Aliqiout wrote:

WaywardMemphian wrote:

MavyWavyATR wrote:

A few things I'd like to see WN implement in the future:

- Allow passengers to select their seats ahead of time like most of the competition.
- Implement a fee for checked bags on their "Wanna Get Away" fare; 1st one would remain free on "Wanna Get Away Plus" fares.
- Develop a premium/business cabin product to better compete with the legacies on corporate heavy routes.
- Install AC power in addition to USB.

Southwest was doing just fine the way it is before the last meltdown. None of that besides the USB ports is really needed.

I think you are right, although I dislike having to show up early and line up to to ensure a window seat, most don't seem to mind. What would help though would be comprehensive world wide partnerships. This is the main reason I avoid WN when there are other reasonable options. I have no interest in using frequent flyer miles to fly to Tulsa, and "status" on WN doesn't give me anything much that I care about.

What happens with connecting flights and those with priority boarding? If your inbound arrives after your connecting flight has started boarding does that mean you might be relegated to a middle seat on that flight ?

mcdu wrote:

Aliqiout wrote:

WaywardMemphian wrote:

Southwest was doing just fine the way it is before the last meltdown. None of that besides the USB ports is really needed.

I think you are right, although I dislike having to show up early and line up to to ensure a window seat, most don't seem to mind. What would help though would be comprehensive world wide partnerships. This is the main reason I avoid WN when there are other reasonable options. I have no interest in using frequent flyer miles to fly to Tulsa, and "status" on WN doesn't give me anything much that I care about.

What happens with connecting flights and those with priority boarding? If your inbound arrives after your connecting flight has started boarding does that mean you might be relegated to a middle seat on that flight ?

Been there.. you just live with it. Hopefully you aren't flying to Hawaii.

Agree with the earlier comment though besides USB really the only thing I want to see Southwest do is get an international partner. Everything else is fine.

Aliqiout wrote:

WaywardMemphian wrote:

MavyWavyATR wrote:

A few things I'd like to see WN implement in the future:

- Allow passengers to select their seats ahead of time like most of the competition.
- Implement a fee for checked bags on their "Wanna Get Away" fare; 1st one would remain free on "Wanna Get Away Plus" fares.
- Develop a premium/business cabin product to better compete with the legacies on corporate heavy routes.
- Install AC power in addition to USB.

Southwest was doing just fine the way it is before the last meltdown. None of that besides the USB ports is really needed.

I think you are right, although I dislike having to show up early and line up to to ensure a window seat, most don't seem to mind. What would help though would be comprehensive world wide partnerships. This is the main reason I avoid WN when there are other reasonable options. I have no interest in using frequent flyer miles to fly to Tulsa, and "status" on WN doesn't give me anything much that I care about.

Funny you mention Tulsa. I fly WN out of there, LOL.

79 buck sales to DEN on the reg to go rafting, hiking, beer drinking is fine with me and mine. And....those liberal checked bags allows me to bring home some suds.

BMWdrvr75 wrote:

Looking forward to the first meltdown of 2023 this week! There are serious weather conditions in Dallas…looks like Pickle Ball at the palace might be affected as well, which is much more upsetting than anything…

You must be disappointed.

cledaybuck wrote:

BMWdrvr75 wrote:

Looking forward to the first meltdown of 2023 this week! There are serious weather conditions in Dallas…looks like Pickle Ball at the palace might be affected as well, which is much more upsetting than anything…

You must be disappointed.

More disappointed my pickle ball practice was cancelled because of the ice…Meltdowns are a dime a dozen at Southwest. Now I am not able to get on that damn court for a few more weeks…btw don’t miss the basketball court at all. Pickle ball is more inclusive.

Jshank83 wrote:

mcdu wrote:

Aliqiout wrote:

I think you are right, although I dislike having to show up early and line up to to ensure a window seat, most don't seem to mind. What would help though would be comprehensive world wide partnerships. This is the main reason I avoid WN when there are other reasonable options. I have no interest in using frequent flyer miles to fly to Tulsa, and "status" on WN doesn't give me anything much that I care about.

What happens with connecting flights and those with priority boarding? If your inbound arrives after your connecting flight has started boarding does that mean you might be relegated to a middle seat on that flight ?

Been there.. you just live with it. Hopefully you aren't flying to Hawaii.

Agree with the earlier comment though besides USB really the only thing I want to see Southwest do is get an international partner. Everything else is fine.

I guess I just don't get the USB/power drama. A 10K MaH power brick is like $20 on Amazon. I always have one in my carry on. It would keep me powered through an 8 hour flight. The money you save on one checked bag more than pays for it.

I just flew out from MBJ. I noticed the above wing employees were wearing legit WN uniforms. Are MBJ employee real WN employees or are they outsourced to an outside bidder?

mcdu wrote:

Aliqiout wrote:

WaywardMemphian wrote:

Southwest was doing just fine the way it is before the last meltdown. None of that besides the USB ports is really needed.

I think you are right, although I dislike having to show up early and line up to to ensure a window seat, most don't seem to mind. What would help though would be comprehensive world wide partnerships. This is the main reason I avoid WN when there are other reasonable options. I have no interest in using frequent flyer miles to fly to Tulsa, and "status" on WN doesn't give me anything much that I care about.

What happens with connecting flights and those with priority boarding? If your inbound arrives after your connecting flight has started boarding does that mean you might be relegated to a middle seat on that flight ?

On WN? You are stuck in the middle, which is my biggest problem with them.

WaywardMemphian wrote:

Aliqiout wrote:

WaywardMemphian wrote:

Southwest was doing just fine the way it is before the last meltdown. None of that besides the USB ports is really needed.

I think you are right, although I dislike having to show up early and line up to to ensure a window seat, most don't seem to mind. What would help though would be comprehensive world wide partnerships. This is the main reason I avoid WN when there are other reasonable options. I have no interest in using frequent flyer miles to fly to Tulsa, and "status" on WN doesn't give me anything much that I care about.

Funny you mention Tulsa. I fly WN out of there, LOL.

79 buck sales to DEN on the reg to go rafting, hiking, beer drinking is fine with me and mine. And....those liberal checked bags allows me to bring home some suds.

Ahh, my solution to that is to live somewhere I can do those things...No disrespect to Tulsa,.just not on the top of my list for a family vacation. I very very rarely check a bag, and when I do I always seem to have a free checked bag allowance (the big 3 still allow a free checked bag on Intercontinental tickets, and credit cards, first class and any kind of status get you free checked bags too. AS gives you free checked bags just for being an Alaska resident...

Chemist wrote:

Jshank83 wrote:

mcdu wrote:

What happens with connecting flights and those with priority boarding? If your inbound arrives after your connecting flight has started boarding does that mean you might be relegated to a middle seat on that flight ?

Been there.. you just live with it. Hopefully you aren't flying to Hawaii.

Agree with the earlier comment though besides USB really the only thing I want to see Southwest do is get an international partner. Everything else is fine.

I guess I just don't get the USB/power drama. A 10K MaH power brick is like $20 on Amazon. I always have one in my carry on. It would keep me powered through an 8 hour flight. The money you save on one checked bag more than pays for it.

I bring batteries with me as well. I just think it’s a nice thing to have, especially with the longer flights like Hawaii. Not everyone brings batteries or flies Southwest (or in general) often enough to have use of buying a battery pack. It is much higher up my list than changing bag, seat, boarding rules.

I noticed that WN has cancelled the RON aircraft to PWM and MHT for tonight, presumably because of the cold temperatures. Is this a new thing for WN for forecasted -10F temperatures?

LotsaRunway wrote:

I noticed that WN has cancelled the RON aircraft to PWM and MHT for tonight, presumably because of the cold temperatures. Is this a new thing for WN for forecasted -10F temperatures?

I doubt it's so much about the air temperatures, but rather the hazardous work environment for employees in the early morning hours -- wind chills are projected to be -40 to -50 (you can pick your scale, they're equivalent at -40).

LotsaRunway wrote:

I noticed that WN has cancelled the RON aircraft to PWM and MHT for tonight, presumably because of the cold temperatures. Is this a new thing for WN for forecasted -10F temperatures?

further South at BDL and normally a bit milder PVD, early AM flights are also scrubbed. Cruise passengers will be scrambling.

ScottB wrote:

LotsaRunway wrote:

I noticed that WN has cancelled the RON aircraft to PWM and MHT for tonight, presumably because of the cold temperatures. Is this a new thing for WN for forecasted -10F temperatures?

I doubt it's so much about the air temperatures, but rather the hazardous work environment for employees in the early morning hours -- wind chills are projected to be -40 to -50 (you can pick your scale, they're equivalent at -40).

In addition to PVD, RONs to BOS and BDL are scrubbed too. They were just cancelled much later. It seems that WN is the only airline canceling for hazardous work environment. Personally, I agree with protecting your workers from the cold, but I’m also not booked on one of the cancelled flights.

Southwest when i worked in MKE had no RON's on a couple or few occasions when temps hit like PWM, BOS, etc. i recall a 630am turn was canceled and turns would not start until around the 0900 hour or so.
I do remember i want to say the day after Christmas in 2008 there was a wicked ice storm when i was working at MDW. The Ramp, Taxi Ways, Runways, streets, sidewalks, employee parking lots, you name it were like Hockey rinks.
Air Tran, Frontier, Delta scrapped operations until it gave the city time to remove the ice from the taxi ways, runways, etc.
So who were the only idiots working originators and early turns ?
Southwest of course. When pushed out the originator to SFO out of B8 which requires an S turn my pushback jackknifed .
A short while later an LAX originator slid off the taxiway into the grass as it was getting near the runway.
2 buses took the passengers back to the Terminal. The then Assistant Station Manager a real gem who of course was at home finally realized that the ice created hazardous conditions.

MavyWavyATR wrote:

A few things I'd like to see WN implement in the future:

- Allow passengers to select their seats ahead of time like most of the competition.
- Implement a fee for checked bags on their "Wanna Get Away" fare; 1st one would remain free on "Wanna Get Away Plus" fares.
- Develop a premium/business cabin product to better compete with the legacies on corporate heavy routes.
- Install AC power in addition to USB.

What I would like to see
- Allow passengers to select their seats ahead of time like most of the competition.

Still fly WN considerably, however I've started flying others in addition to WN due to pretty much everyone having seat back power and ability to pre select and reserve seat location.

Looking forward to the addition of USB in the seatbacks. Would have preferred AC, but USB is better than nothing I guess. Less fumbling around trying to hook into a power bank that may not be fully charged and you arrive at the airport with pretty much a full battery and don't have to look for airport charging. Finding operable charging stations at airports is still quite the task.

Courtesy: Newsmax

Southwest Airlines to Testify at Senate Hearing After Meltdown

"The hearing titled "Strengthening Airline Operations and Consumer Protections" will also include Southwest Airlines Pilots Association President Captain Casey Murray, Sharon Pinkerton, a senior official with Airlines for America, an industry group, and Paul Hudson, who heads Flyers' Rights, a passenger advocacy organization."

https://www.newsmax.com/finance/streettalk/sw/2023/02/03/id/1107264/

https://www.commerce.senate.gov/2023/2/ ... ve-session

Link to watch the live session is available at the bottom. Bob Jordan should be present to testify, but is not.

bretonrlong wrote:

MavyWavyATR wrote:

A few things I'd like to see WN implement in the future:

- Allow passengers to select their seats ahead of time like most of the competition.
- Implement a fee for checked bags on their "Wanna Get Away" fare; 1st one would remain free on "Wanna Get Away Plus" fares.
- Develop a premium/business cabin product to better compete with the legacies on corporate heavy routes.
- Install AC power in addition to USB.

What I would like to see
- Allow passengers to select their seats ahead of time like most of the competition.

Still fly WN considerably, however I've started flying others in addition to WN due to pretty much everyone having seat back power and ability to pre select and reserve seat location.

Looking forward to the addition of USB in the seatbacks. Would have preferred AC, but USB is better than nothing I guess. Less fumbling around trying to hook into a power bank that may not be fully charged and you arrive at the airport with pretty much a full battery and don't have to look for airport charging. Finding operable charging stations at airports is still quite the task.

As a personal policy I do not use public USB ports. Juice jacking, as it's called, is a cybersecurity risk. I use AC outlets only in public, so these new USB ports will be useless to me and I will continue to use a power bank inflight on WN. Even the FCC cautions against using public USB ports: https://www.fcc.gov/juice-jacking-dange ... g-stations

Norton also cautions against it. Here's another article from Lonely Planet singing the same tune: https://www.lonelyplanet.com/news/smart ... c-usb-port

Western727 wrote:

bretonrlong wrote:

MavyWavyATR wrote:

A few things I'd like to see WN implement in the future:

- Allow passengers to select their seats ahead of time like most of the competition.
- Implement a fee for checked bags on their "Wanna Get Away" fare; 1st one would remain free on "Wanna Get Away Plus" fares.
- Develop a premium/business cabin product to better compete with the legacies on corporate heavy routes.
- Install AC power in addition to USB.

What I would like to see
- Allow passengers to select their seats ahead of time like most of the competition.

Still fly WN considerably, however I've started flying others in addition to WN due to pretty much everyone having seat back power and ability to pre select and reserve seat location.

Looking forward to the addition of USB in the seatbacks. Would have preferred AC, but USB is better than nothing I guess. Less fumbling around trying to hook into a power bank that may not be fully charged and you arrive at the airport with pretty much a full battery and don't have to look for airport charging. Finding operable charging stations at airports is still quite the task.

As a personal policy I do not use public USB ports. Juice jacking, as it's called, is a cybersecurity risk. I use AC outlets only in public, so these new USB ports will be useless to me and I will continue to use a power bank inflight on WN. Even the FCC cautions against using public USB ports: https://www.fcc.gov/juice-jacking-dange ... g-stations

Norton also cautions against it. Here's another article from Lonely Planet singing the same tune: https://www.lonelyplanet.com/news/smart ... c-usb-port

There are "USB condoms" aka datablockers you can plug in to those or use a charging only cable that does not pass data.

FlyingSicilian wrote:

Western727 wrote:

bretonrlong wrote:

What I would like to see
- Allow passengers to select their seats ahead of time like most of the competition.

Still fly WN considerably, however I've started flying others in addition to WN due to pretty much everyone having seat back power and ability to pre select and reserve seat location.

Looking forward to the addition of USB in the seatbacks. Would have preferred AC, but USB is better than nothing I guess. Less fumbling around trying to hook into a power bank that may not be fully charged and you arrive at the airport with pretty much a full battery and don't have to look for airport charging. Finding operable charging stations at airports is still quite the task.

As a personal policy I do not use public USB ports. Juice jacking, as it's called, is a cybersecurity risk. I use AC outlets only in public, so these new USB ports will be useless to me and I will continue to use a power bank inflight on WN. Even the FCC cautions against using public USB ports: https://www.fcc.gov/juice-jacking-dange ... g-stations

Norton also cautions against it. Here's another article from Lonely Planet singing the same tune: https://www.lonelyplanet.com/news/smart ... c-usb-port

There are "USB condoms" aka datablockers you can plug in to those or use a charging only cable that does not pass data.

Good to know, I'll check both of these out. Thank you, FlyingSicilian.

I ask this question not wanting to go down the rabbit hole of XXX-XXX specific routes.

Talking more in general, what do you think we will see from the Southwest schedule extension Thursday. The last one had a pretty good jump in flights. Do you think we see another jump or just moving routes around for time of year? More pre covid routes coming back? Frequency increases?

Okcflyer wrote:

Jshank83 wrote:

eraugrad02 wrote:

I'm sorry to bring this back up but I still think SW will order the Max10. There are a number of cities that can fill up this model 737 to one of their hubs/focus cities. I think they'd put 220 seats in the plane. What say you guys?

Goodday,

P. S. Would someone photos hop a 737- Max10 in SW color scheme please? Thanks.

It’s not that much longer is it?

It’s 14’ longer. That’s quite a stretch.

They’ll need an extra lavatory. That’s 3 seats gone.

5 rows new if they keep same comfort level. With the seat loss for lav, that puts them at 202 seats. Probably doesn’t make sense for an extra FA for 2 seats, so either 199 or 200 seats.

The MAX 9*/10 will end up at Southwest at some point.(* MAX 9 w/ MAX 10 landing gear, if offered by Boeing) I dont think either will exceed 200 seats. I think the excess space on the MAX 10 would be filled with an additional lav and a closet for the F/As. I honestly don't think the MAX 9 would get an extra lav if it could be avoided. The problem with the MAX 10 is its length I think. 5% of WN's domestic gates cannot accommodate a 738/7M8. A greater number of the 738/7M8 gates are maxed out as far as the size of aircraft without a rework of the gate areas. So it will leave WN with a conundrum on picking a 200-seater 737.

MavyWavyATR wrote:

A few things I'd like to see WN implement in the future:

- Allow passengers to select their seats ahead of time like most of the competition.
- Implement a fee for checked bags on their "Wanna Get Away" fare; 1st one would remain free on "Wanna Get Away Plus" fares.
- Develop a premium/business cabin product to better compete with the legacies on corporate heavy routes.
- Install AC power in addition to USB.

I agree with all. Biz cabin could be as simple as what FL did. Two bags fly free has run its course. At a minimum, it should be reduced to one free bag. If you want a 2nd you should have to pay for it. Charging for a 2nd bag has many benefits. Firstly an additional revenue stream would be created. With the average 1st bag fee in the U.S. being $30 Southwest could just undercut that for their 2nd bag fee and still win. Therefore those who really need a 2nd bag checked will do so and all b.s. stuff that gets checked will be greatly reduced. Assigned seating just delivers a better product for passengers. open seating while decent on paper doesn't always transfer well in execution. At a minimum ETOPS, planes should have AC power but I would like to see it on the whole fleet. Southwest claims weight but i have my suspicions even so drop the 2nd free bag and get your weight savings from that

mcdu wrote:

What happens with connecting flights and those with priority boarding? If your inbound arrives after your connecting flight has started boarding does that mean you might be relegated to a middle seat on that flight ?

You'll get whatever's left which are middle seats which translates into a subpar product for customers

Jshank83 wrote:

Been there.. you just live with it. Hopefully you aren't flying to Hawaii.

Agree with the earlier comment though besides USB really the only thing I want to see Southwest do is get an international partner. Everything else is fine.

Imagine being on a BWI transcon connecting to HNL and you're already a 1hr late....HNL is already boarded and waiting on you and 25 other passengers for a completely full flight. Boarding position doesn't mean squat at that point. which I think is major flaw in Southwest's boarding process which then delivers a bad product to customers.

Stinking paywalls on Yahoo prevented me from seeing what The Dispatchers and Facilities unions received in raises and signing bonuses when they ratified their deals as announced yesterday.

e175a321fan wrote:

You get what you pay for! I almost never travel with checked bags, so WN has consistently been more expensive for me than the legacy carriers... Unless you must check bags on a flight from BWI to OAK, I never understood how WN is a "LCC..."

You then seem to be completely misunderstanding what an LCC is. It is an airline which keeps its costs as low as possible, hence Low Cost Carrier. This does not necessarily mean, or guarantee, the lowest fare on any given route.

INFINITI329 wrote:

Okcflyer wrote:

Jshank83 wrote:

It’s not that much longer is it?

It’s 14’ longer. That’s quite a stretch.

They’ll need an extra lavatory. That’s 3 seats gone.

5 rows new if they keep same comfort level. With the seat loss for lav, that puts them at 202 seats. Probably doesn’t make sense for an extra FA for 2 seats, so either 199 or 200 seats.

The MAX 9*/10 will end up at Southwest at some point.(* MAX 9 w/ MAX 10 landing gear, if offered by Boeing) I dont think either will exceed 200 seats. I think the excess space on the MAX 10 would be filled with an additional lav and a closet for the F/As. I honestly don't think the MAX 9 would get an extra lav if it could be avoided. The problem with the MAX 10 is its length I think. 5% of WN's domestic gates cannot accommodate a 738/7M8. A greater number of the 738/7M8 gates are maxed out as far as the size of aircraft without a rework of the gate areas. So it will leave WN with a conundrum on picking a 200-seater 737.

MavyWavyATR wrote:

A few things I'd like to see WN implement in the future:

- Allow passengers to select their seats ahead of time like most of the competition.
- Implement a fee for checked bags on their "Wanna Get Away" fare; 1st one would remain free on "Wanna Get Away Plus" fares.
- Develop a premium/business cabin product to better compete with the legacies on corporate heavy routes.
- Install AC power in addition to USB.

I agree with all. Biz cabin could be as simple as what FL did. Two bags fly free has run its course. At a minimum, it should be reduced to one free bag. If you want a 2nd you should have to pay for it. Charging for a 2nd bag has many benefits. Firstly an additional revenue stream would be created. With the average 1st bag fee in the U.S. being $30 Southwest could just undercut that for their 2nd bag fee and still win. Therefore those who really need a 2nd bag checked will do so and all b.s. stuff that gets checked will be greatly reduced. Assigned seating just delivers a better product for passengers. open seating while decent on paper doesn't always transfer well in execution. At a minimum ETOPS, planes should have AC power but I would like to see it on the whole fleet. Southwest claims weight but i have my suspicions even so drop the 2nd free bag and get your weight savings from that

mcdu wrote:

What happens with connecting flights and those with priority boarding? If your inbound arrives after your connecting flight has started boarding does that mean you might be relegated to a middle seat on that flight ?

You'll get whatever's left which are middle seats which translates into a subpar product for customers

Jshank83 wrote:

Been there.. you just live with it. Hopefully you aren't flying to Hawaii.

Agree with the earlier comment though besides USB really the only thing I want to see Southwest do is get an international partner. Everything else is fine.

Imagine being on a BWI transcon connecting to HNL and you're already a 1hr late....HNL is already boarded and waiting on you and 25 other passengers for a completely full flight. Boarding position doesn't mean squat at that point. which I think is major flaw in Southwest's boarding process which then delivers a bad product to customers.

Everything is so bad at southwest they only carry the more domestic passengers than anyone else. For the most part Southwest’s boarding, bags, seating has worked fine. People need to quit saying they need to change what they are. It works for them and if you don’t like it you are free to fly someone else. Most people know what they are getting into if they fly them and they keep flying them. I’d argue changing who they are could hurt more in the long run if they start charging more feees.

gosh if only Budweiser would bring back those "real American hero' commercials and salute *you*, the obsessive Airliners.net poster, for single handedly bringing the change we all need to function in the world...with assigned seating on Southwest Airlines.

stlgph wrote:

gosh if only Budweiser would bring back those "real American hero' commercials and salute *you*, the obsessive Airliners.net poster, for single handedly bringing the change we all need to function in the world...with assigned seating on Southwest Airlines.

Bravo. I've been viewing (and occasionally posting on) A.net for 20+ years, and some people will never get over their pet peeve with airline X or airport Y. I can't think of a bigger dead-horse topic than WN and assigned seating (or lack thereof). Bottom line: different people have different travel needs and preferences (and opinions, of course).

Personally, I haven't flown WN in 15 years; I stick with AA because I prefer assigned seats, lounge access, the intercontinental network, and upgrade potential. I'm also familiar with AAdvantage and know how to maximize my benefits.

A good friend (and occasional travel buddy) is loyal to WN. He has the WN-branded credit card, tons of companion passes, drink coupons, etc. He knows how to get the boarding group he wants, and it works for his travel patterns.

15 years ago, if you told someone WN would lose money and the legacies would be turning a profit, they'd laugh at you. Things changes, and markets and products adjust. But they're not going to do so just because your opinion is X or Y.

WN evaluated assigned seats out of one of their airports before they came up with the A/B/C system. Yes, literal Jan Q Public is sitting in Seat 18A.

DFWGlobeTrotter wrote:

stlgph wrote:

gosh if only Budweiser would bring back those "real American hero' commercials and salute *you*, the obsessive Airliners.net poster, for single handedly bringing the change we all need to function in the world...with assigned seating on Southwest Airlines.

Bravo. I've been viewing (and occasionally posting on) A.net for 20+ years, and some people will never get over their pet peeve with airline X or airport Y. I can't think of a bigger dead-horse topic than WN and assigned seating (or lack thereof). Bottom line: different people have different travel needs and preferences (and opinions, of course).

Personally, I haven't flown WN in 15 years; I stick with AA because I prefer assigned seats, lounge access, the intercontinental network, and upgrade potential. I'm also familiar with AAdvantage and know how to maximize my benefits.

A good friend (and occasional travel buddy) is loyal to WN. He has the WN-branded credit card, tons of companion passes, drink coupons, etc. He knows how to get the boarding group he wants, and it works for his travel patterns.

15 years ago, if you told someone WN would lose money and the legacies would be turning a profit, they'd laugh at you. Things changes, and markets and products adjust. But they're not going to do so just because your opinion is X or Y.

This right here is a perfect example of the current state of affairs. I, like the author of this post, am loyal to AA and rarely fly WN even though I live about 2 miles from DAL. The AA network suits my needs better, and I prefer a legacy style product. Before I moved to Dallas, I was loyal to UA for the same reason, their offering just worked better than AA from my prior home airport.

I also have friends that are dyed in the will WN fans. The network and product suit their needs better.

Here’s the thing, no one in either of these groups is going to change anything. The WN die hard aren’t going to all of a sudden abandon WN. However, there is a group of people in the middle. Folks who maybe don’t feel so strongly about the open seating policy. Those that would carry an AA, DL, UA, etc… credit card or fly enough to get status that the free bags aren’t a huge deal to. Those folks will be the ones to decide. They may say “WN is now not working for me due to reliability, customer service issues, lack of amenities on board, etc…” and switch. Those are the customers WN has to keep happy. Someone may not like the open seating policy but if they perceive WN to be reliable or less hassle, they’ll put up with it. When those things cease to be true, they may switch their loyalty.

AMALH747430 wrote:

This right here is a perfect example of the current state of affairs. I, like the author of this post, am loyal to AA and rarely fly WN even though I live about 2 miles from DAL. The AA network suits my needs better, and I prefer a legacy style product. Before I moved to Dallas, I was loyal to UA for the same reason, their offering just worked better than AA from my prior home airport.

I also have friends that are dyed in the will WN fans. The network and product suit their needs better.

Here’s the thing, no one in either of these groups is going to change anything. The WN die hard aren’t going to all of a sudden abandon WN. However, there is a group of people in the middle. Folks who maybe don’t feel so strongly about the open seating policy. Those that would carry an AA, DL, UA, etc… credit card or fly enough to get status that the free bags aren’t a huge deal to. Those folks will be the ones to decide. They may say “WN is now not working for me due to reliability, customer service issues, lack of amenities on board, etc…” and switch. Those are the customers WN has to keep happy. Someone may not like the open seating policy but if they perceive WN to be reliable or less hassle, they’ll put up with it. When those things cease to be true, they may switch their loyalty.

Exactly. Another thing to note is how much things change. I have searched and reviewed posts going back to 2000, and it's amazing to see how many posts (including mine) were way off the mark. For example, in 2003 many people thought that:

- WN would never serve Hawaii or go international
- AA would never serve China
- DFW would never see the A380
- One of the Big 3 (of course, it was the Big 6 back then) would liquidate by 2008 (I guess you could say this is 1/4 correct, given the mega-mergers)
- AUS would never see transatlantic service
- EK would never serve TLV
- B6 would be the dominant US carrier by 2010

When it comes to WN, we'll see lots of predictions about how they respond to their current crisis. I'm sure some will say that they will never adopt assign seating, interline with other carriers, or serve different airports (say, DFW), but the bottom line is that we don't and can't know. So let the predictions begin ...

While we’re on the subject. I see a lot of folks on here listing things that WN needs to change about their product. As I said earlier, the solution for not liking WN’s product is flying another airline. That’s what lots of us do. Now, that doesn’t mean WN doesn’t constantly need t be “reading the room” and evolving.

However, I don’t think now is the time to do that. WN needs to focus on one thing, and one thing only: improving their operation. Everting WN does at this point needs to be focused on making the planes run on time and minimizing disruptions. Other modifications to their product at this time would only serve as a distraction at best and cause even more operational issues at worst.

Charge for checked bags? More like charge for carry-ons that exceed 10x14x22. Time is money, and carry-ons use up passenger and the airlines time.

AMALH747430 wrote:

While we’re on the subject. I see a lot of folks on here listing things that WN needs to change about their product. As I said earlier, the solution for not liking WN’s product is flying another airline. That’s what lots of us do. Now, that doesn’t mean WN doesn’t constantly need t be “reading the room” and evolving.

However, I don’t think now is the time to do that. WN needs to focus on one thing, and one thing only: improving their operation. Everting WN does at this point needs to be focused on making the planes run on time and minimizing disruptions. Other modifications to their product at this time would only serve as a distraction at best and cause even more operational issues at worst.

Exactly. I couldn't have said it better. Bag fees and seat assignments are, for me, unneeded noise at this point. Prioritize the foundation and worry about bags and seats later.

Leave SWA the way they are with no changes other than operational improvements. For those on this forum who have complaints, please do not fly them. They do not need your business.

DenverTed wrote:

Charge for checked bags? More like charge for carry-ons that exceed 10x14x22. Time is money, and carry-ons use up passenger and the airlines time.

Well, so do checked bags (especially on the airlines' side).

Leave SWA the way they are with no changes other than operational improvements. For those on this forum who have complaints, please do not fly them. They do not need your business.
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The River of Kool Aid is at flooding stages. They do need all business.

For domestic travel, I fly SW about 90% of the time. There are two primary reasons.

One, the companion pass makes their reward points very valuable for us and makes their cash fares 33% off all the time.

Two, I can fly non-stop almost anywhere I want to go with regularity from my home airport (BWI) while many other destinations require a connection often resulting in a longer flight (and for my wife who is not a great flyer, and extra take-off and landing). This also makes the handwringing about boarding position on connecting flights moot. I don’t have to connect.

Three, I’m a big guy. When I fly other airlines, I prefer to fly up front for both legroom and seat width. SW tends to have generous pitch and their customer of size policy is hands-down the most generous and customer-friendly policy that I know of. It allows me to fly on work travel with an open middle seat next to me at no additional cost (when I travel with family, my wife or son sit next to me).

Finally, although I usually do not check a bag on my domestic travel when I travel for work, I do for longer family trips. Also, my wife’s packing skills do not involve underpacking and the size and number of liquid products that she travels with makes traveling without a checked bag impractical. Even when she travels for work, I’ve never known her to not check a bag when flying. While I don’t need the checked bag for work travel, the points I rack up traveling for work has often pushed me to A-list, which also helps with the seating position.

When does the schedule extension post?

I have seen job postings for all the work groups for MSP at least twice in the last couple months so i take that as a sign that they plan to increase flights there to Pre Pandemic level. Only speculating.

strangeplanes wrote:

When does the schedule extension post?

It’s normally around 8am central time.

I’m seeing TPA-LAS back to daily.

I think SDF-LAS/PHX are going back to daily?

Looks like ABQ-BWI is back to daily eff Sep5....long time coming.

Lgb-COS/ELP new?

I don’t remember seeing them but They backfill into previous updates though.

DSM-LAS is also back to daily. DSM now has 6 daily flights, this is the most flights we’ve ever had on WN.

Jshank83 wrote:

Lgb-COS/ELP new?

I don’t remember seeing them but They backfill into previous updates though.

Here is the Southwest press release listing the new routes added out of AUS/ELP/LGB:
https://swamedia.com/releases/release-f ... oct-4-2023

WN is going to be starting LGB-COS/ELP nonstop service on 7/11/2023, LGB-ABQ nonstop service on 9/5/2023, Saturday-only AUS-JAX nonstop service on 9/9/2023, and Saturday-only ELP-MCO nonstop service on 9/9/2023.