Flying

My first experience with the new assigned seating on Southwest Airlines felt successful. I liked picking my seat in advance and knowing that it would be waiting for me no matter how long it took to board. Although I’m not sure what it bodes for the airline’s future because now they’re just like every other carrier. They’re still the affordable alternative, but it’s going to be hard to keep prices low with fuel costs soaring. I wish them luck.

As for me, I’m not the frequent traveler I once was, still I’m a bit of a creature of habit, and I prefer the devil I know. So, I’ll stick with SWA and see how things go. I’ve shopped around for better prices, but dollars have only been part of what drives me to a purchase. I like the value proposition. What am I getting for my dollar? I want a lot more than just getting from point A to point B. SWA for a variety of reasons provides that value.

In the end though, however, I know Herb Kelleher, the airline’s co-founder, is no longer around. The profit over everything boys are in charge. So, I’m guessing they’ll squeeze us until we squeal then start selling off the pieces. I always thought Herb saw people flying in his planes, but in my view the hedge fund managers only see numbers in those seats, and they fly private jets. So, at some point I’m guessing SWA will become a found memory with a long Wikipedia entry and someone on the East Coast will get rich feeding off the corporate corpse.