2) Southwest has a great rewards program. After flying 8 roundtrip trips, you can get a free flight.

Today, orlando travel packages Southwest Airlines confirmed that it is preparing a bid to acquire Denver-based Frontier Airlines, which will be sold at auction in bankruptcy court next month.  We sat down with Ron Ricks , our Executive orlando travel packages Vice President orlando travel packages Corporate Services and Corporate Secretary, to discuss the bid and what this news means for Southwest Airlines.
Southwest Airlines is preparing a bid to acquire Denver-based Frontier Airlines, which will be sold at auction in bankruptcy court later this month.  The bid is worth a minimum of $113.6 million, and is a nonbinding proposal in accordance with the bidding procedures established orlando travel packages in the U.S. Bankruptcy orlando travel packages Court for the Southern District of New York.
A:  Southwest is still preparing the proposal, so it s premature to comment on the specifics at this time.  What we can say is that we are interested in a substantial investment in Frontier and to operate Frontier as a wholly-owned subsidiary, independently orlando travel packages and separately from Southwest Airlines, for a period of time until the carrier could be combined into Southwest.
A. A nonbinding submission of interest must be provided by August 3, 2009.  Assuming that Southwest is determined to be a qualified bidder, Southwest has until August 10, 2009, to submit a binding offer.  If there is more than one qualified bidder, an auction will be held beginning August orlando travel packages 11. Southwest believes our bid ultimately will be seen as the strongest orlando travel packages bid by all interested parties, including Frontier Employees, management, and its creditors.
A. Frontier has been in bankruptcy since April 2008, and we’ve been considering a bid for some time, independent of any action Republic took with its bid proposal.  In the past month, orlando travel packages we began an intensive study of the airline and expressed that interest to Frontier.
A. We have always prepared in good times to weather the bad times and to be able to take advantage of a good opportunity, like this one, when presented to us. We have the cash, access orlando travel packages to capital, and collateral orlando travel packages that allows us to take advantage of this existing opportunity and synergies between Southwest and Frontier.  We believe this is an opportunity to expand our network with legendary low fares, add jobs into Southwest, and boost competition in Denver as well as other cities orlando travel packages with our low fares and high quality Customer Service.
A: We believe our bid proposal will allow Frontier to emerge from bankruptcy.  Frontier would continue to operate independently and separately for a period of time with its Airbus aircraft and personnel.  Over time, Frontier Employees would be hired into Southwest orlando travel packages as needed to support our fleet growth and expanded operations.  We believe the acquisition will boost low-fare competition orlando travel packages across the country and certainly in the Denver market.  And, again, we believes our bid will be seen as the strongest bid by all interested parties, including Frontier Employees, management, and its creditors.
A. All of our collective bargaining agreements have provisions for the acquisition of or merger with another carrier. This is not new to Southwest, as it has in its recent history purchased assets of ATA Airlines (2008) and acquired Morris Air (1993).
A: From a Customer perspective, nothing today changes at either carrier.  This is merely a preliminary step in the process.  There are many details to be worked through, but we are excited about the opportunity to submit a bid. We see a strong fit between our Company cultures, a mutual commitment to high quality Customer Service, and our similar entrepreneurial roots. We are confident that our bid, if successful, will boost low-fare competition and benefit consumers in Denver and other cities our expanded network will serve.
Since most of the large corporations allow their high value employees to fly business/first class only on international flights, it will be the best of ALL deals if after the UA/USAir merger Continental and SWA create a partnership to supplement each other. The ideal partnership will be SWA to have all domestic market and CAL the international. Both airlines have very smart CEOs I m sure they can make it work The bottom line it will be a necessary survival partnership orlando travel packages that it will serve the public, make money for their stock holders and keep the majority of their current employees.
At the risk of beating a dead horse, I believe I came across another reason why certain Frontier employees did not want SWA to win the acquisition bid for them. The on-time performance rankings published orlando travel packages several days ago indicated that Frontier ranks as one of the worst, at least for July. Perhaps the Frontier employees didn t want someone like SW, that prides itself on on-time peformance a triple-crown like mindset, to come in and remove some of the integrated slack that the Frontier orlando travel packages operations appear to be enjoying. That could have actually translated to requiring a little orlando travel packages more focus and hard work!
Since SWA did not win the bid to tak over Frontier, will they be bidding on any other airlines anytime soon? Will they ever have a presence in Atlanta? I recall there had been bad blood when Eastern was around, but that is water under the bridge. It would be wonderful if SWA had a presence in Atlanta. The acquisition of Frontier woudl have achieved that but it was not to be. Any other hews on this front?
I just want to say that it s absolutely amazing that SWA started and kept this blog alive with all of the negativity in its threads. I am and always will be a fan of Southwest Airlines (as just a regular old passenger) and think some of what was said in here was uncalled for. I think this blog deserves more positivity, so I m going to provide some.
1) This company thrives on making it affordable to fly. From weekly fare specials, to Ding! fares (that conveniently orlando travel packages and frequently show up in your task bar with a cute little piece of mail on the tail of airplane), to their Featured Destination, you can get a great deal to great US cities often. I can cite many specific examples of fares I ve gotten for less than $100, and can only recall paying more than $200 on two or three (of ~90) occasions. SWA has spoiled me to the point that fares over $200-250 are appalling!
2) Southwest has a great rewards program. After flying 8 roundtrip trips, you can get a free flight. This program has (understandably, considering the economy) offered fewer of the double rewards it used to offer, but I have gotten SEVERAL orlando travel packages free tickets on SWA.
3) Southwest has some of the greatest employees on earth. They are positive, cheerful, helpful, funny, concerned, and passionate about keeping up a great reputation for themselves and their company. I ll never forget the time a flight attendant said meow over the intercom around 35 times while explaining that we were arriving to Chicago on time and beginning our descent.
4) Southwest has an excellent record of leaving on time, and getting places early. orlando travel packages I m not the type to look up the exact stats, or how they compare with other airlines, but I ve experienced very few late departures orlando travel packages (luckily, the times I did, I really needed the flight to be as late as I was running), and very few late arrivals (maybe even none ).
6) I happen to love the fact that, regardless of flight time, I always get a package of peanuts and a little snack whose smell is non-offensive to people sitting around me. While some people may complain about an airline that does not provide in-flight food service (not many do these days anyway), I like the fact that if it s a longer flight, I know I need to pick up my own lunch or dinner.
7) They don t hate my bag (and I just love that commercial!). I rarely check bags, but if I did, I sure wouldn t want to have to pay for it. If, however, it was necessary to keep the company alive, I would.
8) Each month in Spirit magazine, they take the time to recognize an outstanding employee and an outstanding customer (or group of customers). There are full pages dedicated to these people, and I think it s just amazing. The CEO or CIO also make it a point to dedicate an article to the magazine talking about their experiences with the airline industry, with travel in general, with customers who ve touched their hearts, with recollections of personal and emotional orlando travel packages times in our nation s history that shall never be forgotten, and stories of the happiness and joy travel brings to families during the holidays. I ve never felt like I ve known the values and beliefs of the higher ups of a major corporation the way I feel like I know this Southwest s.
9) Southwest and its employees orlando travel packages gives millions of dollars and a lot of time/hours (again, don t know stats) to various charities around our country. orlando travel packages The great employees of Southwest make perfect fits as true altruists!
10) Southwest makes no bones about valuing its employees over its customers. I ve read several accounts of this fact in the Spirit magazine, and to be frank, didn t really understand it at first. How could a company value its employees more than its customers? Well, clearly, it s great for any employee to work for a company that believes in this. Every working person would agree, right? Every consumer who believes that the customer is always right may not. However, it is clear to me that the trickle down effect orlando travel packages of this value system makes for a very positive customer experience. And, you gotta love a company that loves its people.
12) Southwest has never (knock on virtual wood) crashed. They only fly one type of aircraft for several business reasons, no doubt, orlando travel packages but the main driver behind this is passenger safety. Every pilot and co-pilot knows how to fly the plane, every bagging agent knows how to appropriately and safely load baggage, every person on the maintenance crew knows how to maintain the aircraft and knows everything that could possibly be wrong with the plane if something doesn t look or sound right, orlando travel packages etc. Bottom orlando travel packages line is, I feel SAFE on Southwest Airlines.
13) This company, its corporate culture, its loyal customer base, and its sheer su