Southwest enters international market
It turns out that all of that hubub we heard about Southwest joining the international market earlier this year was true. And why not? They're in the best financial situation of any of the current operating airlines -- why not expand now while the the competition is faltering? Why not step on the throats of the choking airline industry?Just today, the Dallas based company announced that they were entering a partnership with Westjet, one of Canada's largest carriers. The deal will involve sharing flights and operations for a variety of services and will ultimately be implemented in late 2009.
Westjet, in case you're wondering, is based in Calgary, AB and has focus cities in Edmonton and Vancouver. So this agreement will hopefully make travel from core Southwest sites up to the great north a little easier and less expensive -- you also might be able to earn Southwest miles as well.
Details of the agreement are still slim, but as the integration continues we'll probably get more info on exactly which routes and schedules will be merged between the two airlines. For now, consider this an ominous precursor to Southwest entering (and maybe taking over) the international airline market. Hold on to those shares.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Jul 8th 2008 @ 12:58PM
paul graham said...
Southwest would do best to upgrade its fleet of planes to latest fuel efficient models with its windfall - that will make its advantage over competitors permanent, and ensure profitability in the future.
what nobody seems to be saying loudly in the press is that the old mainstream carriers (AA, Delta, United, etc) are faltering because they failed to invest in upgrading their fleets as required. It might have seemed a better idea to simply focus on share price and bonus, flying the old jalopy for another decade, but for long term health a modern fleet would be using less fuel, less downtime, less maintenance, and be far, far cheaper in the long run.
Its like the poor family running an ancient gas guzzling 1970's car - they have so many repair costs, and huge fuel bills, that they cant get out of the trap.. Anyone used to traveling in Europe views with pain the ridiculous state of US fleets. Sadly most US customers don't know what decrepit vehicles they are flying in, and just how good the rest of the world is having it..
another example of shining American business practice putting short term profit ahead of the survival of the business itself.
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