By Ed Sealover
Southwest Airlines tried to buy Frontier Airlines of Denver and bring it out of bankruptcy last month but lost an auction to Indianapolis-based Republic Airways Holdings after merger talks stalled between the Southwest and Frontier pilots associations. Southwest Airlines will begin nonstop service from Denver International Airport to Boston Reno Nev. and Spokane Wash. in January the carrier announced Thursday.There will be two daily nonstop round trips between DIA and Boston Logan Airport beginning on Jan. 10. There will be one daily nonstop round trip meanwhile between DIA and the other two locations beginning on the same date.
The Dallas-based airline just launched service to Boston on Aug. 16 but Denver passengers heading there have had to connect through Chicago Midway or through Baltimore-Washington International airports.
St. Louis recently became the third city to land a nonstop into Boston and Denver is now the fourth city to be awarded such a flight by the company.
Similarly Denver passengers had to connect in another city and sometimes change plans if travelling on Southwest to Spokane or Reno before.
Denver has been and will continue to remain a focus market for us and we are committed to adding more flights to more places from the Mile High City" said Bob Jordan Southwests executive vice president of strategy and planning in a news release.
Some analysts had said that acquiring a top competitor Frontier is the No. 2 carrier at DIA while Southwest is third was a move Southwest needed to make to continue the three-way war with top carrier United Airlines at the local airport.
Southwest spokesman Chris Mainz denied that the new flights were any kind of reaction to the failure to acquire Frontier however.
We are not influenced by external factors" Mainz said. The way we build our network and grow at Southwest is to look at where we have demand and how we respond."
Southwest Pilots Reach Tentative Deal
The Southwest Airlines Pilots Association confirmed Thursday it has reached an agreement in principle on a new employment contract with Southwest Airlines Co.
A spokesman for the union said the last two issues to be finalized in the process include compensation and retirement plans. The agreement would cover some 5900-plus Southwest pilots.
Some of the highlights of the agreement in principal include a minimum of three 2-percent raises through the contract which is amendable in August of 2011.
The tentative agreement also includes full retroactive pay back to the amendable date an increase in 401(k) matching from todays rate of 7.3 percent to 7.8 percent upon ratification and to 9.3 percent in 2010.
The union said its board will meet next week to finalize the merits of the agreement and decide whether it should move forward to a full ratification vote before the union.
The union added that the agreement is only tentative at this point.
Paul Flannigan a spokesman for Southwest said Thursday This is a positive development. Its been a long process. Theres a couple more steps to go but were encouraged.
By Ed Sealover
Southwest Airlines tried to buy Frontier Airlines of Denver and bring it out of bankruptcy last month but lost an auction to Indianapolis-based Republic Airways Holdings after merger talks stalled between the Southwest and Frontier pilots associations. Southwest Airlines will begin nonstop service from Denver International Airport to Boston Reno Nev. and Spokane Wash. in January the carrier announced Thursday.There will be two daily nonstop round trips between DIA and Boston Logan Airport beginning on Jan. 10. There will be one daily nonstop round trip meanwhile between DIA and the other two locations beginning on the same date.
The Dallas-based airline just launched service to Boston on Aug. 16 but Denver passengers heading there have had to connect through Chicago Midway or through Baltimore-Washington International airports.
St. Louis recently became the third city to land a nonstop into Boston and Denver is now the fourth city to be awarded such a flight by the company.
Similarly Denver passengers had to connect in another city and sometimes change plans if travelling on Southwest to Spokane or Reno before.
Denver has been and will continue to remain a focus market for us and we are committed to adding more flights to more places from the Mile High City" said Bob Jordan Southwests executive vice president of strategy and planning in a news release.
Some analysts had said that acquiring a top competitor Frontier is the No. 2 carrier at DIA while Southwest is third was a move Southwest needed to make to continue the three-way war with top carrier United Airlines at the local airport.
Southwest spokesman Chris Mainz denied that the new flights were any kind of reaction to the failure to acquire Frontier however.
We are not influenced by external factors" Mainz said. The way we build our network and grow at Southwest is to look at where we have demand and how we respond."
Southwest Pilots Reach Tentative Deal
The Southwest Airlines Pilots Association confirmed Thursday it has reached an agreement in principle on a new employment contract with Southwest Airlines Co.
A spokesman for the union said the last two issues to be finalized in the process include compensation and retirement plans. The agreement would cover some 5900-plus Southwest pilots.
Some of the highlights of the agreement in principal include a minimum of three 2-percent raises through the contract which is amendable in August of 2011.
The tentative agreement also includes full retroactive pay back to the amendable date an increase in 401(k) matching from todays rate of 7.3 percent to 7.8 percent upon ratification and to 9.3 percent in 2010.
The union said its board will meet next week to finalize the merits of the agreement and decide whether it should move forward to a full ratification vote before the union.
The union added that the agreement is only tentative at this point.
Paul Flannigan a spokesman for Southwest said Thursday This is a positive development. Its been a long process. Theres a couple more steps to go but were encouraged.
