Expressjetphx:
I see by your profile you are between the ages of 13 & 15. It's sorta hard for me to remember back that far, but I do seem to recall thinking I knew everything about everything.
First of all, you say the
WN concourse at
PHX is a zoo. I could argue that it's not a zoo. But let's say, for the sake of argument, that it is.
Why is it a zoo?
It's a zoo because there are a lot of passengers flying
WN.
Why are there so many passengers on
WN in Phoenix? They have a hometown airline (HP) that flies to the same destinations (in a lot of cases) for the same fares (or lower ones). Ever stop to wonder why so many more of those folks are flying
WN over
HP? Could it be that
WN is a much better airline?
And I really, really, have to take exception with your comment that "most Southwest flights require many inconvenient stops."
I am looking at from Phoenix to--- in the current schedule, and find that
to go to Albany there are 3 connecting flts, all with a single stop (where you make the connection)
To go to Albuquerque I have a choice of 12 nonstops
Amarillo has one 1-stop directi flight and 3 connections, all single stop
Austin has 4 nonstops and one 1-stop
BWI 5 nonstops, 2 1 stops
Birmingham gets a nonstop, two 1-stop connections and a single 2-stop connection
Boise gets 3 1-stop direct flights, 2 1 stop connections and a single 2 stop connection
Buffalo has a nonstop and 4 1 stop connections
Burbank has 7 nonstops
Chicago 4 nonstops, 3 1 stop direct flights, 1 1 stop connection and a couple of 2 stop connections
Cleveland gets 4 1 stop connections and 2 2 stop connections
Columbus has a nonstop, a 1 stop direct, and a 1 stop connection at
BNA
Corpus Christi gets 2 1-stop connections via
HOU
Detroit gets 2 nonstops, a 1 stop direct, 2 2stop direct, a pair of 1 stop connections, and a pair of 2 stop connections
El Paso gets 8 nonstops
Ft Lauderdale gets 3 1 stop connections, 2 2 stop connections, and a couple of 2 stop direct flights each day
Harlingen has 4 single stop connections daily
Houston has 6 daily nonstops and 5 single stop connections
Indianapolis has 2 nonstops, a 1 stop connection, and a couple of 2 stop connections
Jackson
MS has two 1 stop direct flights and a 1 stop connection
Jacksonville has a 1 stop direct and a 1 stop connection
Kansas City gets 4 nonstops, a 1 stop drect, and 3 1 stop connections
Las Vegas service consists of 19 or 20 daily nonstops
Little Rock has a nonstop, a 1 stop connection, and a 2 stop connection
Long Island/Islip gets 5 1 stop direct flights each day
LAX service consists of 14 nonstops daily
Louisville receives a nonstop and 2 1 stop connections each day
Lubbock service is 2 1 stop direct and a 1 stop connection
Manchester gets 6 1 stop connections and yes, a 3-stop direct.
New Orleans has 2 daily nonstops, a 1 stop direct, 3 or 4 1-stop connections, and a couple of 2 stop connections.
Norfolk, from Phoenix, consists of 3 1 stop connections
Oakland gets 6 nonstops and 10 1-stop direct flights
Oklahoma City: 3 nonstops
Omaha: 2 nonstops, 4 1-stop connections
Ontario: 13 nonstops
Orange County: 5 nonstops
Orlando: a nonstop, 3 1 stops, 4 1 stop connections
Portland: 2 nonstops, a 1 stop, a 2 stop, 9 1 stop connections, and 3 2-stop connections
Providence: 2 nonstops, 5 1 stop connections
Raleigh-Durham: 2 nonstops, 3 1-stop connections
Reno: 3 nonstops, a 1 stop, a 2 stop, 10 1 stop connections, and a couple of 2 stop connections
Sacramento: 6 nonstops, 9 1-stop direct, 9 1-stop connections
St Louis: 5 nonstops, 2 1-stops
Salt Lake City: 7 or 8 nonstops, a couple of 1 stops
San Antonio: 4 nonstops, 2 1-stop connections via
ELP
San Diego: 15 nonstops
San Jose: 5 nonstops, 4 1 stops, 5 1 stop connections
Seattle: 2 nonstops, 3 1 stops, a 2 stop, 3 1 stop connections, 3 2 stop connections
Spokane: 4 1 stop connections, 3 2 stop connections, and 1 2-stop direct
Tampa: 1 nonstop, 1 1-stop, 1 2-stop, 4 1-stop connectons, 3 2-stop connections
Tulsa: 3 nonstop, 1 1-stop connection via
MCI
West palm: 1 2 stop connection via
AUS
And that's it in a nutshell. What does all this mean? It means that you are way off the mark when you suggest that to fly Southwest you are going to have to stop at an infinite number of intermediate cities or connecting points.
Of course, that brings up the old theory that if you have an infinite number of monkeys at an infinite number of typewriters, at some point one will write Shakespeare.
That was recently tried and all the researchers ended up were a bunch of computer keyboards covered with monkey poop. But I digress.
The bottom line: the folks who allegedly hate Southwest, for whatever reason, are primarily people who do not fly Southwest. To know them is to love them. After all....
they really are "the somebody else up there who loves you."