We’re now seeing one spot where Southwest (LUV) aims to mine revenue when its vaunted fuel hedges expire in 2010: New York City. The airline has a relatively thorough account of its bid to serve New York’s LaGuardia Airport beginning next year, here on its corporate blog.
The first questions are where it may fly with the seven daily round trips being acquired from bankrupt ATA, and how would this work for Southwest’s model given the congestion of the New York air travel market, the world’s most lucrative but also the most delay-ridden. However, despite its bad press, LaGuardia is not the operational nightmare so many like to bemoan — when the weather cooperates. Its slots system generally works. If the place were constant, utter chaos Southwest would never be interested. The damage to its brand wouldn’t be worth it, regardless of the revenue at stake.
As for routes, it seems a safe bet one would see a flight or two to Southwest’s hub at Chicago Midway, given the strategic importance of business travel and the fact that only Delta (DAL) currently flies there from LaGuardia. A Florida city or two also seems logical. However, based on Southwest’s decision to serve only one route (Chicago) from its newest destination of Minneapolis, LaGuardia could be a one-destination town at the beginning, as they work out the kinks. But all this is pure speculation. The bankruptcy court hasn’t granted approval, and the airline won’t say yet where it would fly. Southwest CEO Gary Kelly will be in Manhattan next month for a speech at the Wings Club, so expect he’ll be pressed for more detail then.
The first questions are where it may fly with the seven daily round trips being acquired from bankrupt ATA, and how would this work for Southwest’s model given the congestion of the New York air travel market, the world’s most lucrative but also the most delay-ridden. However, despite its bad press, LaGuardia is not the operational nightmare so many like to bemoan — when the weather cooperates. Its slots system generally works. If the place were constant, utter chaos Southwest would never be interested. The damage to its brand wouldn’t be worth it, regardless of the revenue at stake.
As for routes, it seems a safe bet one would see a flight or two to Southwest’s hub at Chicago Midway, given the strategic importance of business travel and the fact that only Delta (DAL) currently flies there from LaGuardia. A Florida city or two also seems logical. However, based on Southwest’s decision to serve only one route (Chicago) from its newest destination of Minneapolis, LaGuardia could be a one-destination town at the beginning, as they work out the kinks. But all this is pure speculation. The bankruptcy court hasn’t granted approval, and the airline won’t say yet where it would fly. Southwest CEO Gary Kelly will be in Manhattan next month for a speech at the Wings Club, so expect he’ll be pressed for more detail then.
No comments:
Post a Comment