Quote:
Originally Posted by Wayward Memphian
Well, there's more room on an Allegiant plane than Spirit. Having had them in XNA a number of years, if Southwest offers a similar product at a little higher fare, they win. However, once you figure out Allegiant's way of doing things, It can save you big dollars. It will Certainly put pressure on Delta's remaining Vegas nonstop and likely on the remaining Saturday only nonstop to Orlando. I don't think Southwest will be effected much on its daily nonstop to MCO but it might effect the added non daily seasonal they had announced. I would still like to see Southwest off Vegas nonstops if to just connect to west coast cities and I still think a flight that stopped in Memphis between a St. Louis and New Orleans would be nice.
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Southwest is hands down king of semi-low cost. They aren't as cheap as they used to be, but with included bags and no change fees (other than difference in fare) they have won me over in terms of customer service. They may not have first class, but I never flew first class before and probably can't afford it going forward. Delta's new 5 tier system where they have cattle class, semi-cattle class, acceptable economy class, then business and first class I don't know will work that well. Who wants to pay for bags and seating for a seat with no extra room? We will see how it works for them. Delta's new model for business is prime example of an industry that doesn't have enough competition since they're squeezing and profiteering at every corner.
Allegiant isn't known for good service, lets just be honest its a cut rate air carrier. But these airlines perform a valuable service by providing competition and choice. And I hear they have a good maintenance record with mostly new aircraft, so it isn't all bad. I hope JetBlue and Spirit both join in and expand by beginning a MEM presence.
There is a lot of potential with the new terminal plans. The airport is still significantly large even with the gates being demolished. The airport will have over 60 functional gates, which still has capacity to operate as a hub airport. It will by far and away still be the largest airport in the state, albeit without the passenger count up in Nashville due to Southwest's influence there. However, Nashville's airport just has over 40 gates, MEM will still be 50% larger even after the demolishing of the several gates.
So... There's a lot of capacity in MEM that will be available if one of these carriers wants to create a new southern presence. Its the second most populated part of the USA, so its unlikely only two hubs will be enough capacity for this region between Charlotte and Atlanta. 4 airlines isn't enough, there eventually will be a new player that will want to compete for those passenger dollars. MEM isn't just the largest passenger terminal in Tennessee, it will still be the largest in the south (minus Florida) outside Charlotte and Atlanta by far. Nashville, Norfolk, Raleigh, Greensboro/Winston Salem, Birmingham, Little Rock, New Orleans: all these cities have passenger terminals a fraction of the size of MEM. When the terminal looks world class with its upgrades and there's all this capacity, MEM will be highly attractive to an airline looking to have a southern presence to compete with American and Delta. Memphis is the only airport in this region with an oil refinery that can deliver fuel direct from the refinery to the airport for jet fuel as well. There's a lot of perks in MEM despite Delta's abandonment.
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