You are the man! Just one correction it’s Gary Kelly who’s hands that Southwest Airlines Future is in. Gary Collins was a bad talk show host from the 70”s & 80”s.

The Constitution Party would never allow that to happen.

Southwest was able to have better profits than other airlines in large part because it was not hurt by the inherent risk in the rise in oil prices. Southwest bought futures in oil and hedged the risk in prices rising against those futures. Essentially speculating in oil helped Southwest minimize the risk that oil prices would rise higher than anticipated, which would have cut profit margins because they sell tickets months in advanced at fixed fares. No other major airline did this.

In contrast, the new CEO has sent a letter to all Southwest customers saying he supports government intervention to prevent oil speculation. Such regulation would prevent companies like Southwest from hedging against the risk of oil price fluctuations. So essentially he has abandoned the primary Southwest comparative advantage in business strategy and put all of Southwest’s profits at risk.

http://www.stopoilspeculationnow.com/uploads/An_Open_letter_to_All_Airline_Customers.pdf

The new CEO is a moron. I predict Southwest will similarly abandon its other good business practices in short order.

1) There entire fleet is the same type of aircraft. Easier to maintain, schedule, and smaller parts inventory etc.

2) They have done a fantastic job using the futures markets to manage and hedge fuel cost variations.

I have only one complaint. I always feel a bit unnerved flying on a plane that is painted in such clownish colors. The rims on the tires are painted orange, or the funky “baby poop brown” fuselages.

The crews are wearing short pants, or cowboy hats, or funky looking liberace-ish ties. It all comes off a bit to much like Mardis Gra for me, when I have to literally trust my life in the hands of someone else!

Call me old school, World War II ear thinking , but I always feel a bit more comfortable on United Airlines. Planes painted in nice uniform blues and grays. ...The Captain comes aboard,... a good looking man with white hair and a chiseled jaw, in a dark blue uniform, with a Captains Hat and bars on the collar…. (on the speaker)- “This is your Captain Jim McConnors, I have over 25 THOUSAND hours of flight time and have been flying these birds since the Korean War. We are going to an altitude of Angels 32 and expect to arrive on schedule in Ontario California at Oh-Two Hundred hours. Have a nice flight and thank you for flying United”.

No bingo games, no paper hat contests, no sing alongs, just plain old fashioned no nonsense travel. A very secure feeling indeed!

Of course I guess Greyhound Bus Lines can still make the same claims! LOL!