What is up with Southwest at Love Field?

[SoonerStormchaser]

Ok, before I begin my rant...I have to say that it is my opinion that Southwest is the best run airline out there...and I have backed up that opinion with my wallet ever since I moved to Oklahoma (and subsequently down here to San Antonio). That being said...

Both myself and my wife seem to have the luck of Norm whenever we fly Southwest and somehow the plane comes through Dallas-Love Field. EVERY SINGLE TIME I have flown home on the weekends to see my wife and have flown Southwest through Love Field, I am ALWAYS delayed there due to mechanicals. The worst was in February when I was rushing to get home cause of Mrs. SoonerStormchaser's impending miscarriage...I took a 1.5 hour mechanical delay. I've tallied it up...25 flights over the past six months.

So that leads me to today...

I'm taking Mrs. SoonerStormchaser and her daughter to Vegas this weekend. I'm flying straight outta here to Vegas (with stops in El Paso and Albuquerque en route). The wife? She's flying from OKC to Phoenix to Vegas. But the plane is coming in from Dallas. Her flight doesn't leave til 7:30 tonight. Guess what? It's already delayed because the plane took a TWO HOUR mechanical in Dallas this morning, thus causing a ripple effect for the rest of the day.

To anyone who knows about the system...what the hell is going on? Do I really have the luck of Norm on this or are the planes flying in and out of Dallas just flying mechanicals waiting to happen? Every other time I've flown Southwest out of other airports, I've had almost no delays like this (if there were delays, they were weather related). All I know is this: If my squadron had as many mechanicals as they seem to have in Dallas, we'd have the Wing Commander down on our asses like there was no tomorrow.


Ok rant over...I still love Southwest. But jeez...:pop:

[jk the sooner fan]

1. age of the fleet
2. number of flights (BUNCHES)
3. you sure it isnt weather related today?

[mdklatt]

Maybe it has something to do with the fact that Dallas is the maintenance base for SWA. It doesn't make sense to dispatch a flight with a mechanical problem if it's already parked down the ramp from the fix-it shop.

[CUinNC]

I'm just guessing here, but could the LF hub be a maintenence hub also for them..

Regardless, yours was well-written & you should send it just like that to:
Southwest Airlines
Vice President of Customer Relations
Post Office Box 36647
Dallas, TX 75235-1611
214-792-4223


Good Luck - they will respond....at least an explanation would help....that many similar delays is pretty darn amazing....

[SoonerStormchaser]

Nope on the weather...I tracked the plane's routing:

HOU-DAL-AMA (where the plane is right now)-DAL-AUS-HRL-AUS-DAL-OKC-PHX-LAS-ONT

The HOU-DAL leg was cancelled this morning...and the DAL-AMA flight left two hours late. Her flight tonight is already showing 35 minutes late.

As far as fleet age is concerned...the oldest 737-300's are barely 20 years old...the -500's are 15 years old and the oldest -700's are not even 10 years old. It just seems that the DAL flights seem to be the older birds, which is really concerning.

[SoonerStormchaser]

Maybe it has something to do with the fact that Dallas is the maintenance base for SWA. It doesn't make sense to dispatch a flight with a mechanical problem if it's already parked down the ramp from the fix-it shop.


But, wouldn't it not make sense to also have a spare or two laying around for instances like these?

[JohnnyMack]

TUL - LAS = Nonstop bitches.

:pop:

Sorry. I'm not helping, am I?



But yeah, SWA has seen rates increase and on-time performance decrease over the last year. They're dangerously close to becoming just another airline in my mind.

[Mjcpr]

They're in the same boat as everyone else now in terms of what they pay for fuel. For a while, they paid much less because they bought before the huge price jumps......or something.

[StoopTroup]

Southwest is a good airline...

It helps the lower class folks get around economically. :D

They outsource their maintenance to 3rd party maintenance.

They can't control the amount of mechanicals now that their fleet is getting older.

The airlines are cash strapped and bankruptcy has become the way to fix them.

[Taxman71]

It may have evolved out of the recently repealed Wright Amendment (do a GIS for more) that heavily restricted intrastate flights out of Love Field. Maybe they use older or more high maintenance planes for flights out of Love Field. The Amendment restricted Love Field flights to non-contiguous states so that the newly-built DFW Airport would flourish.

[Sooner24]

Southwest is a good airline...

It helps the lower class folks get around economically. :D

They outsource their maintenance to 3rd party maintenance.

They can't control the amount of mechanicals now that their fleet is getting older.

The airlines are cash strapped and bankruptcy has become the way to fix them.


Southwest is not cash strapped or bankrupt.

They turned a profit every quarter after 9/11 while all the legacy carriers were bleeding money. American was hours away from filing bankruptcy if not for the pilots agreeing to a new contract. Now the pilots, FA's and mechanics are having informational pickets at AA HQ because of the big bonuses the upper level just got while they all took cuts.

While American turned a profit for the first time, since 9/11, last quarter LUV is in the air. ;)

[12]

What does an airline pilot make on average?

[PhilTLL]

TUL - LAS = Nonstop bitches.

:pop:

Sorry. I'm not helping, am I?

Er...OKC-LAS n/s on two different airlines. Tell me you didn't really think this was a big deal. I know t-town is grasping at straws these days but geez. :)

[TexasLidig8r]

I went to the annual Southwest employee state of the airline shin dig a few months ago. It was held at the Nokia Center... Herb, Colleen and Gary Kelly take questions from employees.

Southwest is replacing 31 planes this year alone.

Also, there are more mechanical issues from Love since not all Southwest locations have mechanical facilities. If a plane has issues but is still flyable in places like Midland, OKC, they bring the plane to Dallas. Since mechanical work is not evenly placed over all locations and since Dallas is the corporate HQ, that results in more work being done in Dallas.

Oh.. Southwest doesn't operate on the hub and spoke system like most other airlines.. they are point to point which is supposed to result in fewer delays and more actual time spent in the air. (since a plane on the ground doesn't make you money).

Southwest's fuel hedge contract runs through 2009. Although not as lucrative as in the past 2 years, the amount they will pay for fuel will still be less than most providers.

Still a better run airline than most. (damn, that Southwest employee woman I'm dating has me drinking the kool aide!)

[SoonerStormchaser]

It's ok Lid...it's good kool-aid.

[C&CDean]

So, let's see, you sound like a Mercedes owner.

"It's really a great car. I mean I only have it in the shop every ****ing day, it never runs, it's a giant POS, but man, I love that car."

Southwest sucks ***. Their routes are stupidly ridiculous and can never be met on time. EVER. Chipper flight attendants and real peanuts. BFD. They blow.

[SoonerStormchaser]

Now I'm really mad...this 20 minute delay is now ballooning...30 minutes reported at noon...40 minutes at 2...now 1 hour 10 minutes. And the flight isn't scheduled to depart OKC til 8:40. And this is the ONLY DAMN FLIGHT delayed outta there ALL DAY!

I'm not one to really bitch and complain like this, but they're fixing to get a letter from me.

Ok...now I'm off to the airport...my flight is actually on time...so now I'll be waiting for my wife for over three hours in Vegas.

[BlondeSoonerGirl]

A strongly worded letter?

[royalfan5]

High Speed Mag Lev trains would solve this problem.

[C&CDean]

Ok...now I'm off to the airport...my flight is actually on time...so now I'll be waiting for my wife for over three hours in Vegas.

Well hey, look at the bright side. You've got 3 hours to get laid and not get bitched out about it.

[BajaOklahoma]

SSC, do the rest of a favor and post your flight numbers and dates as you schedule them. Just so the rest of us can avoid those flights.

The types of planes flying out of Love are restricted due to the Park Cities idiots. Most of the homeowners purchased their lovely homes well after Love was open. Just too stupid to figure out the the flight path, but very quick to complain. At some point, they came to an agreement to limit the dbs and therefore the types of plans planes landing there.

[soonerboomer93]

At a certain point, you gotta call a duck a duck

If I had a problem with an airline everytime I flew them, I'd stop flying them. I'm close to no longer flying United out of san fran any more because my flight from Denver to San Fran is always delayed and I only ever have a 1ish hour layover to get off my plan, and to the international terminal to board my next flight.

[achiro]

Next time you are stuck there, stop at the chili's and have a drink. My bro is bartending there(he's a big OU fan as well) Say hey for me.:D

[mdklatt]

SSC, do the rest of a favor and post your flight numbers and dates as you schedule them. Just so the rest of us can avoid those flights.

The types of planes flying out of Love are restricted due to the Park Cities idiots. Most of the homeowners purchased their lovely homes well after Love was open. Just too stupid to figure out the the flight path, but very quick to complain. At some point, they came to an agreement to limit the dbs and therefore the types of plans planes landing there.


What do noise limits have to do with maintenance problems? Also, the plane assigned to a particular flight is going to change constantly.

[StoopTroup]

Southwest is not cash strapped or bankrupt.

They are all cash strapped when it comes to buying aircraft.

I don't think American was bankrupt either.

I do think they felt they might have to file for protection to fight fire with fire at one time.

American and Southwest have some pretty loyal employees. Both have had their ups and downs lately.

I heard American finally had enough cash to hedge their fuel prices but that the hedging ended up costing them dough due to the price of fuel going down for that period. Timing is everything in hedging.

I'm not sure that Southwest is able to hedge their fuel to the advantage they had the last few years. I imagine things will be tight for both Airlines in the near future.

You have to invest in your equipment. 31 planes is a lot of dough to cough up. Planes wear out and eventually it's cheaper to buy a new one than try to keep an old one in the air. The newer planes are more fuel efficient. The old ones are not. Fuel will continue to drive the Airlines to cut costs if they are going to be able to sell cheap tickets....and cheap tickets is what Southwest built it's Empire.

[StoopTroup]

They blow.


Lets face facts...they all blow...