Herb Comments On Webcast

[BoeingBoy]

With our management I agree 100% - they'll take an opening that isn't even there. Fortunately for the WN folks, Herb (and his replacement) don't seem inclined to do that.

Jim

 

[funguy2]

Southwest is going to kill the Philadelphia revenue environment. Kelleher does want your job at Southest for entry level part-time pay and benefits.

Regards,

USA320Pilot

By the way, does anybody believe that Kelleher personally or Southwest in particular, wants US Airways employees to suffer? I don't believe this at all. I think Seigel is doing two things.

1. He is creating a common enemy in order to do something to "rally the troops." (Which is actually a hint of leadership, although too little too late)

2. He is creating a scapegoat for the event that Fragmentation or Liquidation occurs. He is diverting attention from the fact that US Airways has been mis-managed by his predicessors and him, and placing the blame on Southwest.

The reality is that Southwest has once again identified a great market opportunity left wide-open by US Airways. Southwest recognized this in the past when US Airways mis-managed its PSA acquisition and its BWI hub. JetBlue has identified a great opportunity to take passengers from US Airways' LGA hub.

Southwest has a growth plan. They could have gone to RIC or COS or probably any number of places. However, they saw the most potential for a profitable new market at PHL. Who could blame them for going after the most profitable next opportunity?

Why is it that all of a sudden, Southwest is trying to kill US Airways now, years after Southwest entered BWI, PVD, MHT, BDL, ALB, BUF, CMH, CLE, RDU, MCO, TPA, FLL... All former US Airways strong holds. The reality is that Southwest beleives they can produce a superior short-haul flying product for less than US Airways can. Therefore, they can be profitable in markets where US Airways cannot. These are profitable opportunities for Southwest. This looks like a trend US Airways execs should have figured out years ago.

 

[johnnyfleet]

Page 26 , Article 10

FYI ...WN DOES have the right to staff with P/T employees and does...

http://www.twu555.org/


Current Top rate is $22.28 at this time NOT $24/hr...

Southwest may have up to 10% part time, they currently have ZERO part time Ramp, US Airways may have up to 35% part time, and we do have 35% part time on the ramp. The tos pay will go to $24.00 per hour on July 1, 2005. Southwest Ramp Agents have higher pay, much stronger work rules, better benefits, the only thing we have is more seniority, thank to management shrinking the company instead of growing it.

 

[Justaramper]

johnnyfleet...your wrong, they have P/T...Your work rules are a matter of opinion, but who really cares to debate such a subject, we have other things to do...like SURVIVE

 

[funguy2]

The fact that WN will "only" have 28 flights a day is irrelevant, as anyone who knows anything about airfares knows. The phenomenon works the same way as the one expressed in the following little maxim:

"If you add a bottle of wine to a barrel of sewage, you get sewage.
If you add a bottle of sewage to a barrel of wine, you also get sewage."

In this case, the analog to sewage is WN and its innocent 28 flights a day. Less than that is more than enough to ruin pricing in a market. A major could have 22 flights a day to the same city and an LCC enters, creating the sewage effect overnight. The media sure won't mention that the "legacy" carrier has 22 flights to the "low cost" new entrant's one while they're tripping over themselves to give the new "competition" free publicity - rather, they'll begin an unending drone about "lower fares" "increased competition" etc. ad naseum.

It ain't advanced economics. The LCCs revel in the way they can dilute a market with a tenth of the resources of their lumbering targets. This is a game of breaking into a market, taking advantage of one-sided press coverage and biased airport authorities who will stop at nothing to attract the latest gimmick in air travel, and feeding off infrastructure that took years to build up by the evil "legacy carriers" to grab market share. Something has to be done to address that - anything short of that will fail.

Orwell:

I liked your analogy. It reminded me that when America West announced just TWO flights from PIT to PHX, US Airways dropped its pricing to all west-coast stations to extremely low prices. Presumably to drive America West out. They did the same thing to drive AirTran out of PIT-MDW and PIT-LGA, and even to drive out Vanguard before that.

Your analogy stands... just a few flights from a low-fare airline can drive the pricing for the entire market.

 

[diverboy]

johnnyfleet...your wrong, they have P/T...Your work rules are a matter of opinion, but who really cares to debate such a subject, we have other things to do...like SURVIVE

Do you work for Southwest? I very, very, very rarely hear any openings for part time.. and when there are it's usually for a "relief" admin coordinator at a small station.

 

[BoeingBoy]

diverboy,

Apparently Justaramper is one of those folks who love to push their "facts" in other peoples' faces, but don't want to talk about it any more when their "facts" are disected.

Jim

 

[Justaramper]

BoeingBOY.....FACT is we are in deep trouble ...Comparing to WN, may make you popular on the BB, but it's not going to solve anything...No one wants to give up anything, but what choice do we have {unemployment}

 

[BoeingBoy]

Justaramper,

"FACT is we are in deep trouble"

Agreed.

"Comparing to WN, may make you popular on the BB, but it's not going to solve anything"

Didn't Dave spend an hour comparing us to WN on Wednesday? He'll be upset to hear that it won't solve anything.

Jim

 

[wnbubbleboy]

johnnyfleet...your wrong, they have P/T...Your work rules are a matter of opinion, but who really cares to debate such a subject, we have other things to do...like SURVIVE

I have been here 10 years (WN) and worked the ramp under ROPA. I have never met a ramp part timer.

 

[700UW]

WN, only uses part-timers in Reservations.

 

[Justaramper]

Whatever...I'm not going to believe you work for WN and post on a USAiways Forum, why would you want to do that anyway...Just sit behind your keyboard and pretend, it may be what turns you on..

 

[wnbubbleboy]

Whatever...I'm not going to believe you work for WN and post on a USAiways Forum, why would you want to do that anyway...Just sit behind your keyboard and pretend, it may be what turns you on..

You would be suprised how often you would hear the phrase " I used to work at USAIR." Over here at WN. Naturally I am going to pay attention what going on at my old airline. Sorry dude. This is a FORUM BOARD not a FORYOU BOARD.

 

[BoeingBoy]

wnbubbleboy,

Glad you found your own "soft landing". Tell all the "ex-Agony" folks over there Hi.

Jim

 

[wnbubbleboy]

wnbubbleboy,

Glad you found your own "soft landing". Tell all the "ex-Agony" folks over there Hi.

Jim

Will do.

Many of us are alive and well here at BWI.