Activist Investor pushing changes at SWA - Airline Pilot Central Forums (2024)

#131

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Originally Posted by cessnapilot

agree

Another take on it here

#132

#133

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Originally Posted by Traffic Alert

I agree with some of his points. However, we are here because of the ineptitude and complacency of our C suite. They elected to just coast on past success while everyone else climbed the mountain. They left the door open for this and we should all be angry at them for it. Gary and Bob need to go play w/ their grandkids and let someone else divert SWA into what its next chapter is. They don’t deserve that chance anymore. Nobody knows what will happen next and we have to just control what we can. There is probably a ton of investor politics being played behind the scenes. Things will change but I think we will still be SWA at the core. They even referenced some of Herbs best quotes in their summary. The big 3 added Basic Economy to compete w/ us and now it’s time to add Premium Seats to return the favor, along with adding galley carts w/ edible food.

#134

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Originally Posted by anonymousxyz

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#135

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Originally Posted by REF 5

800 pound gorilla talk has really nothing to do with the network. It has to do with the balance sheet of SWA. SWA still by a wide margin has net cash position. They are the only airline that has investment grade rating by all three agencies. None of the other three legacies have that. All the holders of debt can call their loan's tomorrow and only SWA can pay it off and still have about 3 billion in cash left over. It's important that it stays that way. That balance sheet gives them the abilty to do stupid things(like the melt down) and not financially destroy the enterprise. It's one of the main reasons's why Elliott and at one point Buffet invested in SWA. In a cash intensive business like the airlines, the balance sheet gives companies like SWA a advantage in good and bad times. Having said that, operating margins are terrible due to low yields on the revenue side and massive cost increases on the cost side. Many more airplanes can only fix the cost side. The revenue side, I guess we'll see the plan in the fall.

When it comes to the network, of the top 50 US markets, SWA is #1 in half of them. US airfares have been going down now for over a year. CPI has seen decreases of 14 straight months of US airfares. Legacies have the advantage because of their big international footprint. Almost all the gains of the unit revenue side have been because of markets like Europe. Which SWA ain't doin. Although I predict code sharing is and will be a important part of their revenue strategery come the fall.

#136

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Originally Posted by 4V14T0R

Not sure about this fall, but search galaxy program on swalife. There's some interesting stuff there. There's a lot of ways they can work on the revenue side, but they are trigger shy. Cost side is like you said or they do things employees don't like and we all (hopefully) tell them to shove it.

#137

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Originally Posted by REF 5

Many projects in the pipe line. Some will definitely be beneficial to the revenue side of things. It is amazing how much detail these projects get into. I don't think the "trigger shy" guys have a choice. Especially when you start putting estimates of revenue projections for the next couple of years. If they won't, some one else will. You can tell some of those projects have been in the works for a while. BJ already hinted a couple of them last week in some business forum.

Casey wrote a nice piece on the SWAPA forum. Not much info but we are in the early stages. My biggest concern is how much they will have to invest on top of already a pretty intense capex spend on airplanes and tech.

#138

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Originally Posted by e6bpilot

This is Gary Kelly's legacy. While the shareholders and, honestly, a lot of pilots were high fiving over the amazing financial performance of SWA in the mid teens, the company was rotting from the inside. Kelly absolutely crushed it on the cost side while boosting revenue using marginal add ons to the existing product. This resulted in amazing quarterly and annual results, but a cancer started under that cost cutting that is mestasticizing today. He absolutely refused to invest in the IT, infrastructure, and modernization that was going to be required to succeed later on. He put it off and put it off and now that we are doing it, it's costing us way more in lost revenue and increased costs than it ever would have to just do it when it's required. He also went on a fuel hedging gambling binge that lost 9 figures.

It's the same as putting off oil changes in your car to reduce costs. Sure, it will work fine for probably 5 years but when the engine locks up, you sure will wish you just spent the 50 bucks a couple times a year. This whole debacle with Elliott can be attributed to Kelly's terrible leadership and a succession plan that fell apart, leaving us with Jordan.

#139

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Originally Posted by KPer

Well, it seems to be the only thing you can comprehend. Mission accomplished.

#140