Air Travel

Question:

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -> > Southwest Airlines Consolidates Northern California Flights > >       SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 22 /PRNewswire/ — Southwest Airlines (NYSE: > > LUV) announced today that it will cease flight operations at San > > Francisco International Airport on March 5, 2001 and will relocate most > > of its San Francisco operations to Oakland, San Jose, and Sacramento on > > that date.  Southwest’s San Francisco departures will continue to > > operate as presently scheduled through March 4, 2001.  Ticketed > > passengers, passengers holding  reservations, or passengers desiring to > > make reservations for flights to or from San Francisco International > > Airport have no need to alter their plans involving travel prior to > > March 4, 2001.  Southwest will start contacting those passengers who are > > currently holding reservations into/out of San Francisco for the > > timeperiod of March 5, 2001 through June 8, 2001, in order to assist > > them in reaccommodating their air travel needs. > Wow…  Isn’t that the second time UA has run them out of an airport. > DEN. > Now SFO.  Hmmm.  Look out East coast.  A dogfight is about to begin. > Rich+ > If you honestly believe that UA ran WN out of SFO, you are VERY naive.

Care to explain the statement where WN admitted that WN had been suffering sever losses at SFO?  Certainly delays aren’t going to contribute to financial losses if everybody else has the same delays.  How about UA’s sheer presence and Shuttle service. Rich

Response:

An excuse. Matthew – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – > Care to explain the statement where WN admitted that WN had been suffering > sever losses at SFO?

Response:

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -> > > Southwest Airlines Consolidates Northern California Flights > > >       SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 22 /PRNewswire/ — Southwest Airlines (NYSE: > > > LUV) announced today that it will cease flight operations at San > > > Francisco International Airport on March 5, 2001 and will relocate > most > > > of its San Francisco operations to Oakland, San Jose, and Sacramento > on > > > that date.  Southwest’s San Francisco departures will continue to > > > operate as presently scheduled through March 4, 2001.  Ticketed > > > passengers, passengers holding  reservations, or passengers desiring > to > > > make reservations for flights to or from San Francisco International > > > Airport have no need to alter their plans involving travel prior to > > > March 4, 2001.  Southwest will start contacting those passengers who > are > > > currently holding reservations into/out of San Francisco for the > > > timeperiod of March 5, 2001 through June 8, 2001, in order to assist > > > them in reaccommodating their air travel needs. > > Wow…  Isn’t that the second time UA has run them out of an airport. > DEN. > > Now SFO.  Hmmm.  Look out East coast.  A dogfight is about to begin. > > Rich+ > If you honestly believe that UA ran WN out of SFO, you are VERY naive. > Care to explain the statement where WN admitted that WN had been suffering > sever losses at SFO?  Certainly delays aren’t going to contribute to > financial losses if everybody else has the same delays.  How about UA’s > sheer presence and Shuttle service. > Rich

I’ll defer to Vitaly’s very cogent response.  He hit the nail on the head.

Response:

>Wow…  Isn’t that the second time UA has run them out of an airport.  DEN. >Now SFO.  Hmmm.  Look out East coast.  A dogfight is about to begin.

  I doubt UA “ran them out” given that they only had 14 flights to a   grand total of 2 destinations to begin with.  SFO was always the odd   man out in WN’s network.  UA and WN divided up intra-California   flights nicely, with UA hubbing at SFO and WN at OAK and SJC.  There   is some overlap on LAX-SJC and LAX-OAK, but WN is doing just fine on   these routes in spite of UA.  Also, if I recall correctly, WN   abandoned DEN when DEN was CO’s hub and not UA’s (I may be wrong   about this).   In general, it seems that there is no airline in existence (yet?)   that is capable of running WN out of an airport.  By any economic   metric – from growth to profitability – WN is so far ahead of the   pack, it’s almost as if it operates all alone in a separate   industry.  No wonder their market cap is equal to AA, UA, and DL   combined.

Response:

- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – > Southwest Airlines Consolidates Northern California Flights >       SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 22 /PRNewswire/ — Southwest Airlines (NYSE: > LUV) announced today that it will cease flight operations at San > Francisco International Airport on March 5, 2001 and will relocate most > of its San Francisco operations to Oakland, San Jose, and Sacramento on > that date.  Southwest’s San Francisco departures will continue to > operate as presently scheduled through March 4, 2001.  Ticketed > passengers, passengers holding  reservations, or passengers desiring to > make reservations for flights to or from San Francisco International > Airport have no need to alter their plans involving travel prior to > March 4, 2001.  Southwest will start contacting those passengers who are > currently holding reservations into/out of San Francisco for the > timeperiod of March 5, 2001 through June 8, 2001, in order to assist > them in reaccommodating their air travel needs.

Wow…  Isn’t that the second time UA has run them out of an airport.  DEN. Now SFO.  Hmmm.  Look out East coast.  A dogfight is about to begin. Rich+

Response:

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -> Southwest Airlines Consolidates Northern California Flights >       SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 22 /PRNewswire/ — Southwest Airlines (NYSE: > LUV) announced today that it will cease flight operations at San > Francisco International Airport on March 5, 2001 and will relocate most > of its San Francisco operations to Oakland, San Jose, and Sacramento on > that date.  Southwest’s San Francisco departures will continue to > operate as presently scheduled through March 4, 2001.  Ticketed > passengers, passengers holding  reservations, or passengers desiring to > make reservations for flights to or from San Francisco International > Airport have no need to alter their plans involving travel prior to > March 4, 2001.  Southwest will start contacting those passengers who are > currently holding reservations into/out of San Francisco for the > timeperiod of March 5, 2001 through June 8, 2001, in order to assist > them in reaccommodating their air travel needs. > Wow…  Isn’t that the second time UA has run them out of an airport. DEN. > Now SFO.  Hmmm.  Look out East coast.  A dogfight is about to begin. > Rich+

If you honestly believe that UA ran WN out of SFO, you are VERY naive.

Response:

I don’t know if it was really a case of UA running them out, SFO was always seen as an anomaly for Uncle Herb.  Congested, delay-prone, 45 minutes from 2 other airports also served by them, SFO’s minor position was underscored by the fact that they only had 14 (out of something like 2,700) daily departures, to 2 destinations.  Air Canada, for example, has 14 daily departures to 3 destinations.  If this ‘dogfight,’ however, leads to WN fighting the combined UA/US in a relatively-uncongested PHL (or, even better, in the empty TTN), then I’m all for it. Matthew – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – > Wow…  Isn’t that the second time UA has run them out of an airport.  DEN. > Now SFO.  Hmmm.  Look out East coast.  A dogfight is about to begin.

Response:

Southwest Airlines Consolidates Northern California Flights       SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 22 /PRNewswire/ — Southwest Airlines (NYSE: LUV) announced today that it will cease flight operations at San Francisco International Airport on March 5, 2001 and will relocate most of its San Francisco operations to Oakland, San Jose, and Sacramento on that date.  Southwest’s San Francisco departures will continue to operate as presently scheduled through March 4, 2001.  Ticketed passengers, passengers holding  reservations, or passengers desiring to make reservations for flights to or from San Francisco International Airport have no need to alter their plans involving travel prior to March 4, 2001.  Southwest will start contacting those passengers who are currently holding reservations into/out of San Francisco for the timeperiod of March 5, 2001 through June 8, 2001, in order to assist them in reaccommodating their air travel needs. Southwest currently has 14 departures per day from San Francisco International Airport and, beginning March 5, 2001, eight of those will be shifted to Oakland International Airport and two to Sacramento International Airport.  Orange County, Salt Lake City, and Las Vegas will also each receive one additional daily departure as a result of Southwest’s cessation of San Francisco International Airport service. Herbert D. Kelleher, chairman of Southwest, stated:  "We are discontinuing service to San Francisco International Airport on March 5, 2001 for compelling business reasons.  Our relatively small (14 out of 2700 daily flights) San Francisco International Airport operation has not been profitable for a considerable period of time; operation into and out of that airport produces a disproportionate number of flight delays rippling across our system; and the aircraft capacity devoted to San Francisco service is needed to satisfy passenger demand, primarily at our other rapidly growing California airports." "Although we are discontinuing service at San Francisco International Airport on March 5, 2001, we hope to accommodate many of our San Francisco Customers and friends at Oakland and San Jose, our two outstanding, alternative Bay Area airports," Kelleher said.  "While we do, indeed, regret that San Francisco International Airport will no longer be a part of Southwest’s operations, we rejoice in the fact that we can still provide service to the wonderful people and City of San Francisco through both Oakland and San Jose." Kelleher also stated that all of Southwest’s SFO Employees have performed superbly and are being guaranteed jobs elsewhere on the Southwest system, with the opportunity to remain in the Bay Area if they so desire. In its 30-year history, Southwest Airlines has only discontinued operations at three other airports:  Detroit City Airport in 1993; Denver’s Stapleton International Airport in 1986; and Beaumont/Port Arthur in 1980. SOURCE  Southwest Airlines

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