Timmmberrrrrr.......

[KCFlyer]

Herb's "battle crys" and employees showing up at HQ in grease paint and camoflage..., enough of the folksy "oh golly gee, we're just trying to make a livin' like everyone else" line. SWA is a fierce competitor who aims for destruction of the competition. It is a lesson learned early on against BN and AA. No need to be embarassed of who you are.

I don't think anybody said that SWA isn't a fierce competitor. They started out that way when THEY were the underdog. They had TWO airlines trying to keep them out of the skies when they had but 3 aircraft in the entire fleet. They won. They had Ed Beauvais whining on 60 minutes that Southwest was trying to put America West out of business. Don't look now, but America West could also pose a threat to USAirways.

It's called "adapt or die". So far, U management has focused solely on cost cutting as a way to survive. As SWAFA30 pointed out, it IS possible to coexist with Southwest in your hub. America West has performed a pretty decent turnaround at one of Southwest's largest cities. The only thing is, your managment needs to decide what they can do to differentiate their product. America West and Alaska have adapted by restructuring fares. It seems to be working for them. Airtran is doing pretty well with a fairly priced coach seat AND fairly priced "business class" seat. You got the Art at ISP's who would fly U over anybody else - imagine how many more you'd get if you priced your cabin fairly and offered something to differentiate your product - a reasonably priced first class seat - offered at a slight discount if booked in advance to encourage folks to BUY that seat instead of buying a loss leader fare and waiting and hoping to upgrade to it at no charge.

Perhaps you all should take a page from Southwest's playbook. Why don't YOUR HQ employees dress up in grease paint and camoflage? Why doesn't YOUR management do something other than beat their own troops into submission, making the job of the "invaders" that much easier?

 

[Boeingguy]

Go to your local library and find the April issue of the "Harvard Business Review" and read the article on page 62 "Hardball: Five Killer Strategies for Trouncing the Competition" ....Southwest is mentioned as an example several times in the interesting article.

Southwest saw a market and is going after IT, not USAirways. If SWA didn't come into PHL it was going to be jetBlue or some other LCC. SWA wants U to survive so the gates stay tied up keeping out much expansion by other LCCs or a stronger "legacy" airline in PHL, just as SWA wanted TWA to stay in business in STL.

 

[Busdrvr]

"Go to your local library and find the April issue of the "Harvard Business Review" and read the article on page 62 "Hardball: Five Killer Strategies for Trouncing the Competition" ....Southwest is mentioned as an example several times in the interesting article."

While you're there, check out the Nov 2003 (I think) addition for a great article on appropriate cost accounting methods for employee stock options..... Using that methodology, Q1 would have been a loser

 

[Boeingguy]

>>>While you're there, check out the Nov 2003 (I think) addition for a great article on appropriate cost accounting methods for employee stock options..... Using that methodology, Q1 would have been a loser<<<<

One of the points of the April article is that succesful companies push boundaries and know how to do it and where the edge is.

Your point is VERY debatable and no one really knows just how exactly to value stock options, but was some law broken or was this just one writer's personal opinion? The WSJ has the opposite opinion as far as stock options to labor (not the scams at the executive level that some companies have). In any case and the bottom line is, they worked very well for most of the SWA pilots plus giving another sense of employee ownership which adds a very high degree of employee incentive.

 

[KCFlyer]

While you're there, check out the Nov 2003 (I think) addition for a great article on appropriate cost accounting methods for employee stock options..... Using that methodology, Q1 would have been a loser

You sound almost happy about that, Bussie.

 

[answerman]

"While you're there, check out the Nov 2003 (I think) addition for a great article on appropriate cost accounting methods for employee stock options..... Using that methodology, Q1 would have been a loser"

Busdrvr,

And without the governments help you would be out of a job.

Be careful about the water you choose to tread in.

 

[NewHampshire Black Bears]

You sound almost happy about that, Bussie.

KCF,
You and I KNOW AA does'nt do ANYTHING, without a "motive".

I'm not sure if "this" means anything, but AA leased/sold/gave up the PHL gates to WN.

?????????????

NH/BB's

 

[Busdrvr]

"While you're there, check out the Nov 2003 (I think) addition for a great article on appropriate cost accounting methods for employee stock options..... Using that methodology, Q1 would have been a loser"

Busdrvr,

And without the governments help you would be out of a job.

Be careful about the water you choose to tread in.

Ya think?!! Please explain. I don't think you have a clue what you are talking about.

 

[WNrforlife]

I seriously question whether WNrforlife (who's post appears to have been deleted) is even an employee at all. I know several LUV employees. And not a single one of them is "thrilled" to "kill" another airline. I think WNrforlife's mission is to stir the pot AGAINST Southwest airlines and their employees. Just my opinion

KC - that's quite a vivid imagination you have there. Have you always felt that there are people out to get you. When the voices in your head speak, what do they say?

I'm not here to stir the pot against anyone, I was just trying to help the USAir employees face reality. The sooner they do, the sooner that they can get new jobs and get on with their lives. To stick their heads in the sand and hope for the best is kind of pathetic.

 

[Fly]

WN>....what a pompous response!! :down:

 

[swflyer]

:down: As a SWA employee, I would like to state for the record that WNforLife's post IN NO WAY reflects my feeling on this matter. :down:

 

[Segue]

Business is like war after all....so what wrong with the war analogy? Its not a zero sum game anyway. When WN enters a market, overall traffic is stimulated by the lower price points. The industry grows rather than contracts.

Its sad to see a legacy carrier struggle, but if its no longer able to compete in a new environment, in the long run its best for all to allow the new leaders take its place.

 

[firstamendment]

KC - that's quite a vivid imagination you have there. Have you always felt that there are people out to get you. When the voices in your head speak, what do they say?

I'm not here to stir the pot against anyone, I was just trying to help the USAir employees face reality. The sooner they do, the sooner that they can get new jobs and get on with their lives. To stick their heads in the sand and hope for the best is kind of pathetic.

WN,

We here at US Airways are painfullyaware of where our company is and are aware of the "REALITIES" . We do not need others reminding us, much less "stirring the pot", thank you very much.

I take it you work for Southwest? What do you do? The reason I ask is that for many of us (f/a's and pilots), our jobs are a lifestyle and a lifestyle that only other f/a's and pilots could possibly understand. In the case of the US f/a's, almost all of us are now on A scale, or the highest level of wages. All of us sacrifice the first 5 years of our careers, making $20,000-$25,000 a year until year 6. Most of us came to this job for fun, variety, a love for travel, flight benefits and schedule flexibility. Also, when you step off that airplane, your day is done. While a schedule could change on you at the last minute, rarely do they. On a layover, we are delivered to our hotels and the next day delivered back to the airport. I may be having breakfast in LA on day one, dinner in NYC on day two, and brunch in Seattle on day 3. WOW!! It gets old at times, but it really is a pretty good gig.

To tell people they need to get on with their lives is not as simple as saying somehow "get over at." I, like many others, are indeed doing what I can to prepare for the worst, but for many, like myself, I would prefer to keep my lifestyle if at all possible. I don't see that as having my head in the sand in any way.

May I suggest that if you are going to discuss "failing" airline, that you be more sensitive, and that you do a little research on the airline industry. While your beloved airline is doing very well now , that has been the case for many airlines of the past now only a memory. It's a crazy industry.

 

[Winglet]

The problem is that SW and JB can't provide the comprehensive air service that American's expect. They're cherry pickers. With the SW and JB model, America wouldn't have intercontinental service, service to smaller cities. Point to point won't work everywhere, no will one type of aircraft. Sort of like what's happening in some medium size cities with hospitals. Greedy doctors are coming in and setting up same-day surgery clinicsand imaging centers and referring their well-heeled and insured patients to themselves, thus by-passing the non-profit hospitals. This denys the hospital a traditional profit center that's used to make up for all the other areas that are money losers, uninsured patients, mediaid patients, emergency room services, flight-for-life, etc. But the profiteering doctors could care less. They cherry pick the patients and procedures in their own surgery centers. BUT, when a surgery goes sour, guess where the endangered patient get transferred in an ambulance a big hurry??? That's right . . . to the hospital that the docs were screwing in the first place.

The national air transportation system can be left to pure free market forces and the likes of a JB and SW, but in the end, you won't like what you get.

 

[Bear96]

Greedy doctors are coming in and setting up same-day surgery clinicsand imaging centers and referring their well-heeled and insured patients to themselves, thus by-passing the non-profit hospitals. This denys the hospital a traditional profit center that's used to make up for all the other areas that are money losers, uninsured patients, mediaid patients, emergency room services, flight-for-life, etc.

Why should "well-heeled and insured patients" subsidize the rest of the world? Maybe that's why health insurance costs are going through the roof.

Sounds like the real responsibility for this problem should be pinned on the government to provide adequate health care for ALL. Point your finger to those who are against that concept, instead of at "greedy doctors."

If I had to go through the ordeal that is medical school and go tens (if not hundreds) of thousands of dollars into debt to get my MD, I sure would want a decent return on that.