Southwest in the A
SW at Hartsfield?
Southwest Airlines, known in motivational and marketing seminars worldwide as a poster child for innovation and creativity, announced today that it’s buying out AirTran for $1.4 billion. I’m cautiously optimistic for the impact this will have on Atlanta. I like Southwest’s approach – it’s seriously no-frills, low-cost, for real. As a kid, my family would drive to Birmingham to fly Southwest. And my Atlanta allegiance, probably due to good marketing and the Skymiles program, lies much more with Delta than AirTran.
What think you guys? Optimistic about fares going down with more competition? Concerned about losing your AirTran rewards? Not a fan of waiting in line at the gate or the seat stampede? Couldn’t care less?
I’ve flown Southwest exactly once. It was pretty annoying to plan a day around the exact moment that would allow me to log on to their website to get an “A” boarding pass — a small price for a small price, I guess.
My flight, of course, was overbooked. But it’s tough to argue with those bargains (time to try that DING! app again) even if their departure gates always look be out of the era of the Wright brothers.
^to
I’m excited! And like you mentioned, I am hoping it will strike up some low-fare competition with the other airlines at Hartsfield. I have no problem flying with no frills as long as my airplane is mechanically sound and will get me from Point A to Point B.
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