=20 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- This article was sent to you by someone who found it on SFGate. The original article can be found on SFGate.com here: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=3D/c/a/2009/06/28/BUVM18DT3C= .DTL --------------------------------------------------------------------- Sunday, June 28, 2009 (SF Chronicle) Southwest hopes to lure more business travelers David Koenig, Associated Press (06-28) 04:00 PDT DALLAS -- LaGuardia Airport is the smallest of the three major airports in the New York area, with just two main runways. Planes often sit in long lines on the tarmac, waiting their turn to take off. So why would Southwest Airlines, a carrier that boasts about its on-time prowess, want to go there? In many ways, because it has to. Southwest prospered by offering low fares to leisure travelers whose only other affordable option was a car trip. It flew primarily to America's secondary airports, where costs are low and productivity is high because incoming planes can land, drop off passengers, take on the next group and get back in the air quickly. On Sunday, Southwest starts service at LaGuardia, one of the nation's mo= st congested airports. This should bring cheaper ticket prices to New York-area vacationers flying to Chicago, Baltimore and beyond. But the move is also part of a risky transition that Southwest knows it has to make to win the loyalty of business travelers who increasingly will dictate its future prospects for success. Southwest started flying in 1971 with three planes. Herb Kelleher, the garrulous, chain-smoking co-founder, fought in court and in the air against bigger airlines that tried to run him out of business. Southwest didn't offer the amenities found on other airlines, but it outlived early rivals such as Braniff by sticking to a core philosophy: Give people low fares and great service. The Dallas-based carrier still sees itself as an underdog today, even as it serves 65 cities and carries more than 100 million U.S. passengers per year, more than any other airline. There are still no first-class cabins and no assigned seats on Southwest, giving it the air of a carrier for penny-pinching vacationers. "We're very dependent on business travelers, so we're not a leisure airline like some of our smaller competitors are," CEO Gary Kelly countered in an interview. He says company surveys show that in normal times at least 40 percent of his customers are traveling on business. Airlines covet business travelers because they make repeat trips and oft= en pay higher fares for booking at the last minute. Southwest needs that revenue now. The airline has been profitable for 36 straight years but has been in the red since last fall. Traffic is down and costs are rising. While it's cutting flights across its system, Southwest is also entering New York and three other big cities, including Boston's Logan Airport. Robert Crandall, who competed against Kelleher when he ran American Airlines in the 1980s and '90s, said Southwest has stuck to a well-defined business model of low fares and low costs at secondary airports. "Going into LaGuardia is a change to that model," Crandall says, "but they've decided they don't have any choice - they need the (passenger) volume to grow." Southwest gained an opening at LaGuardia with the failure of a former partner airline, ATA. Southwest bought ATA's LaGuardia takeoff and landing slots out of bankruptcy in December. But as it goes after new passengers, Southwest faces its stiffest challenge since the early days in Texas. Volatile fuel prices and the recession have hurt Kelly's attempt to raise annual revenue by $1.5 billion. "It's just been a very long, difficult decade with one economic challenge after another." -----------------------------------------------------------= ----------- Copyright 2009 SF Chronicle <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> If you wish to unsubscribe from the AIRLINE List, please send an E-mail to: "listserv@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx". Within the body of the text, only write the following:"SIGNOFF AIRLINE".