What's the allure of Southwest Airlines?

[Fingolfin269]

Southwest is the best thing to ever happen for the consumer and this holds true if you are flying some other airline. The industry pricing is set based on Southwest's fares so as long as they stay cheap the other carriers will be cheaper than they would be otherwise.

 

[shopbruin]

if it's cheap, i like it. i usually only fly from LAX to SJC, and they're the cheapest since i plan well in advance. i will forgo assigned seats and food that is no longer served on flights for convenience - checking in online, special line for those already checked in online to check baggage, etc.

 

[anxi80]

southwest is testing out assigned seating from flights out of san diego. from what i hear its actually going pretty well.

 

[SpanishFry]

i fly SWA because they're on time and haven't screwed up yet, while American, Delta, and Continental all have.

 

[Vic]

I love SWA. Cheap fares, friendly service, on-time flights, and the best long-term safety record of any US carrier. No frills? Who cares? A commercial passenger airplane IS a bus with wings. SWA has been successful because they're the only airline that's actually figured that out.

 

[AgentEL]

What allure?

 

[Hammer]

it used to be that SWA was crappy compared to the big airlines, but since all of the have become no-frills there's not really a difference any more in coach unless you want assigned seating. SWA is just cheaper.

 

[Dunbar]

I prefer Southwest for short trips like LA-PHX, LA-OAK etc. They have lots of flights to choose from and reasonable fully refundable fares for business travel. I get to change my flights at will with no fees and/or go standby on an earlier flight with little competition (standby is only permissible on full fare tickets.) I check-in online 24 hours before departure and get an A boarding pass. I wait until the A line empties out and than stroll onto the plane and pick whatever seat I want (there's not much difference in seats on an all coach plane.) So yeah, I don't know why people criticize Southwest so much, they are one of the best run airlines and have friendly employees.

 

[Dunbar]

dp

 

[Biggerhammer]

SWA sounds like EasyJet of America. I'm not flying for the chance at gourmet food or comfy seating, I'm flying to get from point A to point B with a minimum of expense, time, and hassle.

 

[MikeyIs4Dcats]

I usually fly SWA. They planes are clean and well-kept and the staff friendly. They also have nice snacks. The only airline I have flown that surpassed them in quality was AeroMexico. THEY (Aeromexico) are AWESOME.

 

[Kelvrick]

I fly southwest because they're cheap, I've had no problems with them (no rude staff).

If JetBlue can also get me there though, I'll go with them instead.

 

[chowderhead]

Originally posted by: iamwiz82
Airtran bought up Valujet, for what it's worth.

ATA and AirTrans are two different companies though Valujet bought and renamed themselves AirTrans because of the bad press from the Valujet plane crash.
ATA is based out of Midway and flies to Hawaii, Mexico, etc. Southwest bought a share of ATA and now codeshares with them. The biggest plus for people is that you can redeem the Southwest points for vouchers to fly to Hawaii since ATA flies to Hawaii.

Basically, the allure of Southwest is that they preceived to be cheap (relatively), almost always on time (flying into/out of secondary less-congested airports) and has many flights.

 

[spacejamz]

is this another attempt to bash a profitable company??? seems like any company that makes money is ostracized for one reason or another nowadays...

 

[daveshel]

How much could seat assignments really cost them? I mean, they have to know who is flying anyway.

 

[Metron]

[Rant & Thread Hijack]
In Dallas, Southwest still scares the hell out of American Airlines... to the extent that the Wright Amendment is still in force to protect American's dominant position at D/FW airport. The Wright amendment is an interesting little law from the 70's designed to "protect" American and then fledgling D/FW airport from competition. American has been paying Jack Abramoff lobbyist clones to ensure that the local city councils and the state congressional representatives keep the measure alive ever since.

For those of you who never fly through Dallas, Southwest cannot make direct flights from Love Field in Dallas to any other state except New Mexico, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana, and Missouri. If you want to fly out of this region, you have to first fly to Houston (or stop over in one of these states). You are further unable to reserve "through tickets," meaning you have to book 2 separate flights on your own.

It's an insane, outdated, antiquated law... and it really needs to die. It's funny how we talk about Free Trade and the Market Economy, unless we're talking about Drug Companies or Airlines.
[/Rant & Thread Hijack]

 

[Pantoot]

Originally posted by: daveshel
How much could seat assignments really cost them? I mean, they have to know who is flying anyway.

I don't think it was a matter of cost, but rather turning the plane around much more quickly.

 

[Adul]

Originally posted by: iamwiz82
Airtran bought up Valujet, for what it's worth.

I prefer legacies to the LCCs. I don't like SW. JetBlue may have been good, but I cannot forsee them surviving for a long time. Take a look at their historic stock chart. Their planes are getting older, they didn't plan for fuel prices properly.

I don't know why you think SWA wont be around for long. They been around since 1971 and if I remember correctly was the only airline to make money still afer 9/11. Not to mention they have one type of plane to maintain and buy parts for which help a lot with costs.

 

[iamwiz82]

Originally posted by: Adul

Originally posted by: iamwiz82
Airtran bought up Valujet, for what it's worth.

I prefer legacies to the LCCs. I don't like SW. JetBlue may have been good, but I cannot forsee them surviving for a long time. Take a look at their historic stock chart. Their planes are getting older, they didn't plan for fuel prices properly.

I don't know why you think SWA wont be around for long. They been around since 1971 and if I remember correctly was the only airline to make money still afer 9/11. Not to mention they have one type of plane to maintain and buy parts for which help a lot with costs.

I said JetBlue, not SW.