Adam727 From United States of America, joined Aug 2003, 131 posts, RR: 0 Posted (8 years 11 months 1 week 2 days 12 hours ago) and read 5613 times:
Hi people, I got my July issue of airways and a I was reading " New E-Jets from Brazil, And I saw on page 15 the fifth picture down a Embraer 170 in Southwest Airlines colors and it said that Southwest is looking to buy the 170. Is this true, and why would southwest buy a different aircraft.
N766UA From United States of America, joined Jul 1999, 7996 posts, RR: 27 Reply 1, posted (8 years 11 months 1 week 2 days 12 hours ago) and read 5582 times:
Someone posted this exact topic already. WN is not buying Embraers. Do a search.
Drerx7 From United States of America, joined Jun 2000, 4906 posts, RR: 9 Reply 2, posted (8 years 11 months 1 week 2 days 4 hours ago) and read 5230 times:
Southwest is contemplating the purchase of the Embraers--thats it. They are hesistant to stray from their model of success--but ultimately they may need to do so. I predict that they will see how other carriers are benefitting from the ERJ170s and 190s before they seriously look into acquiring them. There are conceivable hundreds of markets they could enter with 737s.
Geg2rap From United States of America, joined Sep 2003, 838 posts, RR: 0 Reply 3, posted (8 years 11 months 1 week 2 days 4 hours ago) and read 5170 times:
wn always says it is "contemplating" the latest fad.....odds are low on it happeneing unless wn smells blood from a couple majors going down
RayChuang From United States of America, joined Jun 2000, 7696 posts, RR: 5 Reply 4, posted (8 years 11 months 1 week 2 days 4 hours ago) and read 5158 times:
I think WN will not buy the Embraer 190/195. Now, if they can convince Boeing to build a lighter-weight 737-600, that's a very different story.
DIA From United States of America, joined Jan 2001, 3273 posts, RR: 30 Reply 5, posted (8 years 11 months 1 week 2 days 4 hours ago) and read 5128 times:
Hey there, cowboy!
I posted almost the exact same topic a few weeks ago. I think I read the same article as you did.
7E72004 From United States of America, joined Mar 2004, 3586 posts, RR: 1 Reply 6, posted (8 years 11 months 1 week 2 days 4 hours ago) and read 5092 times:
Southwest has an all Boeing fleet...why go through the expense of hiring new maintenance, etc. for a new aircraft. The 737s are good enough for their fleet.
The next generation of aircraft is just around the corner!
UA777222 From United States of America, joined Dec 2003, 3348 posts, RR: 13 Reply 7, posted (8 years 11 months 1 week 2 days 4 hours ago) and read 5025 times:
No WN is an all ONE TYPE Boeing fleet. They won't even opt for the -900 so I barely think they will conceder this new addition to the fleet. If I am correct they didn't get the -900 because it would require an extra crew member and they didn't want to pay for it b/c the amount of seats to the amount of crew wouldn't work out. If they don't want to pay for one extra crew member on an already familiar a/c I don't think they are going to pay for a new a/c (new a/c training, different this or that).
PHLBOS From United States of America, joined Mar 2004, 7253 posts, RR: 25 Reply 8, posted (8 years 11 months 1 week 2 days 3 hours ago) and read 4996 times:
They won't even opt for the -900
They don't have any -800s (or -400s) either.
"TransEastern! You'll feel like you've never left the ground because we treat you like dirt!" SNL Parady ad circa 1981
Gigneil From United States of America, joined Nov 2002, 16215 posts, RR: 88 Reply 9, posted (8 years 11 months 1 week 2 days 3 hours ago) and read 4965 times:
Wow, we're all experts here, are we?
Southwest has repeatedly indicated they are looking into 100 seat regional jets, citing changing market conditions as a driver.
They may decide against it, but they're willing to do all these things that we've said they won't if the money is good.
PHLBOS From United States of America, joined Mar 2004, 7253 posts, RR: 25 Reply 10, posted (8 years 11 months 1 week 2 days 3 hours ago) and read 4937 times:
Southwest has repeatedly indicated they are looking into 100 seat regional jets
Key word: looking.
That doesn't necessarily mean that they're going to lease, purchase or buy.
"TransEastern! You'll feel like you've never left the ground because we treat you like dirt!" SNL Parady ad circa 1981
Corsair2 From United States of America, joined Jan 2001, 248 posts, RR: 0 Reply 13, posted (8 years 11 months 1 week 2 days 2 hours ago) and read 4726 times:
It will be interesting the day the 737 is no longer offered to see what Southwest will do. How many more years must we wait to see a replacement for the 737 family? 10 more years?
"We have clearance Clarence. Roger, Roger. What's our vector Victor?"
DfwRevolution From , joined Dec 1969, posts, RR: Reply 14, posted (8 years 11 months 1 week 2 days 2 hours ago) and read 4658 times:
It will be interesting the day the 737 is no longer offered to see what Southwest will do. How many more years must we wait to see a replacement for the 737 family?
Nothing firm or offical at all, so it depends on one's own speculation. Personally, I expect a replacement to be outlined by 2008 with an EOS of 2012-2015. The 737NG is still selling strong, so why replace a good product too early?
When a replacement does roll around, you can bet that WN will have a large say in the aircraft's parameters. WN would probably replace the bulk of the 733 fleet with the 737NG-replacement, which is something like 150 aircraft.
Corsair2 From United States of America, joined Jan 2001, 248 posts, RR: 0 Reply 15, posted (8 years 11 months 1 week 2 days 2 hours ago) and read 4620 times:
Southwest has a good, conservative business plan and doing well right now, but sometime down the road when new tech is offered they cannot afford to keep things as is. Its good to invest a good chunk of business in R and D to have money well into the future. One must avoid the "we've been doing this the same way every year" mentality. Flying a new jet would be good for SW.
"We have clearance Clarence. Roger, Roger. What's our vector Victor?"
AirframeAS From United States of America, joined Feb 2004, 14150 posts, RR: 26 Reply 16, posted (8 years 11 months 1 week 2 days 1 hour ago) and read 4363 times:
Southwest has an all Boeing fleet...why go through the expense of hiring new maintenance, etc. for a new aircraft.
WN wouldn't necessarly 'hire' for new maintenance, they would just revise some parts of their MX program to include the new aircraft in their system.
They won't even opt for the -900
They don't have any -800s (or -400s) either.
They did, in fact, have a few -800s on order, but those were converted back to the -700s.
Like always for this one particular topic.....its discussed to death. This is old news........
A Safe Flight Begins With Quality Maintenance On The Ground.
Thrust From United States of America, joined Sep 2003, 2673 posts, RR: 11 Reply 17, posted (8 years 11 months 1 week 2 days 1 hour ago) and read 4191 times:
The day Southwest chooses an aircraft other than the 737, in my opinion, is the day that TWA comes back to life. In other words, I don't think WN is going to do it. IF they do, the Embraer 170 will become the only aircraft they operate. WN is probably not going to change their tradition for a long time, based on my point-of-view...it is working fine for them now, and it is pointless to change a tradition that still continues to benefit them today.
Swardu From United States of America, joined May 2004, 79 posts, RR: 0 Reply 18, posted (8 years 11 months 1 week 1 day 16 hours ago) and read 3143 times:
Embraer has already approached Southwest a while back about the 170. Southwest emphatically said no. And has been said already on this thread, Southwest is looking into...stressing "looking into"....the ERJ190. Southwest will have to exhaust all market possibilities for the 737 to enter (which are TOO numerous to mention) before they will even blink towards the ERJ190. They said "looking into" strictly in an effort to let everyone else know that they're watching. And as Herb, Jim, and Colleen have all said, they want an aircraft that will do the best job in ALL areas of operation, not SOME areas, which is why we do not have the 737-800 or 900 aircraft. And IF/WHEN the 737 is finally and formally discontinued, I can promise you they will have already contacted Boeing and helping them design a new aircraft. Now if Boeing were to come out with an RJ along the same principles as the ERJ190, Southwest MIGHT take a very serious look at that, instead of a "looking into" approach.
Silver1SWA From United States of America, joined Mar 2004, 4538 posts, RR: 26 Reply 19, posted (8 years 11 months 1 week 1 day 13 hours ago) and read 2284 times:
If I remember correctly, they are no longer "looking into it". WN already announced that due to a competitor's (JetBlue) recent acquisition of the Embraers, it was the responsible thing to do to "look into it". They have already done so, and announced they had to plans to deviate from their successful structure. This topic has already been covered more than once.
ALL views, opinions expressed are mine ONLY and are NOT representative of those shared by Southwest Airlines Co.
Rjpieces From , joined Dec 1969, posts, RR: Reply 20, posted (8 years 11 months 1 week 4 hours ago) and read 2202 times:
It will be interesting the day the 737 is no longer offered to see what Southwest will do. How many more years must we wait to see a replacement for the 737 family?
It will be very interesting to see. Just last week when Boeing mentioned the 7E7 to WN, their CEO said "if the airplane maker designs a smaller version of the 7E7 that offers a seating capacity similar to the 737, then Southwest may be interested." Boeing has said for a while that the future 737 replacement will be based on 7E7 technology.....But if WN ever wants/needs to replace their 737 fleet and the 737 is out of production, they would need to have two aircraft in their fleet for the transition.
However, the 737 is likely to be in production for quite a few years. Especially as military versions of the 737 are now being ordered, WN and other Locos are still expanding, and American and Delta have 500+ MD-80s to replace in the next decade, I expect the 737 to remain in production.
LTBEWR From United States of America, joined Jan 2004, 12338 posts, RR: 12 Reply 21, posted (8 years 11 months 1 week 3 hours ago) and read 2120 times:
Maybe WN was looking at Embraers to put pressure on Boeing for better pricing on future purchases of 737's, especially smaller pax load models.
Cloudy From , joined Dec 1969, posts, RR: Reply 22, posted (8 years 11 months 6 days 13 hours ago) and read 1924 times:
But if WN ever wants/needs to replace their 737 fleet and the 737 is out of production, they would need to have two aircraft in their fleet for the transition.
------
They have operated a fleet in transition for many years - the 737-200 does not have much in common with the -700. There are also many differences between the -300 and -700. The 200's will be gone in 2005. If Boeing replaces the 737, it is pretty safe to say that the replacement won't start flying till AT LEAST 2011-12. By that time, Southwest's fleet will consist of mostly -700's, with the -300's and -500's slowly on the way out. By the time the replacement enters the fleet in significant numbers, there would not be many -300 generation 737's left.
The -700's would coexist with the 737 replacement for a long time, but as long as the -300's don't stay in significant numbers for long, Southwest's fleet would maintain about the same level of commonality it has today. The next generation Boeing plane will be more different from the -700 than the -700 is from the -300. Yet consider that Southwest's -300's come from a variety of sources and do not have as much in common with EACH OTHER as the -700 fleet does. All of the 700's (to my knowledge) were built new for Southwest and so are nearly identical.
Any new Boeing plane can be programmed to have the same handling characteristics and cockpit "look and feel" as the 737 - so flight training differences would not be much of a problem. There would be little airframe or engine commonality.
One potential problem.....I am not sure if Southwest has some missions that are marginally better served by the -300 than the -700. If this is the case, the -300's may have to stay for a while or a variant of the new aircraft will need to be built with -300 type routes in mind.
IN SHORT.... There is a problem of having two aircraft types in the transition, but it is not as great as it first appears. A fleet of nearly identical 737-700's, slowly being replaced by a new design (no doubt built largely to Southwest's specs) - need not present much greater commonality problems than Southwest is dealing with today with its different versions of the 737.
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