It’s still dark in Seattle at 5:00 a.m. as passengers check in for early-morning departures. But one of Southwest Airlines’ most hardworking employees, about to begin a 14-hour workday, has already been waiting here at Sea-Tac Airport since the previous evening: the airplane itself. Tail number N446WN, a Boeing 737-700, arrived here last night from Sacramento. And Chicago. And Tampa. And Rochester, N.Y. And Orlando. (airchive.com) さらに...
Now that SWA is left with the same fares as the 3 legacy carriers, and often much higher - Why would any reasonable bussiness traveler chose them ? NO first upgrades, no lie flat awards, No Hawaii, No rest of the world. Vegas for the weekend - OK they win that...
Choice of transportation depend on a lot of things beside ticket price. Domestic only business, Southwest is a viable option. Throw in a trip to Asia 4 time a year, Europe twice. South or Central America every so often, then the International Majors come into play - BIG TIME!! And if your employer insist on lowest cost, ALWAYS, you may arrive in front of a multi-million dollar deal with blood-shot eyes, lack of thought process and a rumple suit that causes you to lose the deal. Balance that against the LCC model.
I have flown a few times on SWA one of them was into their HQ at Love Field on business (the people I met looked at me as I was an alien, SWA? you got to be kidding). Really they treat passengers almost as if they were cattle, but you get what you pay for.
How do you think they got their nick name "The Cattle Herder Airline"... They do not get many complaints, because most of them that fly with them do not know how to communicate in the first place. Look back at the TV Program a few years ago called "AIRLINE" - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airline_%28U.S._TV_series%29 Watch that program and it will tell all... I used to work for them in maintenance... They did not meet my standards, so I left the company... They ask for the impossible in maintenance and I feel it is only time before they have a big one, and a lot of people are going to pay the ultimate price... Just my prediction...
All the employees are not beaten by the company, they are beaten by peer pressure... That is why the captain took off with his cargo door open, why the captain put her nose wheel into her Electronics Compartment, In Midway with the flight misconfiguration for landing, ran off the end of the runway, through the airport parameter into a busy intersection killing someone. Maintenance is not any better... Note CRW emergency landing due to improper inspections had a fuselage panel to blow out because and an improper inspection... SWA is anything but superb. The list goes on...... and on.... and on..... I have been there and I left.
often much higher - Why would any reasonable bussiness traveler chose them ?
NO first upgrades, no lie flat awards, No Hawaii, No rest of the world.
Vegas for the weekend - OK they win that...