New boeing 737 Max 8 rolled out in ceremony

Quote: Nareed

Apparently they don't charge for carry-on yet, but have a strict, and limited, definition of what it is, forcing many passengers to check luggage other airlines still allow in the overhead bins.

Many bags in the USA were designed with a height limitation not including the wheels and handles, but the newest airline restrictions include the wheels and handles. In the case of Allegiant for many flights, they charge $15 each way to carry on a bag, and $20 each way to check a bag. But they charge $50 each way if you show up at the airport without making prior arrangements. So if you prepaid $15 for a carry on, and they won't allow it, you get charged $50.

I understand that American Airlines caught a lot of people with this rule change as well. Rolling Duffel bags also work, but they are not as useful for nice clothes.

Quote: Pacomartin

In the case of Allegiant for many flights, they charge $15 each way to carry on a bag, and $20 each way to check a bag. But they charge $50 each way if you show up at the airport without making prior arrangements. So if you prepaid $15 for a carry on, and they won't allow it, you get charged $50.

I wonder how clearly this shows up on their website when you're buying a ticket.

It may not matter if it takes up 99% of the screen, though. If you give me a set of dimensions, I've no idea if my bag fits or not. Finding a tape measure and using it seems like too much trouble. So I would probably think, "Oh, it must mean the usual carry-on bag." And likely a lot of other think the same way.

The thing is there are literally millions of carry-on bags out there which can no longer be carried on some airlines.


On other things, Viva is now advertising assigned seats in all their flights. It's amazing how they manage to paint a practice almost as old as commercial aviation as though it were an innovation.

Quote: Nareed

So I would probably think, "Oh, it must mean the usual carry-on bag." And likely a lot of other think the same way.

That's what I figured. I said, this is an industry standard bag, surely they wouldn't disallow it over the wheels. But as the airport is only three miles away, I drove over there to actually test it out, and it didn't fit. Then some high school girl gave me the spiel that they couldn't make any exceptions since the cumulative effect of everybody's bags would mean that the cabin would be full. I thought this was horseshit, as these bags had been all over the world. The ULCC airline had just figured out a way to subtly change the requirement to make a fortune in extra bag fees.

Quote: Pacomartin

Then some high school girl gave me the spiel that they couldn't make any exceptions since the cumulative effect of everybody's bags would mean that the cabin would be full.

Do you suppose they recruit at high schools, or do these girls volunteer their services? ;)

Quote:

I thought this was horseshit, as these bags had been all over the world. The ULCC airline had just figured out a way to subtly change the requirement to make a fortune in extra bag fees.

Thing is this trick will work only for a short time. Eventually people will catch on.

But I can't explain why they'd reduce the dimensions otherwise.

American, Delta, and United just reduced size limits for carry-on bags in 2014. Southwest permits the largest bag size, and probably bags of all ages conform to their standards.

They also have some variation on the metric conversion

Southwest
Southwest Airlines limits carryon bag dimensions to 10 x 16 x 24 inches

JetBlue
All carry-on bags must not exceed 22" L (55.88 cm) x 14" W (35.56 cm) x 9" H (22.86 cm), including wheels/handles, on all of our aircraft types.

United
Carry-on bag: The maximum dimensions for a carry-on bag are 9 inches x 14 inches x 22 inches (22 cm x 35 cm x 56 cm), including handles and wheels.

American
Your carry-on bag should be: Up to 45 inches (22 x 14 x 9 in) or 115 centimeters (23 x 36 x 56 cm) including handles and wheels

Allegiant
Maximum size is 9 x 14 x 22 inches (22.9 x 35.6 x 55.9 centimeters)

The logical progression now should be a rate increase for carry-on bags, once the majority of passengers carry ones that conform to the reduced dimensions.

I flew Southwest this weekend to Vegas. Not on a 737 MAX, but it seemed to be a very new 737-800. It was quite nice. There was tons of leg room. And I heard them say it seated 175, which is more than the SW planes usually seat.

About 45 minutes into the flight one of the flight attendants asked if there were any doctors or nurses on board (there were no doctors, one paramedic and a couple nurses). Someone had become gravely ill on the flight. I could see that they had him laying on the floor in the first row. They got out their emergency medical communication head set and plugged it in right above my seat. This was the first time I've ever seen those plugs used.

We ended up getting diverted to Omaha.

We had an overweight landing, so they had to do an inspection and a lot of paperwork before we could take off again. Took about an hour and 45 minutes to get going again. I didn't mind. It was a super early flight, scheduled to arrive in Vegas at 7:30am. Way too early to check in to my hotel anyway.

Quote: ams288

I flew Southwest this weekend to Vegas. Not on a 737 MAX, but it seemed to be a very new 737-800. It was quite nice. There was tons of leg room. And I heard them say it seated 175, which is more than the SW planes usually seat.

Planespotters lists Southwest fleet as:

67 Boeing 737-300 (137-143 seats) Jun 1992-Sep 1997
503 Boeing 737-700 (143 seats) up to 20 years old
164 Boeing 737-800 (175 seats) first delivered March 2012

Wikipedia entries for fuel economy in mpg per seat assuming 500–660 nautical miles
Boeing 737-300 (68 mpg‑US)
Boeing 737-700 (74 mpg‑US)
Boeing 737-800 (85 mpg‑US)
Boeing 737 MAX 8 (103.2 mpg‑US)

Southwest reports an average of 74 mpg, so the retirement of the older planes and adding the MAX 8 should have a big improvement on fuel economy

Orders
170 Boeing (175 seats) Scheduled to enter service on October 1, 2017, following the retirement of the 737-300.

I don't know if Southwest is going to add any new domestic destinations after October.

Quote: 2016 Annual Report

We were not planning to add any new cities in 2016; however, as I reported in last year’s Annual Report to Shareholders, slots became available in Long Beach, California, and flights resumed between the United States and Cuba. We reacted swiftly to these opportunities and launched service to Long Beach Airport; Varadero, Cuba; Havana, Cuba (our 100th destination); and Santa Clara, Cuba. We serve Long Beach with short-haul flights in California and Cuba from Ft. Lauderdale and Tampa. We also launched service from Los Angeles International Airport to Cancun, Puerto Vallarta, and Los Cabos, Mexico. Additional routes and frequencies within our existing network rounded out the balance of our 2016 expansion. It was another successful year in network development.

Southwest may have finally peaked in "operating income". Still a very healthy bottom line.

Operating income millions
$3,760 2016
$4,116 2015 <----------------------
$2,225 2014
$1,278 2013
$623 2012
$693 2011
$988 2010
$262 2009
$449 2008
$791 2007