WN drops three stations

[WorldTraveler]

Branson, Key West, and Branson this time around.


http://finance.yahoo.com/news/southwest-airlines-cease-operations-three-183000209.html

As expected, they have no choice but to cut service in order to accommodate the new flying that will come to them.

This further validates that WN is not about serving a vast network but one that is heavily concentrated in a relatively small number of cities with heavy levels of service.

This announcement further validates that the low cost carriers are not the best choice for the slot awards if the interest is serving the maximum amount of the country possible.

 

[blue collar]

Seems to me this is the free market working, which is precisely what I thought you were an advocate for? Would you expect Ma DL to keep unprofitable routes?

 

[700UW]

Dont you know DL has no unprofitable routes and they rule the world?
 
In his over zealousness he posted Branson twice, so thats two cities, lol, the third is Jackson, MS.

 

[curious1]

I am curious to know if this is the first city that Southwest has closed (excluding Stapleton and Air Tran cities). I don't rememeber Southwest ever closing down their own city or laying off their own people before.  I know that they flew there because Trent Lott wanted them  and he was the all powerful speaker of the house.
 
I wonder if G4 or F9 can fill the void.

 

[Dont call me Shirley]

Not surprised about the AirTran cities, but JAN has been served for years.
 
 
http://aviationblog.dallasnews.com/2013/12/southwest-airlines-to-pull-out-of-three-cities-next-june.html/
 
Southwest Airlines plans to quit flying to Branson, Mo., Jackson, Miss., and Key West, Fla., on June 7, with the carrier said it can’t make money flying to those cities.
 
 

 

[AdAstraPerAspera]

BKG surprises me, F9 has been making bank there.

 

[WorldTraveler]

I believe WN flew to Beaumont, Texas.

Jackson is probably the most surprising.... it is a small market but it had political significance.

WN has no choice but to pull out of smaller cities to free up assets for their new flying opportunities including from LGA and DCA, DAL, and Latin America.


Of course legacy airlines have had unprofitable cities - but the irony is that the legacy carriers pared most of the underperforming parts of their network years ago and now WN is the one that is having to do it.

Perhaps UA will make some further cuts but other than merger synergies at AA/US, the chances of significant cuts among the network carriers is minimal at this point.

 

[does this plane go to paris]

WN flew into DET, Detroit City Airport while also flying into and out of DTW.  They dropped DET.  Same thing for IAH.  They flew into and out of both Houston Airports and dropped IAH permanetly. 
 
WT, you have actually been making some valid points lately but I have to disagree with remark about slots. 
 
A few years ago DL and US wanted to swap gates, the Fed's said no, unless you give up certian amount.  Now that AA and US are merging, why would DL think that they are deserving of what they had to give up in order to get the previous deal.  Did they think that everybody "forgot" about the previous deal. 
 
I know, I know, DL is great, blah, blah blah, but come on, put down the rose colored glasses, or should I say, widget colored glasses.
 
Back to the OT, I am not surprised by Branson and Key West, but was surprised by JAN.  JAN was opened in order to get the Shelby Amendment Signed against the WA. 

 

[WorldTraveler]

Dropping JAN shows how political WN is... they knew it was a small market, stayed there to achieve political purposes, but is now bailing out when they no longer need the political boost that JAN provided. Glad you recognize what they are doing.

where did I say that I expect DL to gain slots at LGA where it is already the largest carrier precisely because of the slot deal?

I have also said that I agree with DL's concerns that divesting all of the slots to LFCs has the potential to significantly reduce the amount of service to small cities. Even though I agree that the market should dictate the most efficient way for slots to be used, DCA is not just like every other city.

But if the markets should dictate how the slots should be used, then the full market should be allowed to participate in the bidding process.

You cannot argue that WN is a low fare carrier when their costs are 2% below DL's mainline CASM. With that kind of CASM difference, they cannot price below DL and their average fares show they do not other than to push their way into markets, and then when they have their share, the fares go back up.

They are a competitor with a smaller market share at DCA and LGA but they are not a low fare or low cost carrier.

BTW, thank you for your appreciation of my contributions to the forums.

You can see I don't say things everyone likes to hear...

 

[Kev3188]

I believe they also pulled out of SFO for some time before returning.
 
Add me to the "JAN is the one that's surprising" camp.
 
EYW surprises me too, I guess. I would think there's bank to be made there as well? Maybe not from the cities WN currently flies to, but...

JAN only had 4 flts./day?  I would've thought 8-12ish... 

 

[Eagle]

Mod note: Two duplicate threads merged at one OP's request.

 

[WorldTraveler]

It shouldn't be lost who is the dominant carrier at both JAN and EYW and who stands to gain the most by WN's departure.

WN WAS the dominant carrier at BKG which means that there will be a huge opening for likely smaller carriers to move in.

 

[USFlyer]

They are a competitor with a smaller market share at DCA and LGA but they are not a low fare or low cost carrier.

I'm confused.  In multiple other threads, you said AA-US are in dire trouble due to the influx of low cost carriers into DCA.  Now you're saying WN is not a LCC.  If so, why should AA-US be so worried if WN is really just another legacy carrier at this point?  (I'm not saying AA-US should be worried at all.  US has done quite well competing against WN in PHX and PHL.)

 

[lineguy43]

Branson, Key West, and Branson this time around.


http://finance.yahoo.com/news/southwest-airlines-cease-operations-three-183000209.html

As expected, they have no choice but to cut service in order to accommodate the new flying that will come to them.

This further validates that WN is not about serving a vast network but one that is heavily concentrated in a relatively small number of cities with heavy levels of service.

This announcement further validates that the low cost carriers are not the best choice for the slot awards if the interest is serving the maximum amount of the country possible.

 
Well you can count me among the SW haters.. I actually loved AirTran I missed NW/DL retirement flight bennies by one year after the NW strike so I used to buy my tickets on AirTran and upgrade prices were pretty damn reasonable in fact I flew them so much I usually had free upgrades. I have one now that is going to go to waste since SW pulled Airtran out of MEM. Not surprising the AirTran cities are being dismantled.. Now I am subjected to SW cattle car seating you can keep it. I have jumpseat privileges at FX but I have yet to use it. Now thanks to SW guess I will. 

 

[FWAAA]

You cannot argue that WN is a low fare carrier when their costs are 2% below DL's mainline CASM. With that kind of CASM difference, they cannot price below DL and their average fares show they do not other than to push their way into markets, and then when they have their share, the fares go back up.

Year to date, WN's CASM (ex-everything) was 7.88 cents.    DL's mainline CASM (ex-everything) for the first three quarters was 8.38 cents.   That's a full half-cent (6%) advantage for WN.   
 
Yes, in the most recent quarter, WN's cost advantage was just 2%, attributable mostly to DL's huge profit sharing accrual and its very large capacity seasonal capacity increases in the third quarter.   If profit sharing is not excluded for both WN and DL, WN had a 5% advantage over DL in the third quarter.   

No matter how you slice it,  WN has a cost advantage over DL.