But in the end, if you buy from a bargain airline, at some point, you are likely to get a result that is not a bargain.
Southwest can offer low fares, because they run their airline on the cheap.
For example, point to point service, rather than hub and spoke. Works fine most of the time, but when you get a weather event, a point to point model makes it all but impossible to backfill employees.
They run minimal staffing operations, meaning their is zero margin if things go south.
And they are years behind on computer technology because they are too ■■■■■■■ cheap to pay for up to date software. And that in particular led to the most recent meltdown.
There is a moral to this story.
You get what you pay for.
While I have some small measure of sympathy for their customers, hopefully those customers will learn an important lesson. Or at least to avoid Southwest if the weather looks iffy.
I personally would never consider flying Southwest. They have no first class service and their “Business Select” service is a ■■■■■■■ joke.
If I have to fly commercial, it will usually be Jetblue Mint Class or Delta Business or First Class.
I was at a bar last night in the French Quarter, and me and my wife struck up a conversation with a couple at the bar whose Southwest flight home had been cancelled, and were going back to San Antonio on a Greyhound tomorrow.
I’ve done a few rides from the town I work at in south Mississippi down to New Orleans and back.
It was fascinating. The whole time I was imagining how state of the art it must have felt for people in the 1850s to travel great distances without the involvement of a horse.
Nothing will ever replace the car for me, but I’m glad I did it. I would love to do a train ride to DC from here. But that’s an awfully long time to be around a bunch of people. Plus when I eventually go to DC I want to drive it in my own car.
When I was 17, I took a Greyhound from central Florida up to Charlotte. It sucked. Thankfully, I have never had to ride the bus since.
I still remember the group of Marine washouts they picked up in Beaufort, SC. They were discussing Parris Island, etc. Most of them were dropped off in Columbia.
My only issue is being crammed in with a bunch of people.
Same problem I have with busses too. I’ve never taken a bus ride longer than 2 and a half hours though. But even that short of a ride was a pain. Just too many people in a confined place.
I won’t fly coach, period. I will borrow one of Elon Musk’s SpaceX spacesuits and have myself duct taped to the outside of the fuselage before I would fly in the living hell known as coach.
