OT: WN ANNOUNCES NEXT CITY

[boxer]

Since I'm not titanium elite on United, and just end up riding in coach anyway, what extras does my money buy me over SWA?

For starters: Assigned Seating, free headsets for movies and, best of all,
channel 9. Ch 9 will help you sleep on long hauls.

 

[whlinder]

Seriously, if I had to travel to LAX from MCI - I would go for the non stop as well. I am glad you prefer non-stop travel vs point to point to point. For MCI-lax your answer is SWA if you don't mind the ride.

MCI-LAX your answer should be YX unless you:

1. are a WN stockholder
2. are WN companion pass holder
3. find YX fares for the flight you want to be much higher than WN.
4. You don't like First class seating and yummy cookies and prefer coach seats.

 

[FWAAA]

And you can ALWAYS use the full value of your ticket if your itinerary changes. Sure wish the legacies would do this...

Which is why I sometimes book advance purchase tickets on WN without a worry that the trip may be cancelled or postponed. No Change Fees are a welcome change from the typical legacy fare rules.

 

[UALDC767]

There's a big difference between high wage and high labor costs. WN is in the first group (high wage) and UA is in the second group (high labor cost). The difference results from the amount of output per employee, and WN seems to squeeze more out of every employee hour than any other airline.

Yes, everyone knows that WN pilots are the highest paid in the majors. IIRC, they make more per hour than all except for AA's 777 captains. Their hourly rate exceeds all UA pilots.

Ted is simply a low-amenity carrier, not a low-cost carrier. Same high-costs.

I realize that there is a difference in employee productivity (and not all because of union contracts- managment has to manage/schedule better) between UAL and SWA.

But since UAL also has larger aircraft that require more employees to service the aircraft from Pilots to F/A's etc....


But compare apples to apples......TED to SWA

DC

 

[KCFlyer]

For starters: Assigned Seating, free headsets for movies and, best of all,
channel 9. Ch 9 will help you sleep on long hauls.

I bring my own music and a book for entertainment, regardless of whether they are showing "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" or not.

But compare apples to apples......TED to SWA

I'd love to, except it's really tough to get the costs on TED since they don't break them out.

 

[mga707]

MCI-LAX your answer should be YX unless you:

4. You don't like First class seating and yummy cookies and prefer coach seats.

Aren't YX' s MCI-LAX flights operated by MD-80s, not 717s?
If so, then they are configured in a standard two-class (FC and coach) configuration.

 

[KCFlyer]

Aren't YX' s MCI-LAX flights operated by MD-80s, not 717s?
If so, then they are configured in a standard two-class (FC and coach) configuration.

IT's not F and Coach...it's 3/2 seating in an MD80.

 

[Dave]

You Southwest people kill me. Look, if you're looking for a cheap fare somewhere last minute and don't mind spending the whole day getting there, then Southwest is your airline. But if you travel frequently, especially to international destinations, and you want to travel in comfort, then Southwest just doesn't cut it.

I flew a premium service flight today, JFK to SFO. And as usual, both first and business classes were full. I stepped back into the cabin during the flight and saw quite a few people stretched out on their sleeper seats catching some zzz's. Others were busy plugging away on their laptops, a couple were watching videos on our personal dvd players, Senator Bill Bradley was reading the sports section: all looked very comfortable. Sorry guys, but you're just not going to find the same scene on a Southwest flight.

I don't mean to knock you all, but you're comparing apples and oranges. Sure, there will always be a need for low cost, no frills operators, heck, that's why we have Ted. But our bread and butter is the frequent business traveler who wants to travel and show up rested. Rumor is, PC has done so well, we're going to expand it to Dulles and possibly Boston.

As the economy continues to improve, I believe you'll see more and more people willing to pay a little extra to receive a little extra.
We shall see.

So with that in mind, all I can say is: Welcome to Dulles.

 

[KCFlyer]

You Southwest people kill me. Look, if you're looking for a cheap fare somewhere last minute and don't mind spending the whole day getting there, then Southwest is your airline. But if you travel frequently, especially to international destinations, and you want to travel in comfort, then Southwest just doesn't cut it.

You apparently haven't flown Southwest much...the days of the 3+ stops are long gone. It's all pretty much nonstop or one stop. If I need to travel international, I'm not looking at Southwest...as far as comfort...for the average coach class passenger (the bulk of any airliners clients), Southwest offers better legroom. I fail to see how a movie, or Channel 9 or free headphones allows me to arrive any more "rested".

I flew a premium service flight today, JFK to SFO. And as usual, both first and business classes were full. I stepped back into the cabin during the flight and saw quite a few people stretched out on their sleeper seats catching some zzz's. Others were busy plugging away on their laptops, a couple were watching videos on our personal dvd players, Senator Bill Bradley was reading the sports section: all looked very comfortable. Sorry guys, but you're just not going to find the same scene on a Southwest flight.

Neither will you find an F class cabin occupied by a guy lazing in his sleeper seat who paid the 21 day advance purchase fare and utilized his upgrade privleges. But you will find guys plugging away on laptops and poring over documents.

But our bread and butter is the frequent business traveler who wants to travel and show up rested. Rumor is, PC has done so well, we're going to expand it to Dulles and possibly Boston.

Hate to break it to you, but Southwest's bread and butter is ALSO the frequent business traveller. Most airlnes that cater primarily to the leisure traveller have not faired that well...and I hate to point this out, but most of the legacies seem intent on capturing that ever so important "leisure" market.

As the economy continues to improve, I believe you'll see more and more people willing to pay a little extra to receive a little extra.
We shall see.

I don't. Not unless you so drastically change your operating model to insure that those who actually do "pay a little extra" are the ones who receive a little extra. Right now, it's far to common to see those who paid a lot less take advantage of tha little extra. And worse...someone who paid a lot MORE get a regular coach seat.

 

[whlinder]

I checked YX's website before I posted that, they have MCI-LAX as 717 Signature Service.

MKE-LAX is the MD-80 with 2x3 standard coach seats (but still with cookies!)

 

[jbguppy]

You apparently haven't flown Southwest much...the days of the 3+ stops are long gone. It's all pretty much nonstop or one stop. If I need to travel international, I'm not looking at Southwest...as far as comfort...for the average coach class passenger (the bulk of any airliners clients), Southwest offers better legroom. I fail to see how a movie, or Channel 9 or free headphones allows me to arrive any more "rested".

Neither will you find an F class cabin occupied by a guy lazing in his sleeper seat who paid the 21 day advance purchase fare and utilized his upgrade privleges. But you will find guys plugging away on laptops and poring over documents.

Hate to break it to you, but Southwest's bread and butter is ALSO the frequent business traveller. Most airlnes that cater primarily to the leisure traveller have not faired that well...and I hate to point this out, but most of the legacies seem intent on capturing that ever so important "leisure" market.

I don't. Not unless you so drastically change your operating model to insure that those who actually do "pay a little extra" are the ones who receive a little extra. Right now, it's far to common to see those who paid a lot less take advantage of tha little extra. And worse...someone who paid a lot MORE get a regular coach seat.

swa'S BREAD AND BUTTER is the business traveler??

Yeah, the one whose business is to ask his brother for 50 bucks for a weekend in vegas....


Good One!!!

JBG

 

[KCFlyer]

swa'S BREAD AND BUTTER is the business traveler??

Yeah, the one whose business is to ask his brother for 50 bucks for a weekend in vegas....
Good One!!!

JBG

That attitude is what got UAL into bankruptcy in the first place. One good principal of business...do one thing very well and succeed. Do a half assed job of 10 things, or in the case of airlines, try to be everything to everybody, and lose your ass.

 

[jbguppy]

That attitude is what got UAL into bankruptcy in the first place. One good principal of business...do one thing very well and succeed. Do a half assed job of 10 things, or in the case of airlines, try to be everything to everybody, and lose your ass.

So what is it, is SWA a liesure no cost no frill carrier, or are they trying to be everything to everyone??

Tell me oh great business mind...

JBG

 

[WorldTraveler]

well, well, well.

The real competition I predicted before Indy's demise would arrive at IAD is now here and the UA employees can only resort now to belitting their competition as insignificant. And then they have the arrogance to tell their customers that they WILL pay more to fly on UA.

The reason why WN will do well in IAD is because fares are so high that passengers will either flock to WN or UA will have to match dollar for dollar and watch the revenues flow as fast as the jet fuel out of the storage tanks at ORD on a Friday afternoon. And the economy will not stay at the top of the cycle it is at now forever. And when we hit the bottom of the cycle, the highest cost producers like UA will be in a world of hurt.

Virgin America will be flying out of SFO within a year so we now have all of UA's cities covered.

I have just revised my prediction for UA's next bankruptcy filing.... it will now happen by 2009, two years earlier than my previous prediction.

 

[UnitedChicago]

WT - you are a litte little man

keep telling yourself delta is going to transform into the best airline this earth has ever scene. the tops of every survey, feared and admired in the industry and innovative. yep, look out everyone, here comes delta

hey WT - i'm making a bold prediction here. ready? you have a small peter