We're codesharing with who...or is it whom...I always forget, but who cares? I should be writing this in Spanish...do you write in Spanish? Wow, I'm struggling today with what few writing skills I have, probably because I'm so excited about the announcement of our second International codeshare partner - Volaris.
It's Volaris...yes Volaris! You know, if you fuse the Spanish word volar (to fly) with the word Polaris (North Star) you get Volaris? Well, that's how they came up with their name, and I think it's a pretty cool name. What's even cooler is that Volaris is an exceptional low-cost airline flying in Mexico. They are focused on high levels of Customer Service and provide a great inflight experience. Volaris plans to begin flying in to the US sometime in 2009 and will become Southwest Airlines' Mexico codeshare partner in early 2010. If you haven't heard of Volaris, here's a little information that should give you a feel for them and why we think they will be a great partner!
Like our new codeshare partner WestJet, Volaris presently serves some pretty cool destinations...or should I say hot destinations! Places like Cancun, Cabo, Puerto Vallarta, and Acapulco are certainly great places to vacation. Mexico City (via Toluca), Monterrey, and Guadalajara are great business travel destinations and will complement our efforts to attract more business travelers.
Also, like WestJet, Volaris has a fun corporate culture. On one of our visits to their Headquarters, their VP of Sales was having his head shaved in front of the Volaris Employees—it was payback for the Employees who had met a revenue goal that he challenged them to meet. Their Employees are very energetic and love their airline. Their Customers join in the fun as well. They recently had an inflight concert! My favorite Customer experience was influenced by the free tequila and cerveza they served! They also give away Krispy Kreme donuts! It's a regular Fiesta!!! Oh yes, and every Volaris plane is named after one of their valued Customers. I can't wait to see Ricardo!
Unlike WestJet, Volaris is an unknown brand in the US. Although they are relatively small and certainly new (they began flying in 2006), Volaris has proven themselves itself as a successful and viable airline and are developing a new generation of flyers in Mexico. Coupled with the Southwest brand, network, and Customer base, the opportunities are huge.
Okay, enough of my rambling, whadoyouthink?
Comments
Thanks to everyone for commenting on this issue. The topic spurred a lively discussion. No new issues have been raised for the past day or so, and the comments have devolved into personal issues between commenters, so this is a good time to close the discussion.
The Blog Team
All SWA employees should be VERY concerned about this announcement and the future of this airline. The deviciveness created by those in the GO will kill the SPIRIT, CULTURE, TRUST, AND COOPERATION of every union employee here. The small amount of revenue gained will be a pittance compared to the lost revenue caused by these decisions.
Believe me, I have worked for a legacy carrier, and we are becomming more and more like them. Before long, the spirited employees of SWA will be noncaring bitching drones who come to work for a paycheck and couldn't care less what others (our pax) think of this place.
Codeshare can work, but not without the continued growth of the mainline. We aren't growing domestically, we are shrinking. And to announce this now is a slap in our collective faces.
I've not been with SWA for 2 long but I've never heard the pilots so angry at management and what it is they are doing. Has this ever happened before? Wil they go on strike? It seems like the new US president might let them if it's about outsourcing to a foreign country.
concerned employee
"That's why this little kitty got a 96%. SNAP, SNAP! REGINALD HAS LEFT THE BUILDING"
Whew! Nuff said.
Can we, at a minimum, all agree that this is contentious and toxic to employee relations?
If you think that this is just a few pilots that are upset by this, you have gravely miscalculated the sentiment. "Bad Faith" contract negotiations are a quick way to ruin a business.
Great another legacy farming it flying out.
This airline has become the most boring in the world. Fuel prices are going down (I believe we are starting to lose on those hedges) and every other carrier is announcing new cities, new ideas, expansion, etc. Meanwhile, we became stagnant, almost paralyzed. Our "thrills" now come in the form of code-share announcements, costume contests, chili cookoffs, raffles, the weekly trivia in Today@SWA, surveys that nobody cares about, "new" boarding processes, etc. I almost look forward to the change of snack twice a year or the new SPIRIT magazine at the beginning of the month... Those are my thrills nowadays... I'm seriously thinking about leaving.
If Gary wants to cut costs..He needs to get rid of the Rx or API team whatever their title is...Just a bunch of arrogant emplpyees.. I would like to see Mr.Kelly and this HQ's guy Reggie work a gate with back to back flights that are over selling all by themselves!!!!! Apparently WN thinks one agent can do it all alone.
Point in case - code sharing of this type has hurt every previous airlines' employees due to outsourcing their work. The only way to make code sharing work is through synergistic code sharing (i.e. Westjet flies people down to the US and then uses our assets to turn the plane, and we fly people to Canada and use their assets to turn the plane). This type of code sharing can provide a win-win solution to growth and profits for both airlines.
ATA is an example of how code sharing will fail and ruin our brand name which has been so carefully developed over 35+ years. ATA started flying routes that directly competed with SWA routes - how did that work when the SWA brand was extremely tarnished when we stranded thousands of customers with tickets bought on Southwest.com when ATA went bankrupt. How much did it cost to try to make things 'right' for those customers?
As all pilots have to have been a captain with over 1000 hours of PIC experience, and a large percentage did so all over the world (not just near international), why is it the company does not have faith in our own, 'Best', employees? We would rather risk more brand dilution by betting on an unknown, unproven, start up?
Senior leadership has been quoted as changing Herb's proven success plan: Take care of your internal employees, they will take care of the customers, which will take care of the shareholders" to "shareholders are the number one priority". The good will, spirit, and PRODUCTIVITY of our employees, cannot, and should not be underestimated by the number crunchers.
Thousands of students have done case studies on SWA, and what made it successful, and they all come back to the Southwest Spirit which is being eroded faster by these outsourcing decisions than I ever thought possible.
This is a very sad chapter in Southwest's history. I hope and pray that it will be the long novel I dreamed of when applying here, but the history of disgruntled and bankrupt airlines going down this path foreshadows a quick ending to one of the best stories written of all time.
Extremely concerned and disappointed employee
Listening to the company excuses makes me think that we need to look at other airlines with renewed respect: They all (but us) have managed to enter international (and Alaska, PR and Hawaii) markets with more or less success. They all did the paperwork, trained their crews, made the investments and pulled it off. If we cannot do the same and make money, well, we are not that extraordinary.