In the entire of history of WN, they have only pulled out of 3 cities. Besides SFO and DEN, they pulled out of BPT (Beaumont, TX). They also changed airports in Detroit. So, I think that's a pretty good record and shows the leadership of Herb. In 30+ years, the right decision has been made to serve a city just about every time. David R > In a message dated 2/27/2004 12:00:52 PM US Mountain Standard Time, > DEmocrat2n@xxxxxxx writes: > > > And it was 1978 when the industry deregulated and WN experienced its true > > growth. 1982 was the big expansion year, when they hit CA, PHX, LAS and their > > other honey pots. Seems to me like Herb was the influence. And also, as > > one of the owners, I think he had a lot to do with what we could not see > > Actually Southwest was very cautious in taking advantage of deregulation. > Their niche at DAL worked very well thank you, so why follow the suicidal lead > of Braniff by over expanding and over extending? While Herb is revered as a > flamboyant aviation leader, he never went nilly willy into markets where > Southwest's success was not virtually assured. Yes he pulled out of DEN and > SFO, but > not because Southwest was losing money in those cities. He pulled out because > delays negatively impacted Southwest's ability to arrive on time and maximize > aircraft utilization. That's what loses money. In this regard, Herb's > brillance is even brighter when compared to the dim wits in charge of other > airlines. > > RT Simpson > Phoenix