Mason From United States of America, joined Jun 1999, 747 posts, RR: 1 Posted (12 years 12 months 3 days 16 hours ago) and read 1170 times:
OK-every time I have flown Southwest, the aircraft has been completly full-not one empty seat! I have probably been on 13+/- flights with them. If they don't have plans to add the 737-800/900, they should. I bet Southwest could operate 767s domestically, as still make a profit with 80% load factors! It would look funny to see the Southwest scheme in anything but a 737, though.
Trvlr From United States of America, joined Feb 2000, 4430 posts, RR: 24 Reply 1, posted (12 years 12 months 3 days 16 hours ago) and read 1006 times:
Getting bigger planes is not Southwest's strategy. If they want to increase capacity, they just add another frequency to the desired airport. Plus they save on all the servicing and training costs. And its also better for travelers
Oozabooza From , joined Dec 1969, posts, RR: Reply 2, posted (12 years 12 months 3 days 16 hours ago) and read 1002 times:
I think the fact that they fly the same type of aircraft is the secret to their success. Everybody who works the plane knows their job inside and out making the turn-arounds unusually fast. Rather than change type of aircraft, I would like to see them add more flights to their existing routes.
OPNLguy From , joined Dec 1969, posts, RR: Reply 3, posted (12 years 12 months 3 days 16 hours ago) and read 994 times:
I don't think you'll see -800s or -900s in SWA's fleet anytime soon, as they'd require a 4th F/A onboard. The -700 seems to be the best blend of performance, size, and cost.
The 767s would be too radical a departure from the SWA business model (increased costs of a 2nd aircraft type) and be about as likely to be acquired as Yak-40s. 767s would look pretty nice, I'd have to agree...
ContinentalEWR From United States of America, joined May 2000, 3762 posts, RR: 15 Reply 4, posted (12 years 12 months 3 days 16 hours ago) and read 991 times:
Southwest's strategy is built around a single fleet type. They could order the
737-800 or the 737-900 and I wouldn't be surprised if they do. With close to
300 737's in their fleet though, they could just add more flights where there
is demand. I don't think you will ever see a jet in Southwest colors other than
the 737.
Southwest did operate a few 727-200's in the early 70's when it was first
allowed to fly outside of Texas. The planes were, I believe, leased from
Braniff International.
Southwest operates the 737-200, 737-300, 737-500, and 737-700.
SWA737-500 From , joined Dec 1969, posts, RR: Reply 7, posted (12 years 12 months 3 days 9 hours ago) and read 888 times:
The 727s were leased for a very short time during the on-season when -300s were on order. They were leased for Braniff, and PeoplExpress. They also leased 737-200s.
They will never operate anything besides the 737. They will never order 737-600s or 737-900s, I can see a 20% chance of buying 737-800s, but chances are that they would have done so already.
Jet Setter From , joined Dec 1969, posts, RR: Reply 8, posted (12 years 12 months 3 days 8 hours ago) and read 883 times:
If Southwest ever moved to the 757/767 they would have to make a huge investment in infastructure to support these aircraft;
New engineering facilities
Training of Engineers, Pilots, Cabin Crews, Ground staff
New infastruture such as ground support equipment
Expensive modifications to gates that only handle 737s
Plus, the company would lose some economy of scale and some crewing flexibility etc
It seems that since SWA fly out of secondary airports, adding extra frequency is the way to go. I'd say the 737-800 could be needed in the future for high density flights into the likes of LAX and DAL where frequencies are already high and the airports fairly congested, but I don't really know enough about Southwest to make a judgement;
Rotate777 From United States of America, joined Apr 2000, 400 posts, RR: 0 Reply 9, posted (12 years 12 months 3 days 5 hours ago) and read 860 times:
If Southwest aquires larger aircrafts, then they won't be able to turn the aircraft around in 15 minutes like they are known for.
A 767 in Southwest colors? That would look kind of awkward. How about the A321 or 320/319 in Southwest colors? That would look interesting.
Matt D From United States of America, joined Nov 1999, 9502 posts, RR: 51 Reply 10, posted (12 years 12 months 3 days 5 hours ago) and read 857 times:
Is there any reason why WN wouldn't order the -600? It is, after all in the same size brackett (more or less) as the -500.
While I agree with the reasoning behind no -8's or -9's, can anyone show a good reason for not ordering -600's?
SWA737-500 From , joined Dec 1969, posts, RR: Reply 11, posted (12 years 12 months 3 days 3 hours ago) and read 847 times:
SWA launched the 737-5H4 with an order for 38 aircraft, but found them unsuitable for their high-density short-hop flights, so they sold 13 aircraft. Their current -500 fleet equals 25, with are mainly used on the longer west coast flights (e.g. flight 887, SEA-SLC-LAS-OAK is usually a -500). Since their original order in 1989, they have not ordered any more, and chances are that they will not order the -600.
American 767 From United States of America, joined May 1999, 3321 posts, RR: 14 Reply 12, posted (12 years 12 months 2 days 22 hours ago) and read 836 times:
Southwest is going to order 767's? Never! You know very well that Southwest is never going to buy anything but 737's. I don't even know if they will ever order other NG variants besides the 700. They might order 600's or 800's, or both, but that seems unlikely to happen. If they ever need a large aircraft, they would go for the 900, and for the moment they don't need those.
Oh by the way, do they still have 200's? I'm not sure. They may all be gone by now. Southwest has 300's, 500's and 700's definitely.
Ben Soriano
Brussels Belgium
"Aimer jusqu'a l'impossible, c'est possible". Tina Arena.
NWA Man From United States of America, joined Jun 1999, 1828 posts, RR: 13 Reply 13, posted (12 years 12 months 2 days 16 hours ago) and read 815 times:
Yes, WN still operates the 737-200. I flew on N93SW in February from MSY-IND-MDW.
Cody From United States of America, joined May 1999, 1918 posts, RR: 10 Reply 14, posted (12 years 12 months 2 days 16 hours ago) and read 810 times:
Besides the Southwest 727's, they also very briefly operated a leased Muse Air DC-9, although I don't believe it ever was painted in WN colors. If you count TranStar, they have flown MD-80's. Here's an interesting tid-bit, in the early 90's Southwest considerd the A320. They were so interested that Herb Keheller and other management officials actually made a trip to Toulouse. Oh what could have been.
Matt D From United States of America, joined Nov 1999, 9502 posts, RR: 51 Reply 16, posted (12 years 12 months 2 days 12 hours ago) and read 791 times:
So what's the problem? Why haven't they already ordered 50 of them?
SWA737-500 From , joined Dec 1969, posts, RR: Reply 17, posted (12 years 12 months 2 days 11 hours ago) and read 784 times:
Ummm, my last post? It was just a joke, you know how everyone is always complaining about how cramped their planes are? 1 inch... 2 extra rows of seats...
No, SWA will never order the -600. The -700s range is long enough and they need planes that carry more passengers. Remember, they still have -200s and -500s for the less dense routes.
RL757PVD From United States of America, joined Dec 1999, 4537 posts, RR: 13 Reply 18, posted (12 years 12 months 2 days 6 hours ago) and read 757 times:
IF (key word) SW ever decides to buy bigger i would here is what i would say would be the conditions:
Select Cities
BWI,PVD,RDU,MCO,ISP east
HOU,MSY.MDW, MCI,STL, mid
PHX,LAS,LAX,OAK west
These would be equipt to handle them with gates, coung crew etc.
Flight attendants would be 4, so it would just be double the norm rather than 3 or 5.
possible Intl Destination?
BWI-LHR?
BWI-ORY?
PVD-LHR?
MCO-LHR?
MCI-LHR?
PHX-LHR?
My airfraft guess would be B 762 or 763 in adecent quantity, like 25-50.these would also be used on 1 stop high density 1 stop transcons. RDU-BNA-LAX, PVD-MCI-LAX, BWI-STL-OAK etc.
Like i said though IF being the key word and this certainly wouldnt be anytime soon but maybe perhaps in the neighborhood of 2010 when SW is ready for the next step.
Experience is what you get when what you thought would work out didn't!
Mason From United States of America, joined Jun 1999, 747 posts, RR: 1 Reply 19, posted (12 years 11 months 3 weeks 5 days 14 hours ago) and read 727 times:
There can only be so many aircraft in the air at the same time, so eventually, WN will need larger aircraft. I think they should serve HNL, their -700s are definitely up to it! Plus it would drive down the high prices to Hawaii. What do you think?
Ilyushin96M From United States of America, joined Sep 1999, 2609 posts, RR: 14 Reply 20, posted (12 years 11 months 3 weeks 5 days 13 hours ago) and read 723 times:
What is the max capacity a/c WN would operate? I have no doubt they will eventually switch to an all-737NG fleet, given their history with the 737 series. It also seems likely they would operate larger-capacity 737 models, though never anything so large as a 767! As for WN to Honolulu...sounds great. They'd certainly offer the cheapest fare to and from!
Trvlr From United States of America, joined Feb 2000, 4430 posts, RR: 24 Reply 21, posted (12 years 11 months 3 weeks 5 days 12 hours ago) and read 702 times:
From what it looks like, WN may have to order some 737-800s and even -900s if the California airports start to restrict hourly flights to certain destinations in favor of less, higher capacity flight.
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