NY Times article on SWA
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"Accustomed only to success, it is as if they do not want to miss out on the rest of the story. They helped Southwest send big-name airlines like Pan Am and Eastern to the junk heap, and more recently helped bring United and Delta to their knees. Sure, it is hard work. But, they wonder, what might be next?"
The above really says all you need to know about the credibility of the author.
The New York Times have mis-stepped before. Printing a puff piece like this is a joke.
WNrforlife
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This article only talks about the 3-digit "ancients" - Nothing about the 4-digit dinosaurs like myself who are also millionaires on paper. There are plenty of us in the 25-year seniority range that are millionaires. I wonder why they left that out of this article…………….
:angry: :angry: :angry:
:angry: :angry: :angry:
WNrforlife
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I saw Sandra just this week. What a Doll! She's a complete joy to work with. We are truly blessed to have her, and her coworkers with our Company. What an asset!
You do know the definition of "doll" is, don't you? A doll is a "stuffed idiot".
SoftLanding
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WNforlife,
a little bit of thread creep, but here it goes: Do you have to quit/retire to sell your LUV stock?
If so, how concerned are you of anything off the radar screen happening that sees the stock collapse to say $5ish?
LUV does have strong institutional support, an important point to make. (Which could also be a negative if they suddenly wanted to get out.)
SoftLanding
WNrforlife
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I have to quit or retire to have access to the shares. If I do that before retirement age, then I also take a big hit.
Therefore, I'm here for about 15-20 more years.
No concern about the stock price heading down - If anything, it's headed for the moon.
I am not a FOX news fan, but I was in an office on Friday that had the Cavuto guy interviewing this SWA F/A about her millionaire status. She was all smiles and Cavuto asked her if all her wealth was tied up in SWA stock. She smiled and said "yes". He then asked, "Have you heard of Enron? I know many people that were paper millionaires that lost it all becasue they had their stock tied up in Enron stock." This is when the Dear in the Headlights look took over. She now the nervous smile of a baby that had crapped it pants but not totaly realizing the consequences.
Good for her and others if it last. I know of a few carriers that had unlimited potential on the stock side that have had sever setbacks. Perhaps I could find some paper that showed how valuable and "to the moon" my companies stock was just a few years ago.
ClueByFour
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The differences, of course, are telling:
SWAPA does not have a Dubinksy to slay the golden goose.
I've never seen a "summer of hell" on SWA.
I've never had the chance to stand on a people mover or a parking shuttle and mutter "Thanks for coming to work today, $#$#@%" at a Southwest pilot.
Small differences, of course.
goodgirl37
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LOL - well i do like the enron statement - Just goes to show that some people that think they are invincilble are in fact very weak - no doubt SWA is doing well and hopefully so in the future - dont think your stock cant go tank sista --- my fathers is less than half what his was when he was thirty five - he will still fare well however, dont think it doesnt put a bitter taste in your mouth when you think about what you could have had - Thankfully my parents dont think like that and make investments elsewhere --- lucky for them and me (dont put all your eggs in one basket)!!! I would hate to see all of your hard work go to waste and still be wearing those khakis to your deathbed - invest elsewhere-
WNrforlife
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Gary Kelly....a true giant among men.
---------------------------------------------------
GARY C. KELLY CHIEF EXECUTIVE, SOUTHWEST AIRLINES | ON THE HOT SEAT
Southwest bucks industry trends
May 28, 2006
Gary C. Kelly, chief executive of Southwest Airlines, flew into Boston recently for meetings at Harvard and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, but he didn't use his own airline. That's because Southwest doesn't fly into Boston. But the next day he drove to Manchester, N.H., where he caught a Southwest flight back to Texas. Kelly, 51, spoke to Globe reporter Bruce Mohl.
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Boston.com
Sign up for: Globe Headlines e-mail | Breaking News Alerts Q: Is the nation's airline industry shrinking?
A: If you look at the overall domestic market, the capacity is down probably 8 percent. That's first quarter. There was some surplus capacity that's been eliminated and, I think, wisely. The East Coast has suffered more than the rest of the country in terms of that glut of capacity. Granted, the consumer benefited, because it's supply-demand equalized at a price. The more seats you have the lower prices need to be to fill them.
Q: Is Southwest shrinking, too?
A: We're growing this year with 33 new aircraft. That's an average seat-mile increase of 8 percent, maybe a little less. Our competitors are stuck with airplanes they can't fill. Fortunately, we don't have that problem. Over the last 12 months we have more demand than we have airplanes. We're in a real nice sweet spot right now.
Q: One of the keys to Southwest's success has been its fuel hedging, something most airlines aren't doing. Are you guys smarter than everyone else in your business?
A: It's not that we necessarily know different techniques than anyone else. All it is is using the futures market to provide protection against higher prices. You see people referring to it as a bet. That's not what it was at all. It was insurance, much like you would have insurance for your home or insurance for your automobile.
Q: What made Southwest buy the insurance?
A: Who would deny that the single biggest risk item in our cost structure was fuel price volatility? All you had to do was look around the world and see all the tension that there was and realize there was a risk of fuel price increases.
Our objective is to have 80 percent protection in place for a year by the time the year starts. This year we're at 75 percent so we didn't quite hit our target. Next year we're 60 to 65 percent hedged, and we'll have to make a decision whether we want to add to that position.
Q: With prices so high, can you keep hedging?
A: We have protection through 2009, but now that fuel prices have gone up the lower prices are not out there. We're not perfect with our hedging, but we have a superior competitive position, which is important, and we have enough hedge to give us a good chance of remaining profitable.
Q: Why does Southwest shun travel search engines like Kayak, Sidestep, and Yahoo FareChase? The search engines make hunting for a fare easy, but Southwest's absence means the searches are always incomplete.
A: We don't want to be dependent on intermediaries to distribute our product because we don't want to be captive and subject to their costs.
Q: But the search engines just refer customers to the airline websites. How does that hurt you?
A: If they had 70 percent of your business sometime in the future, what would the risk be then? The best way to avoid that future risk is to train our customers to come to Southwest.com. The bottom line is it's working; 70 percent of customers book on Southwest.com. This isn't on the list of customer complaints.
Q: Will Southwest ever put TV screens in its airline seatbacks?
A: We have no plans to do anything in terms of in-flight electronics. It is one of several things that we're continuing to think about and monitor, but there's no real energy behind that.
Q: Southwest flies into Manchester-Boston Regional Airport in New Hampshire and T. F. Green Airport in Warwick, R.I. Will you ever fly out of Boston?
A: You never say never, but we have no plans to serve Logan at this point. The smaller airports are just more efficient, more cost-effective for us.
© Copyright 2006 Globe Newspaper Company.
---------------------------------------------------
GARY C. KELLY CHIEF EXECUTIVE, SOUTHWEST AIRLINES | ON THE HOT SEAT
Southwest bucks industry trends
May 28, 2006
Gary C. Kelly, chief executive of Southwest Airlines, flew into Boston recently for meetings at Harvard and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, but he didn't use his own airline. That's because Southwest doesn't fly into Boston. But the next day he drove to Manchester, N.H., where he caught a Southwest flight back to Texas. Kelly, 51, spoke to Globe reporter Bruce Mohl.
Article Tools
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Business section |
Latest business news |
Globe front page |
Boston.com
Sign up for: Globe Headlines e-mail | Breaking News Alerts Q: Is the nation's airline industry shrinking?
A: If you look at the overall domestic market, the capacity is down probably 8 percent. That's first quarter. There was some surplus capacity that's been eliminated and, I think, wisely. The East Coast has suffered more than the rest of the country in terms of that glut of capacity. Granted, the consumer benefited, because it's supply-demand equalized at a price. The more seats you have the lower prices need to be to fill them.
Q: Is Southwest shrinking, too?
A: We're growing this year with 33 new aircraft. That's an average seat-mile increase of 8 percent, maybe a little less. Our competitors are stuck with airplanes they can't fill. Fortunately, we don't have that problem. Over the last 12 months we have more demand than we have airplanes. We're in a real nice sweet spot right now.
Q: One of the keys to Southwest's success has been its fuel hedging, something most airlines aren't doing. Are you guys smarter than everyone else in your business?
A: It's not that we necessarily know different techniques than anyone else. All it is is using the futures market to provide protection against higher prices. You see people referring to it as a bet. That's not what it was at all. It was insurance, much like you would have insurance for your home or insurance for your automobile.
Q: What made Southwest buy the insurance?
A: Who would deny that the single biggest risk item in our cost structure was fuel price volatility? All you had to do was look around the world and see all the tension that there was and realize there was a risk of fuel price increases.
Our objective is to have 80 percent protection in place for a year by the time the year starts. This year we're at 75 percent so we didn't quite hit our target. Next year we're 60 to 65 percent hedged, and we'll have to make a decision whether we want to add to that position.
Q: With prices so high, can you keep hedging?
A: We have protection through 2009, but now that fuel prices have gone up the lower prices are not out there. We're not perfect with our hedging, but we have a superior competitive position, which is important, and we have enough hedge to give us a good chance of remaining profitable.
Q: Why does Southwest shun travel search engines like Kayak, Sidestep, and Yahoo FareChase? The search engines make hunting for a fare easy, but Southwest's absence means the searches are always incomplete.
A: We don't want to be dependent on intermediaries to distribute our product because we don't want to be captive and subject to their costs.
Q: But the search engines just refer customers to the airline websites. How does that hurt you?
A: If they had 70 percent of your business sometime in the future, what would the risk be then? The best way to avoid that future risk is to train our customers to come to Southwest.com. The bottom line is it's working; 70 percent of customers book on Southwest.com. This isn't on the list of customer complaints.
Q: Will Southwest ever put TV screens in its airline seatbacks?
A: We have no plans to do anything in terms of in-flight electronics. It is one of several things that we're continuing to think about and monitor, but there's no real energy behind that.
Q: Southwest flies into Manchester-Boston Regional Airport in New Hampshire and T. F. Green Airport in Warwick, R.I. Will you ever fly out of Boston?
A: You never say never, but we have no plans to serve Logan at this point. The smaller airports are just more efficient, more cost-effective for us.
© Copyright 2006 Globe Newspaper Company.
Southwest CEO upbeat on plan
May 31, 2006
By TREBOR BANSTETTER
STAR-TELEGRAM STAFF WRITER
DALLAS -- The top official at Southwest Airlines is confident that the city of Dallas will offer a proposal next month to expand flights at Dallas Love Field and is hopeful that Fort Worth will sign on as well.
The cities are being driven to support change because of the possibility that Congress will exempt additional states from the Wright Amendment, said Gary Kelly, Southwest's chief executive.
"They are talking because they know that state after state will be trying to do the same thing," he said Monday after a charity event at Southwest's Dallas headquarters, adjacent to Love. "The leaders of Dallas have given me every indication that they will have a proposal in June."
For several months, the mayors of Dallas and Fort Worth have been meeting to negotiate a compromise on the Wright Amendment, which limits flights from Love to Texas and a handful of nearby states.
The Dallas City Council gave itself until June 15 to come up with a proposal. Fort Worth said it will have its own proposal by Aug. 1.
Southwest, which flies from Love rather than Dallas/Fort Worth Airport, has been fighting for 18 months to have the law repealed.
Today, Kelly is scheduled to speak on the issue at the annual meeting of the North Dallas Chamber of Commerce. That's the same place where he first declared his intention to seek the amendment's repeal, in November 2004.
Fort Worth-based American Airlines, which operates a major hub at D/FW, is opposed to any efforts to loosen the restrictions. That airline argues that expanding Love could weaken D/FW and hurt the local economy.
May 31, 2006
By TREBOR BANSTETTER
STAR-TELEGRAM STAFF WRITER
DALLAS -- The top official at Southwest Airlines is confident that the city of Dallas will offer a proposal next month to expand flights at Dallas Love Field and is hopeful that Fort Worth will sign on as well.
The cities are being driven to support change because of the possibility that Congress will exempt additional states from the Wright Amendment, said Gary Kelly, Southwest's chief executive.
"They are talking because they know that state after state will be trying to do the same thing," he said Monday after a charity event at Southwest's Dallas headquarters, adjacent to Love. "The leaders of Dallas have given me every indication that they will have a proposal in June."
For several months, the mayors of Dallas and Fort Worth have been meeting to negotiate a compromise on the Wright Amendment, which limits flights from Love to Texas and a handful of nearby states.
The Dallas City Council gave itself until June 15 to come up with a proposal. Fort Worth said it will have its own proposal by Aug. 1.
Southwest, which flies from Love rather than Dallas/Fort Worth Airport, has been fighting for 18 months to have the law repealed.
Today, Kelly is scheduled to speak on the issue at the annual meeting of the North Dallas Chamber of Commerce. That's the same place where he first declared his intention to seek the amendment's repeal, in November 2004.
Fort Worth-based American Airlines, which operates a major hub at D/FW, is opposed to any efforts to loosen the restrictions. That airline argues that expanding Love could weaken D/FW and hurt the local economy.
NewHampshire Black Bears
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(Yawn)........Let me know when the FEDS let WN fly DAL non-stop, to the following places;
ORD(area)....NYC(area).....DCA(area)......MIA(area).....LAX(area).....
OS(area) !!!!!!!!!
NH/BB's
ORD(area)....NYC(area).....DCA(area)......MIA(area).....LAX(area).....
OS(area) !!!!!!!!!
NH/BB's
(Yawn)........Let me know when the FEDS let WN fly DAL non-stop, to the following places;
ORD(area)....NYC(area).....DCA(area)......MIA(area).....LAX(area).....
OS(area) !!!!!!!!!
NH/BB's
[/quote
===========================================================
If WN does'nt "get it's own way" this time, with the FEDS, they will "take their ball, and Go Home" !!!!
(I mean they will "transplant" there HDQ from DAL to PHX)
NH/BB's
KCFlyer
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NHBB...if SWA were to ever move their headquarters, my guess would be Houston. Sure, it's not the biggest city in the system, but it has something that very few of the larger cities have...no state income tax. Moving to another state that has a state income tax is pretty much the equivalent of giving Dallas based employees a pay cut. Especially when the cost of living in PHX is higher than it is in either Dallas or Houston.
luver41
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Given the no state income logic, it seems like Orlando and Ft. Lauderdale or Tampa could also be in the running.
