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Sun file photo
Southwest Airlines planes sit at McCarran International Airport.
Friday, Aug. 13, 2010 | 9:30 a.m.
Southwest Airlines, the busiest air carrier at McCarran International Airport, is considering a plan that would add larger aircraft to its fleet.
A company executive said today that the airline is considering converting some of its Boeing 737-700 orders to 737-800 series planes.
Southwest’s 737-700s carry 137 passengers while the longer 737-800s could have a capacity of 189 passengers. Southwest says it probably would configure its planes to carry 175 people.
McCarran routinely handles larger -800 and -900 series Boeing 737s at many of its gates.
Mike Van de Ven, executive vice president and chief operating officer of Southwest, said in a posting on Southwest Airlines’ blog that 737-800s could add flexibility to Southwest’s schedule. A final decision on the matter would be needed by Dec. 1 for Boeing to begin delivering the larger planes by early 2012.
“While the aircraft introduces additional complexities to our operation, we believe our existing network could be enhanced by converting some of our future 737-700 deliveries to 737-800s,” Van de Ven said in his posting.
“Introducing the -800, which has more seating capacity than the -700, would be a complementary fit to our current fleet by supplementing opportunities for longer-haul flying, while also potentially improving our unit costs. The -800 can also give Southwest scheduling flexibility by allowing for additional capacity in high-demand, slot-controlled, or gate-restricted markets – in other words, we can carry more passengers to some of our most popular destinations.”
Following the announcement, representatives of the Transport Workers Union of America, which represents 9,400 Southwest flight attendants, said that while they are enthusiastic about the potential of adding the -800 series to the fleet, they expect negotiations would be reopened on new rates of pay, rules and working conditions, including adding a flight attendant to the crews of the larger jets.
“Our plan is to reconvene our 2008 negotiating team and begin meeting with management immediately,” said Thom McDaniel, president of the Southwest Airlines Flight Attendants Union, TWU Local 556, in a statement released this morning.
“Our union supports the expansion and growth of Southwest Airlines,” he said. “While our managers have not made a final decision on acquiring the 737-800 series yet, we, at the flight attendants union, are doing our due diligence to insure that any changes in our business model are in the best interest of our members and our customers.”
Nice, but how do you show any recent ROI on adding 38 seats...? Are their flights really sold out that often?
Every WN flight I've been on the past year (5 flts) has been 100% full. I would expect them to go to 180 seats (30 rows at 32" pitch) and 4 FAs (as required by law - 1 FA per 50 pax).
Yes, put more planes so you can haul more passengers at lower price. If you have more capacity, then more disgusted passengers will leave the other greedy airlines and move to Soutwest due to the added charges they are now imposing on baggages.
You could add the 800 series just on flights from LAS to RNO.
I fly Southwest a couple times a month... in fact, on some routes, go out of my way to fly them. IMHO... best airline out there, but they can pack 'em in. Most of my flights are 2 hours or less, so no biggie. They are the masters of fillin'-up a plane.
I fly into Vegas all the time, the planes are always full capacity, I use SW most of the time.
700's, 800's,...either is good and Southwest is the best today. Big passenger loads between McCarren & Midway in Chicago and while an 800 would be great,..."dropping in" to Midway may require the 700 at least part of the year. Not a lot of room at MDW for bigger & heavier. Time will tell.
unclegig - My only problem is that SW does NOT fly where I usually travel to...I would have to change carriers in the middle of the trip just to get where I am going, then change again for the trip home. Allegiant gets me to Montana or N Dakota FAR cheaper than SW and Delta - while not the best fares, gets me to northern Michigan without any trouble or hassle
How about adding some stuffing to those seats.I'll never fly them again. Bad News !!