As a commuter who flew WN from DAL to STL frequently, I wanted to suggest that they go over to East Terminal and look at the lines of people in business attire with their computer bags at their sides standing in line to board a Southwest flight to somewhere we USED to fly to non-stop. SEA, BOS, and MCI are just three that come to mind immediately. Our STL FF'ers decided that paying $25 to board first and get first selection of seating on a nonstop was better than always changing planes at DFW or ORD. Seems our customers WILL fly Southwest.
