Another type for Southwest Airlines?
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Another type for Southwest Airlines?
I just read something on a.nother forum. A man is complaining that his town has no air connection to Southwest Airlines hubs, and people have to drive to Dallas, Austin or Houston to jump on Southwest planes. And it got me thinking. We've just seen how Emirates painfully realized that they can't use just two types in their fleet and need more diversity with smaller planes. MAYBE it'd be a good idea for Southwest to get another, smaller type to connect smaller airports to their hubs? Could be Embraer E2 or Airbus A220. Maybe a... what's the Bombardier CRJ called now? Mitsubishi MRJ? Maybe that?
I just can't help thinking that Southwest's 737-700s and -7s are just too big for a lot of "interesting" places, and that stepping away from their strict adherence to one type may actually bring more cash. I don't think they have their own regional subsidiary, do they?
I just can't help thinking that Southwest's 737-700s and -7s are just too big for a lot of "interesting" places, and that stepping away from their strict adherence to one type may actually bring more cash. I don't think they have their own regional subsidiary, do they?
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A very rude reply that wasn't called for. Must've been a bad day.
It's not "just him", and from any developed country's point of view, very few places in the US can be considered "less rural". There are only ten cities in the USA with the population of more than one million.
And my question is not what that particular person can do to reach his destination, but whether Southwest could expand its network by flying smaller planes to "somewhere more rural".
It's not "just him", and from any developed country's point of view, very few places in the US can be considered "less rural". There are only ten cities in the USA with the population of more than one million.
And my question is not what that particular person can do to reach his destination, but whether Southwest could expand its network by flying smaller planes to "somewhere more rural".
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The costs involved in integrating and operating a new type into the fleet would be costly and bring little, if any, extra revenue. Besides, isn't SW a point to point operation?
In fact even a network carrier would think long and hard before opening a thin regional route that would likely be only marginally profitable (if at all), whether operated by the mainline fleet or a dedicated subfleet without the corresponding economies of scale. And that's after allowing for the potential benefits of feeding its long(er) haul network, which won't apply in SWA's case.
isn't SW a point to point operation
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A very rude reply that wasn't called for. Must've been a bad day.
It's not "just him", and from any developed country's point of view, very few places in the US can be considered "less rural". There are only ten cities in the USA with the population of more than one million.
And my question is not what that particular person can do to reach his destination, but whether Southwest could expand its network by flying smaller planes to "somewhere more rural".
It's not "just him", and from any developed country's point of view, very few places in the US can be considered "less rural". There are only ten cities in the USA with the population of more than one million.
And my question is not what that particular person can do to reach his destination, but whether Southwest could expand its network by flying smaller planes to "somewhere more rural".
My point is that you can’t live in a rural region and expect the same level of service afforded to urban centres. There are government subsidies where airlines do provide service though. It’s called the Essential Air Service program (or something along those lines).
Unless he can convince the government to fund the cost SWA would incur for a new type, he’s SOL.
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That may be true if you look only at the population within the central city limits, but on a metropolitan area basis, there are dozens and dozens of metropolitan areas with greater than 1 million people. For example, the population within the city limits of Washington, DC is only about 700,000 -- but its metropolitan area exceeds 5 million.
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I think they would need to establish a subsidiary airline to do sought after - LocalRural Airlines.
Separate crews, separate strategy, separate equipment. Never going to happen.
Separate crews, separate strategy, separate equipment. Never going to happen.
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Maybe I misunderstood what UltraFan was trying to say. The bolded part of his post suggests that most of the US population lives in urban centres. I’m almost positive that isn’t true. Lots of people live in places where there’s no city for miles in any direction.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/busin...us-live-there/
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Actually, almost 80% of Americans live in urban settings.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/busin...us-live-there/
https://www.washingtonpost.com/busin...us-live-there/
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- A220-300 has similar seat capacity as 737-7,
- The longer A220-300 has more comfortable wider seats, suiting its public
- An A220-300 weighs 4-5t less than a 737-7
- A220 have bigger, quieter, savier US build engines
- A220s are build in the USA
- 500 737-700s need to be replaced starting soon, many have high cycles
- nobody was buying 737-7s, even before the crashes
- even if Boeing offers an FSA in 2028 it will be designed around a 200 seater
https://aws1.discourse-cdn.com/infin...3bcb7a075.jpeg
- The longer A220-300 has more comfortable wider seats, suiting its public
- An A220-300 weighs 4-5t less than a 737-7
- A220 have bigger, quieter, savier US build engines
- A220s are build in the USA
- 500 737-700s need to be replaced starting soon, many have high cycles
- nobody was buying 737-7s, even before the crashes
- even if Boeing offers an FSA in 2028 it will be designed around a 200 seater
https://aws1.discourse-cdn.com/infin...3bcb7a075.jpeg
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Equal distance from DAL, AUS, and IAH is about a 2 hr drive to all three airports. Kosse, TX is between 1:55 and 2:10 to all 3 airports. I'm not sure people are aware of how uninhabited the western U.S. states can be. The overall population density, including the significant impact of SoCal, is about 1/3 Europe's population density. Wyoming has 6% of Europe's average population density. Overall the U.S. west has the population density of Norway. Compared to the larger European countries the density of the western U.S. is 5-10%. And individual states can be misleading - Nevada is ranked as average. But 73% live in Las Vegas. The northern part of the state is barren.