Southwest Airlines
In another example of no one in the current administration actually understanding much of anything, Pete Buttigieg has come down hard on Southwest for being responsible for an enormous number of canceled and delayed flights. Of course, it is.
Alone among the major carriers, Southwest does not use a hub-and-spoke system for its flights. Its business model relies on high-traffic point-to-point routes into secondary airports. A regional jet flown by United Airlines taking off from Chicago and making nine stops in the Midwest before going to overnight in Omaha, Neb., will have one flight number. A Southwest jet following the identical route will have nine flight numbers. If both planes are grounded in Chicago, United reports one cancellation while Southwest reports nine.
With a McKinsey background, you’d assume the fellow would be a bit more aware. Maybe during Biden’s second administration he can reconsider the “gay” cabinet slot and change it to left-handed Lutheran bisexual bowling team captain.
Buttagieg is a sneaky little idiot. So he vows that Southwest will be fined “ tens of thousands of $ for every violation”... that’ll show em... no actually, Southwest and any airline simply recovers those financial damages by increasing the airfare to US. But he sounds so tough... what a twerp.
Didn't realize this ramification of the oft-mentioned "hub-and-spoke system". Hardly trivial!