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Southwest to buy AirTran Airways

parody

By parody,
in Cruise Air

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TPKeller Excellent Advice! Rare

TPKeller

Posted
Posted
It's a bit of a leap to assume the Airtran cities and routes will be kept intact. In any buy-out there are employees (unfortunately), assets, policies, etc. that duplicate or conflict with the goals of the acquring company. Southwest has a longstanding "domesitic only" business development policy. Since AirTran's international routes are a very minor part of the combined routes, I wouldn't be surprised if Southwest phases them out.

 

The opposite could also be true...Southwest wants to expand their cruise/leisure market and the Caribbean routes are a key element.

In an interview today, the president essentially said that Air Tran will lead Southwest into their previously planned expansion toward International Service. It will take time, but I think and hope that eventually we cruisers will be able to take advantage of good stiff fare competition to San Juan.

 

Theron

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SelectSys

SelectSys

Posted
Posted
...

Biggest news for cruise passengers: Air Tran currently serves San Juan!

 

Theron

 

Read on another site that AA is reducing service in San Juan. It would really be something if WN used San Juan to make a big push into the Caribbean. I would doubt, but maybe I'm wrong, that they would even have to invest in an ETOPS program.

 

...

If you enjoy a flying bus ... then WN (i.e. Southwest) is a good thing....

 

Compared to what? The legacy carriers on board experience in coach is no better than WN and frequently worse. Add in free luggage and WN is often times the "premium" carrier.

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TPKeller Excellent Advice! Rare

TPKeller

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Read on another site that AA is reducing service in San Juan. It would really be something if WN used San Juan to make a big push into the Caribbean. I would doubt, but maybe I'm wrong, that they would even have to invest in an ETOPS program.

I found a great circle mapper that also does ETOPS calculations. The one sample I played with showed that a 757 flying from JFK to SJU would need to alter course to stay within an ETOPS-60 flight path, but that it is also a fairly easy course to make. I believe below 60 minutes, you don't need the ETOPS certification. Southwest flies 737s, but I couldn't find the Engine-Out speed for those.

 

It's an interesting web site.

 

Theron

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FlaGrl4Evr

FlaGrl4Evr

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Afraid this is NOT good news for those of us who loved Air Tran. I'll be flying them in December (thank goodness BEFORE the merger), but won't book any other flights with them.

 

If you enjoy a flying bus ... then WN (i.e. Southwest) is a good thing. It was a cattle car back when I used to fly them in the early 1990's and remains that way to this day despite "improvements" in their boarding process.

 

I have actually paid a bit more in the past to fly Air Tran because their checked baggage costs were less. But even with free luggage, WN has been a lot higher in the markets I fly.

 

It will be interesting to see how this all shakes out. So far, most of the mergers in the airline industry have been disasterous with a continued reduction of service to the passenger. Of course ... the fares are lower so the almighty buck is still driving things.

 

 

I totally agree with you. I fly several times per year from Indy to Tampa. AT and SW offer the best rates and non-stop flts. I will always pay a little more to fly AT. ONLY when I need to meet a certain schedule will I use SW. The main reason is the "cattle-call" boarding process. Folks can be just down right rude. I will pay the extra $10 each way to get in the A line but there will always be those who find a way to beat the system. On my last flight there was a large group who had two or three folks up in Group A who boarded first and then saved seats with backpacks and personal items for the rest of the group that was in later boarding groups. If SW wants to continue to charge extra to get on the plane first and get a seat, fine, but they need to enforce a no-seat-saving-policy.

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TPKeller Excellent Advice! Rare

TPKeller

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If SW wants to continue to charge extra to get on the plane first and get a seat, fine, but they need to enforce a no-seat-saving-policy.

:) It would probably work just about as well as the cruise lines "no pool chair saving" policy!

 

Theron

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hubofhockey

hubofhockey

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Heard a business report this morning that said this was all about NY, Boston, and Atlanta for SW.

 

From Chicago Sun Times:

 

Southwest has long profited from leisure travelers but stands to gain significantly in the business market. With AirTran, Southwest would gain more landing slots at both New York's LaGuardia Airport and Boston's Logan International. Those two airports service large numbers of business travelers from Chicago, but Southwest has had only limited access to both for the past year. And in one fell swoop, the low-fare giant would become a huge player at Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson International, where AirTran has a major hub.

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libertylover

libertylover

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The merger will be good for the Richmond market BUT my concern is that I was saving my 2 free flights I got from Airtran from being bumped on my last flight home from a cruise to use next April to go to San Juan for my cruise on the Serenade. I'm curious if my tickets will be honored by the new entity. Any thoughts?

 

I'm also not crazy about not having a seat assignment (especially since my free tix were business class seats!!)

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YXU AC*SE

YXU AC*SE

Posted
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I'm curious if my tickets will be honored by the new entity. Any thoughts?

 

 

You'll be fine:

 

 

Completion of the transaction, which will require both regulatory and shareholder approvals, is expected to close by the first half of 2011. Commercial and operating integration is slated to culminate in 2012, with both carriers operating under Southwest Airlines' Federal Aviation Administration operating certificate in Dallas.

 

Scott.

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Globaliser

Globaliser

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Now, 38 more cities are added to their network.
The news reports stress the addition of markets to be served by Southwest, but don't mention the likelihood that at least a few markets, especially smaller ones, will be dropped altogether, as often happens with such mergers.
One notable casualty: Dallas Fort Worth. It appears that WN is subject to an agreement not to fly to DFW.
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Sargent_Schultz

Sargent_Schultz

Posted
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The merger will be good for the Richmond market BUT my concern is that I was saving my 2 free flights I got from Airtran from being bumped on my last flight home from a cruise to use next April to go to San Juan for my cruise on the Serenade. I'm curious if my tickets will be honored by the new entity. Any thoughts?

 

I'm also not crazy about not having a seat assignment (especially since my free tix were business class seats!!)

 

I think they would honor them. 2012 should be the year changes are noticeable.

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jpg1747

jpg1747

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I'm not happy about this. I like AirTran. I don't like Southwest. I have tickets on AirTran for November and December. Does anyone know when the closing will be and when the changeover in service takes effect? This will definitely affect my willingness to be bumped from either of my flights. I used to look forward to being bumped for the free flights. Not any more.

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scottbee

scottbee

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Some here seem to think that AirTran will become a carbon copy of Southwest. Don't some of you think Southwest will adopt some of the amenities of AirTran that have been popular with customers?

 

FL/Airtran will become nothing more than a distant memory.

 

WN/Southwest will become a larger airline, operating multiple aircraft types 717s and 737s; and serving international destinations.

 

What's been missed out of all of this is that WN finally admitted they've been seriously held back by their booking infrastructure, which didn't really permit them to code-share etc etc.

 

I suspect one thing you will see with WN's new operation and their new booking infrastructure, is that in that in a few years, there will be paid assigned seating (in addition to 'scamble seats')

 

 

Note:

SW and AT (Air Namibia & Royal Air Maroc) are not involved in any agreements to purchase each other. If you're going to use two letter codes for airlines, please use the right ones. WN - Southwest; FL - Airtran

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