Article #3

Southwest Airtran

Southwest Airtran Merger

Southwest is already the largest airline in America and now with the new Southwest Airtran merger going through, Southwest is in the process of becoming 25% bigger thereby creating a dominant stake hold in the low cost flights market.

The new combined airline is now the world's 4th largest airline carrying over 120 million passengers per year.
 

Airtran Southwest Merger Timeline

The announcement of the Airtran Southwest merger came on the 27th of September 2010.

Southwest put an offer of $1.4 billion which was accepted by Airtran.

The operations of the now singular company will be finalized over the next two years with a draft blanket operating plan to be released early in 2012.

Airtran Southwest Points / Southwest Airtran Frequent Flyer

One of the main questions travelers have with the Southwest Airtran merger is what happens to the frequent flyer miles?

Well, according to SWAirlines all of Airtran's Boeing fleet will be painted and rebranded to operate under Southwest's branding. However, both airlines will still operate as separate carriers until at least the beginning of 2013. So, it looks like you'll still be able to use your frequent flyer miles as you did before, at least until further notice.

When the Southwest Airtran merger is finally completed, if you still have miles with either airline, look out for something special in the form of cross crediting miles. That's my bet anyway!
 

Airtran Southwest Careers

There is considerable uncertainty over staffing issues surrounding the Southwest Airtran merger, more specifically the decision by Southwest to retain all Airtran staff without any screening or interviewing process at all.

It's practically a fact that Airtran service is amongst the worst ever. A lot of people are wondering whether the strong customer service at Southwest will bring the Airtran service standards up?

The most likely scenario is that without retraining and a strong motivation the Airtran staff are bound to have a negative impact on the Southwest image, but only time will tell.
 

Airtran Southwest Merger and Cheap Flights

One of the major concerns for consumers regarding the Southwest Airtran merger is the loss of competitiveness, especially at the low end of the market for airline tickets under 100 dollars.

With speculation of US Airways and AA also now on the lookout for merger partners, you will probably start to see a decrease in the amount of insanely cheap flights being offered.

So the question is how to get cheap flights now that there will be fewer deals? The answer is, and always has been, to not rely on airline deals but to use your own strategies to learn how to get cheap airline tickets.

The most obvious techniques include booking your travel on the cheapest days to fly and trying to actually purchase your tickets on the best day to book airline tickets.

On any given day the best time to book a flight can change. Be sure to visit our home page for all of this information and more.

We aim to give consumers the best information on everything to do with how to get cheap flights from how to get cheap red eye flights deals to which airlines still offer standby flights and how to avoid jet lag.