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Southwest Airlines coming to DM

shawn_200m said:
Moline will be getting SWA also due to this...which is great news for everyone over here on the eastern side of the state.
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Not necessarily (unless you have some inside info I haven't heard).

At some level, this is about buying out and eliminating competition for Southwest. There is no guarantee they will fly to/from same airports that AirTran served.

My hope is this brings SW to DM, but it could be a way for SW to combat people tending to fly more and more out of DM and not driving to KC or Omaha. Maybe they hope to take out a discounter in DM (i.e..AirTran) and regain those passengers willing to drive to the nearby airports. (sidenote: if people wouldn't do this, we'd have nothing to worry about in DM….however, people are fairly short-sighted when it comes to supply and demand and how they hurt their local airport's chances of getting lower fares when they willing drive hours to neighboring airports.)
 
cyfanatic said:
Yeah...I get it. What I don't get (personal complaint) is that CID talks and tries to act like it is a great airport...but it does nothing to try to attract other carriers. Kind of similar to the entire Cedar Rapids region to be honest...very stagnant in attitude and progress (lack of)!
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They may be fine as a regional airport (I've never had any problems with their services persay) but they defintily have a limited market and that hasn't changed much.
 
tidbit said:
It will be great to board in Des Moines instead or driving to K.C. to catch a flight!! Welcome Aboard!
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Related to my earlier comment on this thread. Because some people are willing to drive NOW, is why SW may not come to DM.

Forest for the trees....my friend.
 
capitalcityguy said:
Not necessarily (unless you have some inside info I haven't heard).

At some level, this is about buying out and eliminating competition for Southwest. There is no guarantee they will fly to/from same airports that AirTran served.

My hope is this brings SW to DM, but it could be a way for SW to combat people tending to fly more and more out of DM and not driving to KC or Omaha. Maybe they hope to take out a discounter in DM (i.e..AirTran) and regain those passengers willing to drive to the nearby airports. (sidenote: if people wouldn't do this, we'd have nothing to worry about in DM….however, people are fairly short-sighted when it comes to supply and demand and how they hurt their local airport's chances of getting lower fares when they willing drive hours to neighboring airports.)
Click to expand...

(Other sidenote: I wouldn't drive that 2 hours if it didn't save me hundreds of dollars.)
 
capitalcityguy said:
(sidenote: if people wouldn't do this, we'd have nothing to worry about in DM….however, people are fairly short-sighted when it comes to supply and demand and how they hurt their local airport's chances of getting lower fares when they willing drive hours to neighboring airports.)
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When there is a 50%-100% difference in ticket price and I have a friend in Kansas City who is driving up anyways... I'm rather inclined to take advantage of that. I could see where people in Des Moines may be inclined to take advantage of that as well
 
Flag Guy said:
When there is a 50%-100% difference in ticket price and I have a friend in Kansas City who is driving up anyways... I'm rather inclined to take advantage of that. I could see where people in Des Moines may be inclined to take advantage of that as well
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Of course, but that isn't the normal scenerio.
 
jdoggivjc said:
How ridiculous would it be to catch a flight from Moline to Des Moines for gameday? I know I wouldn't do it...
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Air Tran doesn't offer a non stop flight from Moline to Des Moines now. I don't see why Southwest would start.
 
capitalcityguy said:
Not necessarily (unless you have some inside info I haven't heard).

At some level, this is about buying out and eliminating competition for Southwest. There is no guarantee they will fly to/from same airports that AirTran served.

My hope is this brings SW to DM, but it could be a way for SW to combat people tending to fly more and more out of DM and not driving to KC or Omaha. Maybe they hope to take out a discounter in DM (i.e..AirTran) and regain those passengers willing to drive to the nearby airports. (sidenote: if people wouldn't do this, we'd have nothing to worry about in DM….however, people are fairly short-sighted when it comes to supply and demand and how they hurt their local airport's chances of getting lower fares when they willing drive hours to neighboring airports.)
Click to expand...

According to an email I got from my Airtran Frequent Flier Account:

Southwest is interested in serving the vast majority, if not all, of AirTran’s markets. The only AirTran airport we know we will not continue to operate at is Dallas Ft. Worth International (DFW). In 2006, we entered into a binding agreement with five parties (including DFW), which restricts us or any wholly owned subsidiary from operating at DFW. That restriction becomes effective at closing. AirTran can continue to serve DFW until the agreement closes.
The Corporate Headquarters will remain in Dallas, TX. Plans for existing AirTran facilities will be assessed by Integration Teams and decisions announced at the appropriate time.

Also, WQAD is reporting that SWA will be serving Moline.
 
BryceC said:
(Other sidenote: I wouldn't drive that 2 hours if it didn't save me hundreds of dollars.)
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Agreed.

I'm not saying I've never made the drive, but it has to be such a huge substantial savings (which 90 % of the time is it not) that I’m OK ignoring: the time wasted, the added risk of missing flight due to weather (i.e.…winter months), increased parking fees (generally) , risks inherent in driving home after a trip/flight when I'm tired, cost of gas/wear on vehicle, etc.
 
shawn_200m said:
According to an email I got from my Airtran Frequent Flier Account:

Southwest is interested in serving the vast majority, if not all, of AirTran’s markets. The only AirTran airport we know we will not continue to operate at is Dallas Ft. Worth International (DFW). In 2006, we entered into a binding agreement with five parties (including DFW), which restricts us or any wholly owned subsidiary from operating at DFW. That restriction becomes effective at closing. AirTran can continue to serve DFW until the agreement closes.
The Corporate Headquarters will remain in Dallas, TX. Plans for existing AirTran facilities will be assessed by Integration Teams and decisions announced at the appropriate time.

Also, WQAD is reporting that SWA will be serving Moline.
Click to expand...

Nice intel. Thx for sharing!
 
I've made the drive to KC once. I may not do it again. I did it for two reasons. A) It was a direct flight into Pittsburgh and B) there was a $200 difference per ticket. It ended up saving us $400.

We drove down the morning off, parked in long term and got on the flight. I'm not sure I'd do it again. It was a long drive back after flying in.
 
SWA should bring some more price discipline to DSM. Chicago to STL, OMA, and MCI are all notably cheaper than DSM. But demand will need to support capacity to fly something larger than regionals in there.

If it does, it'd be nice to be able to fly home hungover from games rather than drive 6 hours...
 
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shawn_200m said:
According to an email I got from my Airtran Frequent Flier Account:

Southwest is interested in serving the vast majority, if not all, of AirTran’s markets. The only AirTran airport we know we will not continue to operate at is Dallas Ft. Worth International (DFW). In 2006, we entered into a binding agreement with five parties (including DFW), which restricts us or any wholly owned subsidiary from operating at DFW. That restriction becomes effective at closing. AirTran can continue to serve DFW until the agreement closes.
The Corporate Headquarters will remain in Dallas, TX. Plans for existing AirTran facilities will be assessed by Integration Teams and decisions announced at the appropriate time.

Also, WQAD is reporting that SWA will be serving Moline.
Click to expand...

KWQC was essentially implying the same thing this morning, and AP stories indicate the same thing.
 
Before Aliegent, 4 of us drove to Omaha and saved $150/person for a trip to vegas. I'd do it again to save $600. We probably spent $15-$20 in fuel to drive to omaha.
 
I thought I would try out a route for comparison. If I want to fly from Omaha to NYC on October 5th it will cost me $144 each way. If I want to do the same route from DSM to NYC the cheapest is $240 plus all the extras that other airlines charge. I'd love to see Southwest come in and put some pressure on the others.
 
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