e6bpilot

PX,
I agree that the environment in Hawaii has changed, but your obsession with the way that a public corporation went in to upset the monopoly of anther public corporation has just as much to do with HAL management and their poor business practices as it does SWAs. It isn't the pilots who made these choices and, ultimately, the marketplace will decide what the final outcome is.

HAL enjoyed an interisland monopoly free of competition for way too long. Their business plan was also trashed by Covid and economic forces post Covid. HAL management failed their employees just like SWA management has failed theirs, leading to both the Alaska merger and the Elliott activist battle. Who do you think is going to suffer? Hint... It's always labor.

You clearly have very strong feelings about SWAs entry in to the Hawaii market, but don't make it personal.

PineappleXpres

You said it well all around. With one exception, Hawaiian had a near monopoly for less than 2 years.

It’s not that I’ve taken anything personally, as much as the SWA corporation lying about how well they’ve been doing from a balance sheet standpoint on those routes. They don’t have to disclose that on a route by route basis, but Elliot did come out and blew that air out into the world. For the pilots, none of these misadventures threaten SWA livelihoods, whereas they did for HAL pilots. While these matters were discussed, there was little thought for objectivity on what SWA trying to strategically accomplish. You are right the free market will do its thing in David and Goliath scenarios.

RJSAviator76

The guy already lost his job once when Aloha was shut down because Mesa came in and tanked the market. He's (or was) worried about a dejavu. Cut him some slack.

There's a lot more to this whole argument, and especially interisland market when intertwined with things like gate spaces and slots... Is it better to have good gates and utilize airplanes and crews that would be sittng idle, or alternatively, not get the good gates/slots and keep the planes parked? It was decided it's better to keep the planes and crews moving.... How long it lasts - beats me.

The reason why Hawaiian is doing much better interisland is actually very simple - they codeshare with everyone under the sun. We don't codeshare with anyone, though here's an interesting twist... our contract allows the company to codeshare in Hawaii in the interisland market... what are the odds we might find some regional partner to put 8 E175s out there and fly them interisland?

5tools

So know SWA and the management should be to worried about other pilots groups and other carriers when they go into a market? Man you guys are really out of touch with business practices in this country, but yet you are advocationg for a cut throat group like Elliot.

PineappleXpres

Appreciate the slack. Perhaps you were there too (both times). E175s for “feed” would be interesting if you could staff it and that mainland company can be reliable enough to not strand customers. Hawaii deserves two choices. At least there will be two company Goliaths duking it out.

REF 5

1. SWA was never after HA. GK stated that many times. The reason SWA went to Hawaii was because of ALK. When ALK bought VA they made their intentions to make ALK the number one airline in CA. Since the number one destination that SWA did not serve out of CA was Hawaii, they felt they had to. I don't know what the numbers are today but in 2019, CA made up almost 40% of SWA's revenue. Some of you forget that this is a competitive business. Nothing stays stagnant forever. Interisland flying makes up a small percentage of ASM's. Minuscule amount compared to overall size of SWA's network. AW has said, it's really just to stage the airplanes and crews. It should make money. It's not. Maybe they trim the interisland, maybe not. If you think Hawaii is the reason SWA is falling apart I have some swamp land to sell you. The company has hit a brick wall with costs and revenue. Both sides of the ledger need to be fixed. Legacy cost's with LCC revenue. Not a pretty recipe.

2. If you watch AW's update, CA is brought up a lot. As a matter of fact, the whole west coast is talked about. Connectivity somewhat exists on the east coast(and DEN) but the west coast is almost exclusively p2p. Very little or no connection opportunities. The whole network on the west coast need's to change. We'll see what that looks like on Thursday. By the way, this is not new. During Covid, SWA became a hub and spoke so they didn't have close stations. In 2021 and 2022(minus the melt down) their margins were pretty good. Their operating income was over 2 billion. When they put the network back to more of a p2p system, that's when yields started to deteriorate plus the appetite for international travel boomed. When AW states that RASM and yields are better than 2019, he forgets one thing(or intentionally leaves out). Inflation. So you take that out of the mix, it's not good.

3. I wish the HA/ALK guys all the best. Mergers are never fun. Especially SLI. Hopefully you guys will take advantage of the synergies as well as opportunities to expand your reach. You will become the fifth largest airline in the US. Hopefully your management's team has better luck of running an airline than SWA does at the moment.

e6bpilot

All good points and I didn't realize your history out there, so I apologize if it came off insensitive.
Anyone with a brain could see this coming in Hawaii with United and SWA dumping capacity in there and SWA flying interisland.
Believe me, I think SWA approached it in a completely idiotic way, which goes back to how bad our management is. One thing they are good at is doubling down on a bad idea.

jerryleber

Elliott Management said Tuesday it will call a special meeting at Southwest Airlines “as soon as next week,” shortly after the company put forward a sweeping board shakeup that it hoped might stave off a proxy fight.

The push comes days before the airline’s investor day, where it is expected to unveil improvements and operating changes. Elliott is seeking to oust CEO Bob Jordan and executive chairman Gary Kelly, the latter of whom has already committed to stepping down in 2025.

“We believe that competent new leaders, working through a deliberate and thoughtful process, should chart the course forward for Southwest,” Elliott partner John Pike and portfolio manager Bobby Xu said in a letter to shareholders.

“We do notsupport the Company’s current course, which is being charted in a haphazard manner by a group of executives in full self-preservation mode,” Pike and Xu wrote.

Southwest’s shareholder meeting is typically scheduled for May, but by calling for a special meeting Elliott is looking to elect new directors much sooner than that. It takes a few months for both sides to solicit shareholder support, and a settlement is always possible in the interim.

The activist has put forward a ten-director slate comprised of airline executives and former regulators or government officials.

Southwest did not immediately return a request for comment.

Southwest Airlines in July unveiled major changes to its more than 50-year-old business model: It will soon ditch open seating for assigned seats, offer seats with more legroom that command higher fares and start operating red-eye flights. Last week, COO Andrew Watterson warned staff to brace for more “difficult decisions” in its push to restore profits as the airline faces rising costs and shifting travel patterns.

The company isn’t planning to furlough workers but it could cut its presence in certain cities and give workers the chance to transfer to other bases, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Southwest will release a routine schedule update on Wednesday that will show its flights through early June. Earlier this month, executive chairman and former CEO Gary Kelly said he would step down after the carrier’s shareholder meeting next year.

The Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association, which represents Southwest’s mechanics and met with Elliott, said last week the activist investor made “clear that its vision of a Southwest turnaround is one where Robert Jordan does not remain as CEO, and if Elliott can assert enough Board influence, other top executives would also, most likely, be replaced.”

Mozam

They are being way to hard on the top management at WN. Not many have the skillset to blow over 2.5 billion in 3 days and then go into hiding.

The current top management has said many times , we are right where we want to be , SWA is laser focused. How does Elliot not see this ?

Smooth at FL450

Elliot clearly didn't go to University of Texas or Texas A&M?