Southwest Airlines executives landed in Atlanta Monday to celebrate the closing of their acquisition of AirTran Airways, saying the deal will bring more choices for Atlanta travelers.
More than 1,000 AirTran employees and others gathered at the carrier’s hangar at Hartsfield-Jackson International to greet the Southwest contingent that flew in on an AirTran jet after deal documents were signed in Dallas.
Southwest employees aboard cheered as the plane touched down, and as an AirTran flight attendant announced: “Southwest Airlines, welcome to our home -- Atlanta, Georgia.”
The merger, announced last September, will bring Southwest to Atlanta for the first time.
The acquisition will eventually spell the end of AirTran as its operations are folded into Southwest.
Southwest is expected to eliminate AirTran’s baggage fees to align it with its own free checked bags policy, and it may tweak the route system from Atlanta. But in the short run the merger will be almost invisible, with AirTran continuing to sell flights through its website and operating its regular flight schedule.
Behind the scenes, the merger close starts a two-year marathon of planning and coordination to figure out how to blend operations and adapt AirTran’s Atlanta hub to Southwest’s system.
With the deal closed, AirTran will begin sharing critical details with Southwest on profitability for each route and city.
“We’ll begin the evaluation literally today,” Southwest CEO Gary Kelly said. “For the time being we’re just going to have to resist the temptation to tinker with things.”
“I wouldn’t expect to see any major changes here in Atlanta or with AirTran until early next year,” Kelly added.
Learning the intricacies of operating at the world’s busiest airport is one of the big challenges for Southwest, which historically has avoided big hubs.
When the time comes, “We will add service in Atlanta,” said Bob Jordan, a Southwest executive who will oversee the new AirTran subsidiary during the integration.
Monday’s event in Atlanta was mirrored by celebrations in Dallas and at other airports.
Southwest begins making job offers to administrative AirTran employees this week as it prepares to consolidate AirTran’s headquarters to Dallas.
The acquisition brings “mixed emotions for sure,” said Jim Trebilcock, director of maintenance for AirTran.
But, “Southwest is a great company,” Trebilcock said. “I really do look forward to what’s going to come.”
Many are watching to see how Southwest’s arrival affects Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines.
“As we get more choice with Southwest coming to the market, I think it’s going to come home to roost” for Delta, said traveler Jay Kulkin, who lives in Sandy Springs.
Both Delta and Southwest are meeting with corporate customers in Atlanta, “getting their strategy out in the open,” said David Mitchell, vice president of supplier relations at corporate travel management firm BCD Travel.
Southwest plans to remove AirTran’s business class seating, which some business travelers say they will miss. But Southwest brings a much broader route system than AirTran’s, and it has added features such as priority boarding to increase its appeal to business travelers.
Delta, meanwhile, has been reinforcing its wider spectrum of offerings, including international service around the globe and first class.
“I think there’s some curiosity” about the competition to come, Mitchell said. “It’s very much a wait-and see.”
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