Quote:
Originally Posted by Doug
Southwest is by far the best North American airline. The greater the presence in Canada, the better. It's not only price. Southwest has the best service. The check ins move faster, the staff more knowledgeable and the flights on time.
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Granted airline service is like beauty, in the eye of the beholder.
Price over the past two years has been comparable between WN and the other airlines. The price difference comes down to fees for seat selection and bags (bags is the major differentiator). Also WN has lower last minute last seat fares than majors, but compare at the 21day advance purchase level and WN is about equal to legacy airlines.
The checkins move faster because WN does not interline with other airlines, flies only short and medium haul operations to a traffic that is largely either nonstop or same plane one stop service. In short their operating model is a lot less complex. The lack of operational complexity is causing them to miss revenue and growth opportunities, WN has decided to introduce complex to take advantage of the growth. As the complexity increases the service will decrease commensurately.
The staff knowledge is an inch wide and mile deep. They are very knowledgeable about WN and the day to day procedures, but they cannot help at all with matters outside of WN. For example, tell them your ultimate destination is calgary and your connecting in LAX to WS, don't be surprised by the blank stare u get back. By contrast a UA has basic knowledge about airlines within he star alliance network and can assist in booking another airline.
WN on time factor is helped immensely by their southern USA focus.
Now WN is very good at their niche markets, short haul business plus domestic visiting friends and relatives markets. But canada market is neither of these markets. It remains to be seen how WN will adjust to the Canadian market.
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