4th Level

I think what is likely is that at some point, the remaining 717 fleet will be too small to effectively operate. Once they're down to a handful of airframes, they will probably just park them.

MatthewAMEL

Thanks, CA Obvious.

Yes, I also believe when there are 5 airframes remaining, they will park them.

However, that is not the question at hand or the statement that was made by shoelu.

On 1/1/15, there will be 30+ 717's left. SWAPA thinks they are going to get parked and the fAT guys sent home with pay until they are given a training date.

SWA management has stated exactly the opposite. They will not park any 717 and instead extend the codeshare until the last crew is over.

I was asking shoelu, who stated SWA mgmt said they would be parked, to provide a source for his statement.

shoelu

And, I provided that statement and the source material.

MatthewAMEL

Thanks, shoelu.

Not what I (and others) were hoping for.

That filing is trivial. It is amended with a 'due to changing market conditions'.

With almost 100% certainty I can say:

SWA will miss 1/1/15

They will petition SWAPA for relief

In the interim, they will continue to operate the remaining 717's, counting on the grievance/court process to take the months they need to complete the transition.

They will blame the whole thing on Delta and ALPA.

shoelu

No way. Section 1 violations do not get put off for months, they get fast tracked or possibly even receive injunctive relief.

While I agree that there is a strong chance the 1/1/15 deadline will be missed, SWA has directly stated to the FAA that any remaining airframes will be parked. It doesn't get any clearer than that. They can't fly them on the SWA side and our scope clause does not allow them to be flown by AirTran, which by the way will cease to exist on that date.

I suppose they could ask SWAPA for relief as you have speculated, but SWAPA has been adamant that they will expect SWA to live up to the projections set forth and codified in SL-10. Who knows, maybe that will be the leverage to get what we need in our never ending section 6 negotiations and it could actually do us all some good, but I really hope it never gets stretched out that long.

tanker

While that is correct there is no guarantee that there will be Capt vacancies at SWA after Jan 1, 2015. It is entirely possible, though not very likely, that SWA will have upgraded enough Captains by Dec 31, 2014 that they will not need any Captains until Jan 1, 2016.

4th Level

Seriously, why must you be so indignant?



I was only offering up what information I had.

p.s.

Welcome aboard.

shoelu

That is a completely plausible scenario, but I am hoping the $150,000,000 spent on the HOU terminal that is scheduled to begin service in 2015 will not be serviced with airframes already involved in profitable domestic service, but will represent a growth opportunity at SWA. That is my hopeful speculation. Whether not that turns out to be true, remains to be seen.

V169

SWA is publishing their flight schedules about 8 months out so it should be clear in the spring what the end game for the 717 will be in Jan 2015. Keep a bag of popcorn in reserve until then.

PisteOff

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ubw5...e_gdata_player