WN drops three stations

[WNMECH]

You can sift thru the thread and count the number of posts back that something was said if you want but I believe it was YOU who brought up the whole notion of layoffs in an attempt to try to argue that WN has done a better job of protecting its people.

I have never disputed that... you seem to have this need to defend WN against a charge I have never leveled.

I also have never challenged that WN employees wouldn't be given the opportunity to transfer, just as other airlines have done... but we all know that there are a certain number of people at any company - airline or not - that will not accept a transfer because they have reasons to stay where they live, current job or not.
 

 
 
So does that mean you agree that WNs history of NEVER having laid off anyone, is much superior to the rest of the airline industry?
You cant even say it can you.
 
 
You have claimed that "every airline has very similar policies" and "WN employees are getting exactly the same deal that any other airline has given its employees.".
 You claim that "DL people just like those at other airlines have had the opportunity to bid on existing positions in RIF situations".  But if there are no openings, people have lost their jobs, right? These are called LAYOFFS.
Through out the history of airlines, many people have been laid off without the opportunity to move and keep their jobs.
But SWA has always created positions for these affected employees. They have always kept people employed if they wanted to move. 
For you to say "there is nothing holier about what WN" has done in these situations, shows you do not recognize the truly exceptional way SWA has always treated their people.
You can twist your comments and throw around some numbers but you are truly blind if you think Delta or any other airline has treated their people with as much respect and loyalty as SWA has for us.
 
I did not "attempt to try to argue that WN has done a better job of protecting its people". I have proven it.
SWA proves it everyday to me and my co-workers.

 

[Kev3188]

Slightly OT, but reading any thread on this board has become somewhat repetitive.  Every thread ends up in basically the same place -- DL is great, every other carrier is in serious trouble, everyone but 1-2 people are wrong or misinformed, and DL has the greatest network and the most competitive advantages.  I'm just going to start putting that at the end of all my posts to stipulate to that (even if I don't necessarily agree with it) so we can perhaps talk about something else.

 
Truth.
 
Actually, given that they all end the same way, it technically is on topic. 
 
...Or they all wind up off topic. Either or...

 

[WorldTraveler]

wnmech,
I absolutely acknowledge and have never said otherwise that WN has been able to accommodate its displaced employees into existing stations. Nor have I said that other carriers have always been able to do the same.

I have said that WN is now shutting multiple stations at the same time and requiring employees to move, something that WN has never done before.

I'm sure you and others struggle every day with admitting that this isn't Herb's Southwest anymore, but it isn't.

Nor does WN provide the value compared to every other airline it once did.

If WN was truly the low fare leader, they wouldn't be shutting down 18 stations in as many months while legacy carriers remain in those cities with mainline jets.

I'm glad you have had a great career with WN and are loyal to them and far be it from me to take that away from you.

My point was and remains that WN is now in the pósiton of multiple station closings per year, regardless of whether those employees all choose to move or not. It is well established at other airlines (the ones that have had to close stations and tell people to move) that there are employees who will not move if doing so is required to retain their job. There will be people who will lose their job as WN employees because of these station closings regardless of whether WN could have accommodated them elsewhere or not.

 

[eolesen]

So now the qualifier is "three years after the merger"....

Then AA didn't close its STL hub as a result of the merger. It did so as a result of decreasing economic viability...

And germane to this discussion, the FL merger closed in May 2011. These changes are going into effect in June 2014...

Seems to me that's more than three years after the merger, no?...

 

[WorldTraveler]

you can sift thru what has been posted, but did I say that these 3 cities are being closed as a result of the FL/WN merger or as a result of WN's higher costs?

 

[swamt]

I have said that WN is now shutting multiple stations at the same time and requiring employees to move, something that WN has never done before.
 

 
Wanna bet???

 

[Kev3188]

So now the qualifier is "three years after the merger"....

Then AA didn't close its STL hub as a result of the merger. It did so as a result of decreasing economic viability...

And germane to this discussion, the FL merger closed in May 2011. These changes are going into effect in June 2014...

Seems to me that's more than three years after the merger, no?...

 
 
 

 

[WorldTraveler]

Wanna bet???

please let me know when WN has closed multiple stations at the same time before the FL merger. Apparently I missed it.

 

[eolesen]

Here you go, Skippy.

http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/travel/news/2003-11-05-swa-closings_x.htm

Oh, I can predict the future. WT will say..... Closing a res center isn't the same as an airport....

Bzzzt. Wrong. All the res employees affected were union represented, so all the same issues exist **except** for the impact on customers.

 

[700UW]

Southwest prides itself on never laying off employees, even as other carriers slashed tens of thousands of jobs after the September 2001 terror attacks. Company officials said that perfect record will not be broken even if many of the reservations agents lose their jobs.
 

 

[WorldTraveler]

I'm just waiting for someone to tell me when WN closed multiple stations at the same time.

 

[swamt]

please let me know when WN has closed multiple stations at the same time before the FL merger. Apparently I missed it.

You see WT this is exactly why you have so many confrontations from so many different people.  When your confronted about an issue you raise you simply post back throwing a one word change or difference which changes the entire final content of what you posted---  Just throwing that out there...
 
SWA has done numerous stations at the same time, however, in the past, you would usually see increased announcements where they will be adding service to.  Now let's see, everyone put there little thinking caps on;  SWA cannot get enough airplanes from Boeing, and or the used market for what is about to come to light 2014-2016.  With SWA winning the bid (or as you want to look at it, nego behind closed doors with the DOJ and AA/US)  and apparently doing a fine job of it, getting 22 of the 34 slots being divested by AA.  W/A goes by-by Oct 14, international flts start in 14, more international flts will start in 2015 from Houston.  100%  synergies will be coming in from the AT purchases.  Simply put SWA needs A/C and fast.  Pretty sure SWA will get some of the other slots soon to be divested and awarded by DOJ.  And now it looks like SWA wants even more gates at DAL, here's the article for your pleasure reading:--
 
 

Southwest Airlines wants American Airlines’ two gates at Love Field
 
 
WASHINGTON — To keep its merger with US Airways alive, American Airlines has to give up its lonely gates at Dallas Love Field, gates that it leases from the city of Dallas but doesn’t currently use.
Southwest, already the dominant carrier operating out of Love Field, has an idea of which airline would be the best one to take over those two gates — itself.
“What I am saying is that Southwest will be able to do more with those two gates than another airline (new to the airport) would be able to,” said Ron Ricks, executive vice president and chief legal officer.
He said airlines typically run about six flights a day out of a single gate, though that varies from airport to airport, he said. That means that whichever carrier gets access to the gates will be able to add about 12 — maybe 14 or 16 — new daily flights, he said.
Southwest, he said, would be able to beat the average and operate 16 or more flights, since it already has so many flights coming in and out of the airport.
that means that if the government wants to introduce meaningful competition to the new American, which will be the largest airline in the world after the merger, the choice for the new gates ought to be Southwest.
“The biggest competitive impact would be seen if Southwest is allowed to operate out of those gates,” he said. “Another airline (new to Love Field) would come in and add a few flights — that would be, economically, just a drop in the bucket.”
Of course, other airlines have made other arguments. Delta, which currently subleases the two gates from Southwest, has said it would like to take over the lease on a permanent basis.
The requirement that the new airline give up two gates at a handful of the nation’s top airports is designed to introduce more competition for the new American, which will be the largest airline in the world.
Ricks argued that An airline that puts new service in at Dallas Love at just one or two new gates would have a hard time creating significant economic pressure on American, something that a stronger Southwest would be able to do.
That’s largely the argument US Airways and American used in pushing the DOJ to approve the merger, that only by creating a stronger, more profitable new American could there be real pressure to bear on industry leaders Delta and United.
Still, it’s far from clear whether given Southwest an even more dominant position at Dallas Love Field would drive prices down on flights by American, something that antitrust experts say is needed now that so many of the major airlines have already consolidated.
And even just 12 more flights from a new carrier at Love could exert significant competitive prices on a handful of particular routes, especially if they were on routes that are currently only or mostly served by American or Southwest.
How the Justice Department will look at the issue isn’t yet clear. But Ricks said there’s another argument — a “more parochial” one that isn’t likely to mean much to the DOJ. Southwest is one of the top employers and top taxpayers in the city of Dallas, which owns the airport. A stronger Southwest will mean more in the long run than adding another carrier to the airport.
“A stronger Southwest will mean a lot more to the city of Dallas, in terms of jobs and paying taxes here, than a new airline that just comes in and adds a few flights and pays a little bit of rent,” he said.

 

[swamt]

I'm just waiting for someone to tell me when WN closed multiple stations at the same time.

And even if they haven't, who cares.  It is fact SWA has never had a lay-off, or rif by an involuntary method, period.  And it hurts you that you cannot say the same for your beloved Delta...

 

[eolesen]

Widget Thesaurus strikes again... and so predictably.

 

[Kev3188]

Right?
 
"Centers"
"Stations"
"Facilities"
"Asterisks"