Southwest Codeshare/ATA Airline Reservation Update

[daventrina]

Subject: Southwest Codeshare/ATA Airline Reservation Update

As you know, ATA Airlines announced the discontinuation of all scheduled
passenger service on April 3, 2008. We know that you have upcoming travel
plans that included an ATA Airlines' flight segment, and again, we want to
apologize for any disruption as a result of ATA Airlines' news.

You should have received an earlier e-mail from Southwest Airlines regarding
our immediate effort to explore alternatives to take care of your travel
needs. After carefully examining our options for the more than 20,000
Customers who were scheduled to travel to Hawaii on ATA Airlines' service
after May 3, due to the extreme reduction in seat capacity, we determined
that the only choice we have is to issue a refund to your original form(s)
of payment for your previously purchased ticket.

The overall industry reduction in flights between the Mainland and Hawaii
has restricted our ability to reschedule all of our Customers on other
carriers. Therefore, for Customers who purchased tickets from Southwest
Airlines and were scheduled to commence travel on ATA Airlines and Southwest
Airlines codeshare service or ATA Airlines only service to Hawaii between
May 4 and August 22, 2008, Southwest Airlines is processing your refund as a
priority and returning your funds to the original form(s) of payment. As a
gesture of goodwill, in the next 30 days under separate cover, we are also
sending you a Southwest travel voucher via e-mail for your inconvenience.
(Travel agents will receive a phone call from a Southwest Airlines
Representative to acquire Customer information for the delivery of the
Southwest Airlines travel voucher.)

For Customers who were scheduled to travel using a Rapid Rewards Award, your
Award Coupons will be deposited into the Member.s account, and all
applicable taxes and fees will be refunded to their original form of
payment. As well, in the next 30 days under separate cover, a Southwest
Airlines travel voucher will be e-mailed to the e mail address in the
reservation or to the cardholder who paid for the U.S. government taxes and
fees.

Customer Service is extremely important to us at Southwest Airlines, and
taking care of you is one of our top priorities. ATA Airlines'
discontinuation of service was beyond our control, and we are now doing what
we can to make the best of a difficult situation. We are disappointed and
saddened by the inconvenience this causes you, our valued Customer. If you
have immediate questions regarding this information or if you want to book
another flight on Southwest Airlines, please call 1-800-I-FLY-SWA.

 

[ciscogizmo1]

Bummer... I bet they are thinking since we can't find flights cheap enough to Hawaii we are gonna refund you. I'm sure that's their thinking... Sorry about that.

 

[Denise L]

Sorry to hear that SW couldn't get any flights for you guys . Glad to hear you are getting a full refund, though.

My sisters and friends were all on ATA for June/July trips. They quickly rebooked on UA as soon as we heard. SFO-HNL roundtrip was $545, and SFO-HNL, LIH-SFO was $718 (HA interisland was already purchased).

I hope that you can get some replacement flights!

 

[daventrina]

Are you sitting down...

Hawaiian - Sacramento-Kona-Maui-Sacramento
Guess how much.....
No peaking....

$3900 for 2 seats

SFO $2400

AA $850 out of SFO.

We were thinking of not going to Hawaii in 2009 & 2009 and putting the gas in our plane. That would pay for a trip to the Caribbean and Alaska.
Hum.. This keeps up, it could become definite.

 

[jmatias]

Those fares look ugly

Not good for those who want to come here...

And not good for us who want to get off this rock for a vacation!

This is making living in paradise way more expensive!

Jen

 

[JeffW]

Not a big surprise. If you ever watched the A&E Show 'Airline', you would have seen that Southwest was notorious for not interlining, that is, putting you on another airline when they were an issue that prevented Southwest from transporting you, and that's on mainland travel. It's tough to see Southwest buying tickets on United, Continental or Delta for their connection passengers.

The refund is a requirement, since they can't provide transportation. I'll be curious to see what the value of the 'compensation voucher' is.

Jeff

edited - reading the posts on flyertalk, it appears that Southwest did interline passengers thru May 3 (30 days after ATA's shutdown). It's the rest of their bookings they are refunding.

 

[travelplanner70]

I called SWA to find out the value of the voucher. I was told $200 per ticket, and it will be sent to me within 14 days.

 

[Dave*H]

I called SWA to find out the value of the voucher. I was told $200 per ticket, and it will be sent to me within 14 days.

I have been watching ticket prices for this summer from a couple of destinations to Hawaii for several months. Prices have gone up about $200 RT from both destinations since the Aloha/ATA closures. Interesting that this is the same amout of the Southwest voucher.

 

[travelplanner70]

I have received my vouchers. It is better than nothing.

 

[daventrina]

I have received my vouchers. It is better than nothing.

Us too... And $900/pp/RT tickets on Hawiian out of Oakland . $700 less that flying out of Sacramento. We flew out of Sac on our last trip and while it was nice, not $1400 nice.

 

[tompalm]

The news doesn't get any better for those wanting to travel interisland when you get here. I just got my airfarewatchdog newsletter and it says that RT HNL-Hilo is $130 and HNL-Maui is $110. Those are the cheapest flights during off season and Hawaiian says that they plan to increase prices in the future as needed due to the rising cost of fuel. Of course, you can expect GO to follow any price increases.

Now that Aloha is gone, there is fear that GO might leave the islands if they can't make money. So, the politicians are pushing regulation that air fare wars will not be allowed. They do not want one airline in the state and a monopoly to occur.

The only good news is for GO and the upcoming court hearing with Aloha in October. Now there is fear that if GO, or Mesa has to pay GMAC, or Aloha Airlines a large settlement, that they might have to declare bankruptcy. Mesa's stock has been on an upswing from 70 cents to 93 cents. Mesa gets new life, but the future price of interisland doesn't look good.

 

[Icarus]

Now that Aloha is gone, there is fear that GO might leave the islands if they can't make money. So, the politicians are pushing regulation that air fare wars will not be allowed. They do not want one airline in the state and a monopoly to occur.

I doubt if the state has any legal authority to regulate airfares.]

-David

 

[tompalm]

There is no legal authority to regulate airfares at this time. FOX news reported that one of the local representatives was pushing for that.

I think that the climate has changed with the politicians and now there is concern that Mesa will file for Chapter 11 and leave the islands. I don't think that will happen. However, I am wondering how much impact the new political attitude will have when the Judge decides how much Mesa owes GMAC/ Aloha. Now that Mesa agreed to pay Hawaiian $52 million, I think that they will have to pay GMAC/ Aloha something. I think that the new political climate will help Mesa.

There may never be any new regulation, but the next time a new company shows up and starts an airfare war, the politicians will listen and the ridiculously cheap fares will not happen again.

 

[travelplanner70]

I guess I was fortunate, although I did not think so at the time, to pay only $750 per person for a non-stop from SFO to Lihue on United after ATA stiffed us from OAK to Lihue.