Southwest chases other add-ons besides bag fees
Southwest is one of the few airlines that don’t charge you for checking bags. That doesn’t mean that they’re not looking for other ways to add revenue.
Southwest’s chairman, president and CEO [Gary Kelly], said the most noteworthy new revenue would come through changes to Southwest’s “Rapid Rewards” frequent flier program. He offered no details.
Southwest CEO doesn’t yet see blue skies
Despite the fact that Southwest beat third-quarter expectations, CEO Gary Kelly said that they’re not out of the woods yet.
“The economy will continue to bump along,” according to CEO Gary Kelly, on an earnings conference call. “I don’t believe the worst is behind us.”
“I think there’s a tremendous amount of relief to find in the fourth quarter that things haven’t gotten worse,” he said. “That extends clearly to air travel. For Southwest, we’ve seen a remarkable improvement in the third quarter. (But) I don’t think it’s the economy that’s moved us” from a 6% second-quarter decline in revenue per available seat mile to a 2.2% increase in third quarter. Rather, he credited Southwest employees, increased fee revenue, reduced capacity and successful allocation of aircraft.
A better view of the Gulf
The Gulf of Mexico is always a challenge for pilots and Air Traffic Controllers. Since there is no ground-based radar in the Gulf, pilots have to rely on their skills and faith that no other aircraft will veer into their flight path. That is about to change.
[S]oon Houston-area air traffic controllers will have eyes over the Gulf.
The Federal Aviation Administration, through private contractor ITT Corp. in McLean, Va., is installing and operating a satellite-guided network of information broadcasting towers on oil platforms throughout the Gulf.
(Photo: E-Mans av8pix.com/Flickr Creative Commons)
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I think the headline on this article is a little misleading. In all the discussions of what Kelly said, and in all the analysis by “experts”, no one’s suggested that there might be a fee to join Rapid Rewards. Rather, what I’ve read suggests perhaps fees/copays for redeeming awards, and possibly adjusting the program so that credit earned matches more closely to revenue generated. Hardly the same thing.