I don’t typically blog about airline business deals, airline safety, and decisions made by the Departments of Transportation or Justice, or decisions they may make in the future. I’ve got my reasons, and a little judicious googling would yield an answer as to why that’s the way I do things. Of course, if I ever meet you in person, I’ll gladly explain why. That said, I cannot let today’s announcement that Southwest Airlines is buying Air Tran pass by without saying anything.
I don’t fly Air Tran as a matter of personal preference, but I do fly Southwest from time to time. Let’s face it, I think that today’s announcement may be just about the biggest deal in the history of domestic airline travel. I’m a little loathe to use cute buzzwords like “game changer” but that’s exactly what this is. I may not say much about the whole thing on the blog, but you can rest assured that I will be watching this deal move forward with great interest, and a little bit of envy for the folks who are making it happen. And if I ever do meet you in person, I’ll be glad to discuss why I feel the way I do about this deal.
Marshall, read Gray Roberge’s recent post on the SWA boarding process. I am a UA 1K and don’t fly SWA very often, but the boarding process beats that of any legacy (or no frills) carrier I have been on in recent years. Super organized and efficient.
Oh, I don’t disagree at all about their boarding process. It changed a lot for the better when they went to the letters and numbers concept.
Yes, this deal will be interesting. We think things are bad when NW and DL merge and our snacks in the World Clubs are replaced with processed cheese food. I haven’t been a blogger/traveler through such a mis-matched merger. AirTran is a necessary evil for me and Southwest is the airline I avoid. I will miss my XM…it made up for the horrible seat pitch.
No doubt. Southwest has done mergers before, but never this big. It could get cute. We will see. I don’t avoid Southwest myself, and if it weren’t for that boarding thing, I’d probably fly them more. Maybe XM won’t go away, but I doubt it.