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BTR trying to "Land" SouthWest Airlines
Posted on 12/16/16 at 2:49 pm
Posted on 12/16/16 at 2:49 pm
WBRZ
BATON ROUGE – Airport officials said they are trying to woo Southwest Airlines but stopped short of saying there's a deal in place to get one of the country's most popular airlines to land commercial flights in Baton Rouge.
The interim director of the airport said at a discussion about the airport's future, Baton Rouge used to not be in the business model of Southwest. However, Ralph Hennessy said, the business model is changing. The airport hopes meetings to secure the airline will take off.
“I don't need the headline to be 'Southwest will be here.' What I am saying is, for a long time Baton Rouge has not fit into their business model … but, their model has changed,” Hennessy said Friday morning.
“We're trying to… fit into the Southwest network.”
Landing Southwest would be a big get for the Baton Rouge airport – Capital Region travelers looking to book cheap flights on the low-cost airline routinely drive to the airport in New Orleans where there are numerous daily flights to 99 other U.S. cities serviced by Southwest. It recently added Cuba to its destinations, too.
Southwest would likely operate the largest commercial aircraft to-and-from Baton Rouge. Southwest uses Boeing 737s. Current commercial airlines at the Baton Rouge airport operate smaller, 55-passenger jets. The 737 holds close to 140 passengers.
BATON ROUGE – Airport officials said they are trying to woo Southwest Airlines but stopped short of saying there's a deal in place to get one of the country's most popular airlines to land commercial flights in Baton Rouge.
The interim director of the airport said at a discussion about the airport's future, Baton Rouge used to not be in the business model of Southwest. However, Ralph Hennessy said, the business model is changing. The airport hopes meetings to secure the airline will take off.
“I don't need the headline to be 'Southwest will be here.' What I am saying is, for a long time Baton Rouge has not fit into their business model … but, their model has changed,” Hennessy said Friday morning.
“We're trying to… fit into the Southwest network.”
Landing Southwest would be a big get for the Baton Rouge airport – Capital Region travelers looking to book cheap flights on the low-cost airline routinely drive to the airport in New Orleans where there are numerous daily flights to 99 other U.S. cities serviced by Southwest. It recently added Cuba to its destinations, too.
Southwest would likely operate the largest commercial aircraft to-and-from Baton Rouge. Southwest uses Boeing 737s. Current commercial airlines at the Baton Rouge airport operate smaller, 55-passenger jets. The 737 holds close to 140 passengers.
28
Posted on 12/16/16 at 2:51 pm to Tigeralum2008
Posted on 12/16/16 at 2:52 pm to Tigeralum2008
Would be yuge
Posted on 12/16/16 at 2:53 pm to Tigeralum2008
I could see one flight a day out of BTR to maybe dallas or houston, would have to be a large O/D location if they're using a 737 though. I know myself and many others around here drive to MSY for southwest flights if they've got a good deal going.
Posted on 12/16/16 at 2:55 pm to Tigeralum2008
I really hope they do...do
Lulz at the shite reference
Lulz at the shite reference
Posted on 12/16/16 at 2:55 pm to Tigeralum2008
I'd fly if the price is right, bitch.
Posted on 12/16/16 at 2:56 pm to tigerbutt
LFT gonna get SWA before BTR with that new terminal
Blee dat
Blee dat
This post was edited on 12/16/16 at 2:57 pm
Posted on 12/16/16 at 2:56 pm to CuseTiger
quote:
I could see one flight a day out of BTR to maybe dallas or houston, would have to be a large O/D location if they're using a 737 though. I know myself and many others around here drive to MSY for southwest flights if they've got a good deal going.
It'll be difficult for BTR to compete with the direct SWA flights MSY offers but I agree, flights to Dallas or houston would see significant demand
Posted on 12/16/16 at 2:58 pm to Tigeralum2008
quote:
Current commercial airlines at the Baton Rouge airport operate smaller, 55-passenger jets.
Not true.
I've been flying in and out on Boeing 717, A320, and MD88s lately with Delta.
Posted on 12/16/16 at 2:59 pm to CuseTiger
quote:
I could see one flight a day out of BTR to maybe dallas or houston, would have to be a large O/D location if they're using a 737 though. I know myself and many others around here drive to MSY for southwest flights if they've got a good deal going.
Realistically, that's about what BTR would support, but Southwest goes big when they enter a market (11 + flights a day). I doubt BTR could fill that many 737's unless MSY was nuked.
Posted on 12/16/16 at 2:59 pm to Tigeralum2008
If an airline had stewardesses dressed like that, had comfortable seats, and gave free drinks, it could charge double. Business travelers would keep them going.
Posted on 12/16/16 at 3:02 pm to GetBackToWork
First graduating class of Flight Attendants for SWA...circa 1969
Posted on 12/16/16 at 3:03 pm to Tigeralum2008
I'd gladly take a nondirect flight with a stop in houston/Dallas when flying SWA if it meant not having to drive to NOLA and pay to park.
Posted on 12/16/16 at 3:08 pm to Tigeralum2008
I think Southwest would do well with just 2-3 destinations out of this list of their hubs:
Dallas Love Field
Houston Hobby
Orlando
Midway Chicago
BWI (Baltimore/Washington)
St Louis
I'd guess Dallas and Orlando would be most likely. Chicago and Baltimore-Washington also makes sense.
Dallas Love Field
Houston Hobby
Orlando
Midway Chicago
BWI (Baltimore/Washington)
St Louis
I'd guess Dallas and Orlando would be most likely. Chicago and Baltimore-Washington also makes sense.
This post was edited on 12/16/16 at 3:21 pm
Posted on 12/16/16 at 3:18 pm to runforrestrun
quote:
I doubt BTR could fill that many 737's unless MSY was nuked.
Something like 60% of fliers in BTR travel to MSY. The demand is there, it's just going to BTR's competitor, which itself also needs to go after "bigger fish".
In a perfect world, New Orleans would be a focus city or hub city for one of the non-Delta majors and a freight forwarder. It would see significant O-D traffic from the tourism in the area as well as a shite load of connecting flights from southern cities and offer more nonstops to Europe and Latin America. Ultimately that would make it a much larger airport and a huge economic driver.
Baton Rouge's airport should serve local business and local traffic to the capital region, but with more nonstop connections than what it has now and more carriers like Frontier and Southwest added to the mix, making it similar in size and scale to Oklahoma City or Tulsa.
Posted on 12/16/16 at 3:20 pm to Tigeralum2008
We have fricked up so many of these deals.
Posted on 12/16/16 at 3:21 pm to Tigeralum2008
(no message)
This post was edited on 1/18/17 at 12:01 am
Posted on 12/16/16 at 3:21 pm to Tigeralum2008
yes please
Posted on 12/16/16 at 3:22 pm to member12
quote:
In a perfect world, New Orleans would be a focus city or hub city for one of the non-Delta majors and a freight forwarder
What about Virgin/Alaska or Jetblue? They could easily make MSY a hub, closest jetblue hub is Orlando and closest Virgin/Alaska is Dallas. New Orleans will always have the tourism business, leaving the business flights from BTR perhaps?
Posted on 12/16/16 at 3:23 pm to member12
quote:
Something like 60% of fliers in BTR travel to MSY. The demand is there,
I wonder what % of MSY traffic is from BTR?
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