What is Southwest airlines Nuts ?

I don't know who you work for or what you do but there are several workers'
compensation carriers that flatly refuse to cover companies that allow use
of GA aircraft for business travel.


"Marco Leon" mleon(at)optonline.net wrote in message
...
I know--it's perfect. My company has a little clause in their travel policy
about using private aircraft for business only when another commercial
pilot is flying. It obviously was not written by a pilot! I'll just have to
claim regular automobile mileage reimbursement instead of listing
aircraft-related expenses. They shouldn't care how I get there. I couldn't
do it last time because my family came down and visited relatives in VA
therefore needing a car to get back to NY earlier than me.

My trip should be a little longer in my Warrior than your friend's
Bonanza...but who cares!

Marco Leon

"Peter MacPherson" wrote in message
news:xfgAd.716149$mD.426940@attbi_s02...
True, but this is where flying yourself really pays off. NY - VA would
be a nice quick trip flying yourself. I have a friend in the Boston area
who flies to DC area every week. Before he bought his Bonanza he was
flying down there on the airlines. The flight on the airlines is only an
hour
to DC from Boston, but when he factored in the drive to the airport,
getting
there early for security, etc.., he could get there faster in his own
plane.
Now he drives 10 minutes from his house to the airport where the plane
is hangared, lands at JYO(Leesburg, VA) and grabs a rental car. To me
this
is the perfect way to use GA for business travel. His company loves it
too....
they don't have to shell out $600 for the airline tickets. g



"Marco Leon" mmleon(at)yahoo.com wrote in message
...
I thought the same thing about driving from NY to Virginia on biz. Then I
got caught in the Wash DC Beltway traffic... NYC traffic pales in
comparison. Next time I fly.

Marco Leon


"Peter MacPherson" wrote in message:

Can't blame them. After driving to the airport, getting there 2 hours
early
for
security, praying your flight leaves on time(or at all), it's easier to
drive.



"C J Campbell" wrote in message
...

"Dave Stadt" wrote in message
...

"C J Campbell" wrote in
message
...

"569" wrote in message
oups.com...
That airline is pure hell. I used to travel 250,000 miles a
year
for
business, all domestic. I refused and still refuse to fly them.
It's
no better then the Greyhound bus.


Well, you get what you pay for. That is the market that Southwest
caters
to.

Southwest flies more passengers by far than any other airline and is
one
of
a few actually making money. If other airlines want to survive it
is
the
Southwest model they will have to adopt.

Southwest is the most profitable, but although some other airlines
have
tried to copy them, they have so far not been nearly as successful.

I wonder if business travelers should bother with the airlines at all
anymore.

Marco Leon wrote:

I know--it's perfect. My company has a little clause in their travel policy
about using private aircraft for business only when another commercial pilot
is flying. It obviously was not written by a pilot! I'll just have to claim
regular automobile mileage reimbursement instead of listing aircraft-related
expenses. They shouldn't care how I get there.

My former employer would fire you for that behavior. Their policy is that they
will not reimburse you for travel by private aircraft. If you claim to have
driven and didn't, that's fraud.

George Patterson
The desire for safety stands against every great and noble enterprise.

I've never heard of a company that wouldn't allow you to fly yourself.
That would drive me nuts.....being a pilot, having a plane and not being
able to fly myself and have to go the airline route.


"Marco Leon" mleon(at)optonline.net wrote in message
...
I know--it's perfect. My company has a little clause in their travel policy
about using private aircraft for business only when another commercial
pilot is flying. It obviously was not written by a pilot! I'll just have to
claim regular automobile mileage reimbursement instead of listing
aircraft-related expenses. They shouldn't care how I get there. I couldn't
do it last time because my family came down and visited relatives in VA
therefore needing a car to get back to NY earlier than me.

My trip should be a little longer in my Warrior than your friend's
Bonanza...but who cares!

Marco Leon

"Peter MacPherson" wrote in message
news:xfgAd.716149$mD.426940@attbi_s02...
True, but this is where flying yourself really pays off. NY - VA would
be a nice quick trip flying yourself. I have a friend in the Boston area
who flies to DC area every week. Before he bought his Bonanza he was
flying down there on the airlines. The flight on the airlines is only an
hour
to DC from Boston, but when he factored in the drive to the airport,
getting
there early for security, etc.., he could get there faster in his own
plane.
Now he drives 10 minutes from his house to the airport where the plane
is hangared, lands at JYO(Leesburg, VA) and grabs a rental car. To me
this
is the perfect way to use GA for business travel. His company loves it
too....
they don't have to shell out $600 for the airline tickets. g



"Marco Leon" mmleon(at)yahoo.com wrote in message
...
I thought the same thing about driving from NY to Virginia on biz. Then I
got caught in the Wash DC Beltway traffic... NYC traffic pales in
comparison. Next time I fly.

Marco Leon


"Peter MacPherson" wrote in message:

Can't blame them. After driving to the airport, getting there 2 hours
early
for
security, praying your flight leaves on time(or at all), it's easier to
drive.



"C J Campbell" wrote in message
...

"Dave Stadt" wrote in message
...

"C J Campbell" wrote in
message
...

"569" wrote in message
oups.com...
That airline is pure hell. I used to travel 250,000 miles a
year
for
business, all domestic. I refused and still refuse to fly them.
It's
no better then the Greyhound bus.


Well, you get what you pay for. That is the market that Southwest
caters
to.

Southwest flies more passengers by far than any other airline and is
one
of
a few actually making money. If other airlines want to survive it
is
the
Southwest model they will have to adopt.

Southwest is the most profitable, but although some other airlines
have
tried to copy them, they have so far not been nearly as successful.

I wonder if business travelers should bother with the airlines at all
anymore.

C J Campbell wrote:

I wonder if business travelers should bother with the airlines at all
anymore.

A few years ago, my job took me to Atlanta frequently, so we'll take that as an
example. A flight from Newark to Atlanta takes about 4.5 hours from my door to
the hotel near BellSouth headquarters (flight time about 2 hours 15 minutes). If
I were stupid enough to drive it, we're talking about 18 hours at 5-10 mph over
the speed limit. Even that would beat Amtrak.

And "conference calls" will not do the job in many cases. We would've lost a 50
mil contract if I couldn't have been face to face with the subject matter
experts on one occasion (our competition *was* face to face with them).

George Patterson
The desire for safety stands against every great and noble enterprise.

"G.R. Patterson III" wrote in message
...


C J Campbell wrote:

I wonder if business travelers should bother with the airlines at all
anymore.

And "conference calls" will not do the job in many cases. We would've lost
a 50
mil contract if I couldn't have been face to face with the subject matter
experts on one occasion (our competition *was* face to face with them).

C-Calls are limited but with web-conferencing like WebEx the gap closes
meaningfully. No question that WebEx probably displaced 10-15% of my last
employer's travel budget. This is one of those "inflection point" issues.
Once people start assuming their competitors aren't getting on a plane they
won't get on one either. There will always be things that demand the
in-person presence but that list will shrink by 5% or so per year. A 35%
drop in business travel over the next five years is not out of the question
and would make 9/11 a footnote to the collapse of the airline industry.

-cwk.

"C Kingsbury" wrote in message
ink.net...

"G.R. Patterson III" wrote in message
...


C J Campbell wrote:

I wonder if business travelers should bother with the airlines at all
anymore.

And "conference calls" will not do the job in many cases. We would've
lost
a 50
mil contract if I couldn't have been face to face with the subject
matter
experts on one occasion (our competition *was* face to face with them).

C-Calls are limited but with web-conferencing like WebEx the gap closes
meaningfully. No question that WebEx probably displaced 10-15% of my last
employer's travel budget. This is one of those "inflection point" issues.
Once people start assuming their competitors aren't getting on a plane
they
won't get on one either. There will always be things that demand the
in-person presence but that list will shrink by 5% or so per year. A 35%
drop in business travel over the next five years is not out of the
question
and would make 9/11 a footnote to the collapse of the airline industry.

-cwk.


That loss in business travel is more than enough to put one or two majors
out of business. They have only themselves to blame due to the fact they
ripped and continue to rip off the business traveler which for years has
paid top dollar for a seat.

"Dave Stadt" wrote in message
m...


That loss in business travel is more than enough to put one or two majors
out of business. They have only themselves to blame due to the fact they
ripped and continue to rip off the business traveler which for years has
paid top dollar for a seat.

First, the "business traveler" typically fly's on one or two days
notice...that's why they spend more.

Second, alternatives have been available for years...and only very SLOWLY do
businesses adopt them.

Hell, years ago the bitch was the delays and rigid schedules of the
airlines. Many people used GA and charter, but I guess most businesses just
continued to gripe, just like they do about bad employees, foreign
competitors, regulation (that they often asked for), etc., etc.,...


--
Matt
---------------------
Matthew W. Barrow
Site-Fill Homes, LLC.
Montrose, CO

"Matt Barrow" wrote in message
news

"Dave Stadt" wrote in message
m...


That loss in business travel is more than enough to put one or two
majors
out of business. They have only themselves to blame due to the fact
they
ripped and continue to rip off the business traveler which for years has
paid top dollar for a seat.

First, the "business traveler" typically fly's on one or two days
notice...that's why they spend more.

That makes absolutely no sense. The airlines have used it as an excuse to
rip off the business travler for years.

Second, alternatives have been available for years...and only very SLOWLY
do
businesses adopt them.

Yep. Most businesses have drastically cut airline travel and now airlines
can't make money even with every seat filled.

Hell, years ago the bitch was the delays and rigid schedules of the
airlines. Many people used GA and charter, but I guess most businesses
just
continued to gripe, just like they do about bad employees, foreign
competitors, regulation (that they often asked for), etc., etc.,...
--
Matt
---------------------
Matthew W. Barrow
Site-Fill Homes, LLC.
Montrose, CO

United Stews just voted in favor of a strike and are pushing for chaos
strikes. If it happens it will probably be the end of United.

"Dave Stadt" wrote in message
...

Southwest flies more passengers by far than any other airline

Actually SWA has only become a top-5 player in the past five years or so.
Last I checked, DL, SW, and AA were all pretty close to each other.

http://www.bts.gov/press_releases/20...bts019_04.html

and is one of
a few actually making money. If other airlines want to survive it is the
Southwest model they will have to adopt.


Southwest does not operate a national network, but rather flies a large
number of point-to-point flights. The difference is subtle but significant.
SW is fine if you're going from Manchester to Midway, but if you're trying
to get to Boise it doesn't necessarily work so well and connection times
often run over two hours versus 60mins on a hub-and-spoke carrier. As
Southwest has gotten bigger and served more cities with higher frequency
this has become less of a problem, but their model has its limits. They
intentionally avoid most large airports (BOS, ORD, JFK, LGA, EWK, SFO) as
well.

-cwk.