Cheap Flight Promotion : Airlines Match Southwest Airlines $30 fare sale

Southwest Airlines launched its latest fare sale, one better than its usual weekly discounts. Now, it appears that other airlines have matched.

The sale, good for travel on Dec. 1-15 and Jan. 4-Feb. 16, has one-way fares as cheap as $30 before fees and taxes on trips of 450 miles or less, $60 up to 1,000 miles, $90 up to 1,500 miles and $120 over 1,500 miles.

Other carriers are putting similarly priced fares out for sale.

To see if this was real, checked for Dec. 7 to New Orleans from Dallas, with a Dec. 14 return. Southwest had its $30 fare available on every flight in each direction, or $81.40 round trip with other fees and charges.

It’s interesting that in the breakdown of costs for that ticket, Southwest says it gets $55.82 and government taxes and fees take up $25.58.

Southwest Airlines Suspends Flight Operation at New York LaGuardia and Long Island

Southwest Airlines has suspended its flight operations at New York LaGuardia and Long Island MacArthur as an intense “extratropical” storm pounds the East. The carrier says on its website that “we have suspended our afternoon and evening operations” at both airports today. Southwest adds that a “decision to resume our scheduled service is contingent upon the weather conditions and operational logistics.”

Southwest says its operations in Boston Logan and Providence also are being affected, though it continues to operate at both airports for the time being. However, the airline warns that “based on the forecasted weather conditions, there is a possibility that our flights could be disrupted (delayed, diverted, and/or cancelled)” at those airports.

Southwest is easing rebooking rules for passengers scheduled to fly to, from or through all four airports.

JetBlue also warns on its website that it has canceled flights to and from the hard-hit Northeast, though the carrier does not appear to have suspended operations altogether at any of its airports.

Continental, Delta and US Airways also have eased change-of-ticket fees for passengers affected by the storm. Each of the airlines operates a major hub in the path of the storm. The hubs are Newark Liberty (Continental), New York JFK (Delta) and Philadelphia (US Airways). Each carrier has a significant presence at numerous other airports in the region.

California-based low-cost carrier Virgin America also warned of potential operational problems at Boston, New York JFK and Washington Dulles.

Southwest Airlines Agree $1.4 billion to Buys AirTran Airways

Southwest Airlines, the nation’s largest low-fare carrier, said on Monday that it had agreed to buy its smaller rival AirTran Airways in a transaction valued at $1.4 billion, expanding its foothold in New York and Boston and allowing it to move into Atlanta, the nation’s largest airport.

The deal is valued at $3.4 billion when AirTran’s debt and aircraft leases are included. Southwest said the purchase had been approved by the boards of both companies, although it still needs regulatory and shareholder approval.

The move comes as the domestic airline industry is consolidating and reducing the number of seats offered as it attempts to return to profitability. United Airlines is taking over Continental Airlines on Oct. 1, after shareholders of both companies recently approved the tie-up and the government gave the green light. Delta Air Lines led the way in 2008 when it acquired Northwest.

The transaction is a sharp departure for Southwest, one of the nation’s few consistently profitable airlines. The company’s success had been built on a simple business model, operating the same type of Boeing 737 planes at a higher frequency between smaller airports.

But Southwest has been looking for ways to expand as its network grew. For instance, it had sought ways into the nation’s larger markets, like New York, Boston and Washington.

So far, Southwest’s presence in New York has been very limited. It has a few landing and take-off rights, called slots, at La Guardia Airport. As part of the United-Continental merger, Southwest had recently obtained some slots at Newark Liberty International Airport.

Southwest said the acquisition would increase its presence in New York and open the door to Atlanta, which is the nation’s largest airport and the hub of Delta Air Lines.

Analysts at Deutsche Bank said they expect the deal to gain swift regulatory approval given the speed with which the federal government approved the United-Continental tie-up and the fact that the networks of Southwest and AirTran do not overlap much.

Southwest said the transaction would save $400 million a year by 2013. It said the one-time costs related to integrating AirTran would be $300 million to $500 million.

The offer represents a premium of 69 percent over AirTran’s closing stock price on Friday. AirTran shareholders would receive a combination of Southwest shares and cash. That includes at least $3.75 in cash and 0.321 shares of Southwest common stock for each share of AirTran common stock.

JetBlue Airways and Southwest Airlines Top Major Airlines in Quality

Large airlines are faring better, but smaller airlines are top performers

Discount carriers JetBlue, Southwest and Frontier – a subsidiary of Republic Airways Holdings rank among the top airlines in terms of quality and service, despite their small size – showing these medium airlines are proving formidable foes to traditional carriers.

The much larger airlines – American, Delta, United, and US Airways – ranked the lowest in customer satisfaction, in that order. The survey indicates that older airline fleets and legacy employees tended to cause negative consumer perceptions.

That’s according to a new USA Today analysis of Transportation Department consumer complaints, consumer reports of Zagat Survey and J.D. Power and Associates, and the Airline Quality Rating system of professors at Wichita State and Purdue universities. All the reports were mostly consistent in identifying the airlines’ overall performances.

While certainly a blow to the big-name carriers, the news isn’t really that surprising. The traditional airlines have huge overheads, such as high labor costs, larger fleets, more connecting flights and international routes. To maintain or increase profits, the result is passing that bill to their customers, with paying for baggage and better coach seating being the prime examples. Smaller airlines don’t bother, and tout their strength of service and no fees with customers.

That strong consumer satisfaction and loyalty is showing up in the airlines’ profit margin. JetBlue and Southwest – both just a decade old – have posted strong earnings compared to their big-boy competitors, all during the last two years of an economic downturn in which travel was on the decline. JetBlue’s second-quarter profit was $30 million (10 cents a share), compared to $20 million (7 cents a share), in the same period a year ago.

Southwest reported second quarter 2010 net income of $112 million ($.15 per diluted share), compared to net income of $91 million ( $.12 per diluted share) for the second quarter last year. A mainstay at the company since 1986, CEO Gary C. Kelly is a respected leader, named one of the best CEOs in America for 2008 and 2009 by Institutional Investor magazine. Though he’s only been at the position since 2008, he’s carried the company through difficult times. LUV is up +6% since the end of August.

Traditional carriers, however, are recently getting back on their feet. While UAL Corp (UAUA and US Air have seen big gains in share price, the truth is a little more complex. In fact, they’ve only recently returned to profitability. LCC has been down consecutively in its earnings report for years, with its only recent positive EPS +1.34%. UAUA may be up +68% year-to-dates against the Dow and NASDAQ, but its EPS was down the last three quarters as well. It’s up +1.95 in the second quarter of this year.

The United and Continental Airlines $3.2 billion merger set for Sept. 17 could also help JBLU and LUV. If the new airline — to be the largest in the U.S. – shuts down hubs in smaller markets, something analysts expect, closures may help the discount carriers even further.

If consumers remember the discount carriers’ quality service, they’ll return again and again, and keep pushing the stock up. Customer kudos and loyalty is a win for the little guys – even as the big guys prepare to reload.

source : investorplace.com

Southwest Airlines Looking at Flying Larger Planes

The low-cost carrier confirmed Friday that it is kicking the tires of Boeing Co.’s 737-800 planes, which are larger and can carry more passengers than the series -700, -500 and -300 Boeing 737s that Southwest currently flies.

More seats on each plane would give Southwest flexibility to have fewer daily flights out of cities where slot controls limit the airline’s ability to add more individual flights, such as New York’s LaGuardia Airport. Bigger planes also would lower the carrier’s cost per seat flown on long-haul flights where profits are thin.

“Since the decision to add the -800 has not been finalized, any details regarding configuration, timing and quantity of deliveries are still to be determined,” Mike VanDeVen, Southwest’s executive vice president and chief operating officer, wrote on the carrier’s blog Friday.

Southwest’s -700 and -300 series planes seat 137 in its all-coach configuration. Boeing says the -800 series would seat up to 189 passengers in a single-class configuration, but the model would hold 175 passengers the way Southwest would configure it.

While Boeing seems willing to let Southwest substitute the bigger models for current orders of -700 series planes, Southwest will need to reach agreements with its pilots’ and flight attendants’ unions before making the order.

A spokesman for the Southwest Airlines Pilots Association said the union’s current contract lets the parties reopen it to discuss rates of pay for flying new types of aircraft. The Transport Workers Union, which represents flight attendants, plans to start immediate negotiations, president Thom McDaniel said in a message to members Friday.

The carrier said it needs to have its new labor deals in place and decide to buy the planes by Dec. 1 in order to take delivery of the planes in 2012. If it can’t meet that deadline, it wouldn’t rule out a purchase with later deliveries, said spokeswoman Katie Coldwell.

“Response from our employees has been very positive” regarding the prospect of flying larger planes, she said.

A bigger plane might take longer to load and unload than Southwest’s current fleet, but schedule planners have built more flexibility into the airline’s schedule to allow for longer “turn times” – the time it takes to get a plane in and out of a gate.

The list price for the bigger plane ranges from $72.5 million to $81 million, Boeing’s website says. That compares to the range of $58.5 million to $69.5 million for the -700 model. Southwest, which buys all its planes from Boeing, receives significant discounts from those list prices.

Southwest Airlines Flight Attendant Stories Lost Context in Press Reports

Beverly Kay McCurley, the Southwest flight attendant in the news for “taking” a baby from the mother who slapped her child in-flight, tells The Dallas Morning News that she regrets the way the story has been reported in the media.

“I made a mistake,” McCurley tells the paper. But she says the mistake wasn’t in assisting with the child, but rather in the way she recounted the flight to authorities. She believes the comments didn’t paint a complete picture of what had happened once they made it from authorities to the press.

McCurley tells the Morning News that she does remember saying: “We took the child to the back of the plane.” But, she says she never meant to imply that she or the crew removed the child from her parents’ custody against their will.

The Morning News writes “what actually happened is McCurley, a 20-year veteran with Southwest, offered to hold the girl and took her, standing beside the parents’ seats.”

“I picked the baby up from her, and the baby quit crying,” McCurley tells the paper. She says she was just trying to assist the parents.

And, addressing reports that passengers on the plane were upset at the incident, McCurley tells the Morning News that it was unclear whether those passengers were upset at the treatment of the child or simply just because there was a screaming child on board.

Find More News at : USA Today, Southwest Attendant: Baby Story Lost Context in Press Reports

Stories of Flight Attendant : Southwest Airlines Flight Attendant Takes Baby from Parents

The story of flight attendants who provide services to passengers when flights are in the attention. Flight attendants stories on JetBlue airlines has opened the eyes of the heart of passengers to have to give respect to the flight attendants who provide services during flight. The airline is hiring flight attendants must provide support to those who order flight attendants can work well. The following story gives an idea of what is done by a flight attendant to give the best service to airline passengers.

According to media reports, a Southwest Airlines flight attendant took a baby from its parents on Monday after the 13-month girl was slapped by her mother on a flight. However, this may not be the whole story.

Beverly McCurley, the flight attendant, told police that some passengers were complaining about a mother hitting her daughter in the face to keep her from crying, which is when she got involved. The mother, Lee Ann Cid, was found in a furious fight with her husband, Joseph, and then the stewardess saw the mother hit the girl with an open hand, while the father kept yelling at her to shut up.

Reports say that McCurley then got involved and took the baby away, but Southwest Airlines spokeswoman Whitney Eichinger says that this isn’t how the incident happened. Instead, she says that the flight attendant asked the parents if they would like her to bounce their little girl, the representative continued. Stewardesses do this sometimes to soothe babies, as they like to walk up and down the aisles, Eichinger explained.

Albuquerque paramedics were called to the scene when the plane landed to check on the baby. The parents talked with aviation police, and when a black eye was found on the child, they said that a dog did it. Authorities also talked to McCurley and some of the passengers.

The family didn’t get a citation and were given their baby back after police determined that the issue was isolated. They were then allowed to continued their journey to their final destination.

Southwest Airlines Reported Flight Traffic Increase 3.4 percent in July

Southwest Airlines said traffic increased 3.4 percent in July, and its load factor hit 84.9 percent, a monthly record.

Load factor measures how much of an airline’s carrying capacity is filled.

The company’s revenue passenger miles — a measure of available seats sold — hit 7.5 billion in July, up from 7.2 billion a year ago.

Year-to-date, Southwest also is filling more flights with the airline’s load factor now at 78.8 percent, up from 75 percent.

In July 2010, Southwest boarded 10 million passengers, up 4.7 percent from last year.

Low-cost Carriers Airlines Take Flight in Asia

New low-cost carriers, with ties to the majors, are offering heavily discounted long-distance routes

The expansion of discount carriers like Southwest Airlines and Europe’s Ryanair has redefined air travel. Yet one area where the low-fare model hasn’t clicked is in long-haul international flying. From Sir Freddie Laker’s pioneering Skytrain of the 1970s to London-based Zoom Airlines, which folded in 2008, carriers that offered long-distance service on the cheap have failed. Despite that sobering record, both Qantas Airways and AirAsia are challenging long-haul companies like Singapore Airlines with a low-fare model.
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Southwest Airlines Offers Nationwide Fare Sale for Fall Travel

Fall is on the way and travelers are itchin’ to plan exciting getaways! Southwest Airlines is here to help by offering Customers nationwide airfares starting as low as $49 one-way to select destinations. Take advantage of these super low fares on southwest.com and start planning your fall and winter vacation today! Fares are available for travel Tuesdays and Wednesdays between Sept. 7 and Dec. 14, 2010, excluding Nov. 24, 2010. Fares must be purchased by Aug. 5, 2010. These fares are available only on southwest.com. To get these special online fares, click here. Examples of fares include :

• $49 one-way between Philadelphia and the Boston Area
• $89 one-way between Denver and Minneapolis
• $99 one-way between Nashville and Raleigh Durham
• $129 one-way between Phoenix and Seattle

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