"That has not being the case for most of the airline industry for years and the chickens have come home to roost. Southwest has always made money and the pilots and all the staff are reaping the benefits. Ironic as they were looked down on as a group by a lot of the legacy pilots."
20driver,
Hmmm... First that is really the first I have heard about legacy pilots looking down at SW. As for Southwest having always made money, that is true, however currently it is in the markets that SW is making money not as an airline. Correct me if I am wrong, but from what I read and the SouthWest pilots I have spoken with, if it were not for the fuel hedges, SouthWest as an airline actually lost big time. Now that says that the management that hedged the fuel and the crack spread were spot on and should be congratulated. The legacys that eeked out a small profit last quarter did that with real market conditions. It will be interesting to see what the 3rd quarter reports are with the fuel going to astronomical highs and the crack spread going even higher.