I want to agree with you (and I think the hype is usually way more than the actual change), but Southwest is almost 40 years old and they've never made an acquisition of this size nor have they ever before had another type of plane in their fleet.
I think they want you to believe this is plain vanilla M&A growth to get access to ATL and the east coast, but in reality, it will be the biggest challenge they've ever faced to integrate AirTran (fun to watch!).
That being said, I bet they wished AirTran was an all 737 airline. But they just don't have a choice, they can't retire 86 717s on the spot -- they'll be forced to fly them for at least several years.
Several years on smaller routes, yes. But ultimately, they will not bother type rating any new pilots on the 717, move as many over to the 737 as possible (not forgetting the 65 extra 737's that Southwest will be getting from the deal) and the 717 will die it's own death.
Whether Southwest choose to then go for another smaller (90 - 100 seat) option is the really interesting question. Possibly if Boeing decided to step into the A318 market, then it could be a go - type ratings could be transfered down to the smaller jets, and commonality would keep costs down.
I want to agree with you (and I think the hype is usually way more than the actual change), but Southwest is almost 40 years old and they've never made an acquisition of this size nor have they ever before had another type of plane in their fleet.
I think they want you to believe this is plain vanilla M&A growth to get access to ATL and the east coast, but in reality, it will be the biggest challenge they've ever faced to integrate AirTran (fun to watch!).
That being said, I bet they wished AirTran was an all 737 airline. But they just don't have a choice, they can't retire 86 717s on the spot -- they'll be forced to fly them for at least several years.