What the fuck is wrong with you, Southwest Airlines?

[DaysOff 7,951]

Meh. They'll be fine. The average American flyer has the memory of a goldfish once they start ticket shopping.

[Buzzrock 14,921]

Where the fuck can you drive 10 hours that it takes 8 hours door to door to fly?
I live in Winchester, MA (just outside Boston) and just flew home for after Christmas (American Airlines for the win you SWA suckas). That basically 4.5 hours flying. Even driving to/from Dripping Springs we’re barely taking 8 hours door to door.

Lol I had the same thought. It’s 12 hours to drive from Atlanta to Dallas and two hours to fly. Tack on two hours before and an hour after the flight and it’s still not even close.

[The Dog 44,060]

 

[PenelopeWitherspoon 19,103]

2 hours ago, Ghost of LL said:

That's essentially right.  But I would add a little bit of context.

There was an initiative in the very late-1990s to update software across a number of departments.  They went with Sabre, which has a bunch of the platforms that were originally developed for American.  The problem with that is that it's somewhat off-the-rack; the Sabre platform isn't well optimized for Southwest's operation.  

Then Southwest went ahead and bought out airTran.  It did that for a couple of reasons: (1) to eliminate a competitor in Florida, and (2) to get its international routines.  But a nice side benefit was that it got them all of airTran's systems, which were set up for international routes and were generally a better fit for Southwest's operation.

But none of it is set up for a route network of Southwest's modern complexity.  And so you basically have three systems that are kind of all duct taped together.  Absolutely none of them are state-of-the-art.

Regardless, the observation is correct that crew scheduling and dispatch are notoriously difficult.  Every airline has a meltdown from time to time.  For those saying that they'll never fly Southwest again and extolling the virtues of Delta, you must not remember Delta's own holiday meltdown from just two years ago.

Tell me you've never been to Lufthansa's First Class Terminal at FRA or the al Safwa lounge at DOH without telling me.

It’s still an airport.  When you’ve spent a ton of time in them, meh.  

[Reagan1k 3,024]

48 minutes ago, Captain Ron said:

Where the fuck can you drive 10 hours that it takes 8 hours door to door to fly?

If you live 100 miles, or even 50 shitty/slow miles from an airport and have to leave home 3 or more hours before a flight to be reasonably assured of parking and getting through security on time,  - It's not hard for a 2-3 hour flight to become an 8 hour travel day (all in)........Especially if the travelers aren't airport savvy (pre-check/clear/priority) and/or grandma doesn't live in close proximity to the destination airport

Draw a 60 mile circle around ATL or IAH and look at how many people would consider that their "closest airport", but are still over 90 minutes away from home when entering a parking garage there.

[YGIFS 19,450]

Again, hope everybody gets home safely.  But I love that somehow most media is failing to report that SWA has more flight cancellations than it has airplanes.  (yes, I know how they use equipment during the day...but at some point the side-by-side numerical comparison is going to floor the public...and the markets)

[kevwun 15,795]

If it's more than a 4 or 5 hour drive, we fly.  We used to drive to New Orleans and that was close to 7 hours for us, but traffic has gotten so bad on I10 that regardless of what time you leave, you seem to get stuck in Houston or Baton Rouge or both.

[McCroskey 1,504]

"We didn't cancel flights, we just ran out of flight scheduling technology"
-Bob Jordan

[BearSchlong 8,098]

Yep, you'd be terrified on how much shit still runs off of COBOL and Mainframes.  Only reason IBM is still in business

The 2nd part of this is incorrect. Much of IBM’s business plan is helping clients modernize monolithic applications to run on hybrid cloud at the risk of cannibalizing the mainframe business in the belief that if they don't, the competition will.

[Aqua Buddha 14,598]

1 hour ago, Reagan1k said:

If you live 100 miles, or even 50 shitty/slow miles from an airport and have to leave home 3 or more hours before a flight to be reasonably assured of parking and getting through security on time,  - It's not hard for a 2-3 hour flight to become an 8 hour travel day (all in)........Especially if the travelers aren't airport savvy (pre-check/clear/priority) and/or grandma doesn't live in close proximity to the destination airport

Draw a 60 mile circle around ATL or IAH and look at how many people would consider that their "closest airport", but are still over 90 minutes away from home when entering a parking garage there.

Wife's family lives in rural Arkansas and whenever we'd fly into LR (shitty, awful airport) the above is accurate.

[Bobby_Batronic 1,994]

2 hours ago, Gil Bang said:

Every FA on AA has an Iphone that they use for everything.  No idea about pilots.

American pilots have their iPads and personal devices that have programs that overlay their scheduling software which is probably Apollo era old. And that’s not an exaggeration. 

Microsoft is giving them an entire system upgrade, but it’s a huge corporate entity with tons of corporate memory etc.

Most airlines have the option for crewmembers to self notify for assignments. That’s usually beneficial when you don’t want scheduling calling at 3 am to notify you of a trip that evening. But most union contracts require actual voice notification for future assignments. There is usually a limited call back time too. Crewmembers can’t just ignore company communications normally speaking. 

It’s also not as easy as telling a flightcrew to jump on yonder jet and take it somewhere. Contractual rescheduling rules usually require a flow chart to understand. 

I don’t think this is a work action at all. Most airlines have embarrassingly outdated IT infrastructure maintained on a shoestring budget and manned by a skeleton crew. They all meltdown depending on the vagaries of weather hitting hubs and said infrastructure’s ability to handle things going pear shaped. 

Most do it 1-3 times a year. SWA is getting their turn in the publicity blender. I’m a sure another usual suspect will go through the ringer during the next winter or spring storm.

It’s equally frustrating for flight crews. One can send emails, contact flight chiefs and spend hours on hold with an overloaded phone tree and still not have the company understand where they’re at etc.

 

Edited December 28, 2022 by Bobby_Batronic

[BadgerHorn 147]

3 hours ago, HamsterHookah said:

It's not price-gouging as much as it is dynamic pricing and the demand being exceptional to the supply in a last minute crunch. The decision engine technology that flex that price don't hate you personally. I guess AA could override and keep a static price as a goodwill gesture and good PR.

Many/most of those $1k+ prices seem to be first class seats - at least in my queries. Agree the dynamic pricing is kicking in for the plebian seats, but more in the $400-800 range. 

[JesusSweatDuck 17,781]

1 hour ago, BearSchlong said:

The 2nd part of this is incorrect. Much of IBM’s business plan is helping clients modernize monolithic applications to run on hybrid cloud at the risk of cannibalizing the mainframe business in the belief that if they don't, the competition will.

And they're failing at it. In fact they're being sued for goosing the "cloud" numbers to increase exec payouts while their mainframe business had it's beat quarter ever. Strange coincidence 

[royiv 9,323]

59 minutes ago, Bobby_Batronic said:

Most do it 1-3 times a year. SWA is getting their turn in the publicity blender. I’m a sure another usual suspect will go through the ringer during the next winter or spring storm.

I cannot recall another airline, with the exception of Spirit in the summer of 2021, that has had to cancel the vast majority of their schedule for multiple days to reset their operations. This failure by Southwest is unprecedented. No other airline, with the aforementioned exception of Spirit, has had this level of service failure. This simply does not happen 1-3 times per year on other airlines. 

[AeroHorn 749]

4 hours ago, HamsterHookah said:

It's not price-gouging as much as it is dynamic pricing and the demand being exceptional to the supply in a last minute crunch. The decision engine technology that flex that price don't hate you personally. I guess AA could override and keep a static price as a goodwill gesture and good PR.

Once two of my friends and I were texting and choosing a common hotel in LAX. We all selected a single hotel and same type of a room but couple of us were a few seconds faster than the third one because the third one's price was about 15% higher. For the software, two purchases within seconds showed a sharp demand and raised the price for the third one.

Edited December 28, 2022 by AeroHorn

[Bobby_Batronic 1,994]

2 minutes ago, royiv said:

I cannot recall another airline, with the exception of Spirit in the summer of 2021, that has had to cancel the vast majority of their schedule for multiple days to reset their operations. This failure by Southwest is unprecedented. No other airline, with the aforementioned exception of Spirit, has had this level of service failure. This simply does not happen 1-3 times per year on other airlines. 

I said airlines meltdown 1-3 times per year. I didn’t say that they all go Chernobyl as SWA is doing now, or, as you noted, Spirit did last year. It doesn’t take much time on a search engine to find a given airline canceling 100’s to thousands of flights  for “insert x.”  
 

Speaking of the Spirit meltdown, do you know who canceled a lot more flights than they did at the same time? SWA. Proportionally it was less drastic, but they had quite the meltdown last summer as well. 
 

Spirit was a point to point operator like SWA, and went away from that to adopt more of an Allegiant styled model of one to two days turns with aircraft flying the same routes over and over to mitigate those concerns in the future. 

Give it until Spring, liberally mix in a bunch of “Wanna get away?” fares and the traveling public will largely not give a rip about this.

[DefinitelyNotHollywoodColt 12,301]

2 hours ago, immamac said:

SWA may not survive this. 

 Ball game.

[Message Board User 12,395]

In case you have friends or family stuck in Vegas...

 

[Rimbo 25,967]

3 hours ago, immamac said:

SWA may not survive this. 

Bankruptcy seems inevitable to me. It's just a question of which chapter.

[Js1 85,355]

16 minutes ago, DefinitelyNotHollywoodColt said:

 Ball game.

Will I be able to trade my Rapid Reward points for Best Buy coupons?

[BearSchlong 8,098]

Whatever ax you have to grind, that shit happened years ago. Like any company of that size, there are bodies buried everywhere. I've heard lots of IBM mafia stories.

Maybe you're right and Wall Street analysts are wrong.

I'm not defending their virtue, I'm just saying the 2nd part of your original statement is factually (and logically) incorrect.

[mchookem 16,336]

my family was caught up in this today...Denver to Dallas, two separate flights...

long story short, we drove them down to CoSprings airport this morning and they got one of the last three rental cars. family in front of them was also driving to San Antonio, funny chat in the lot about following each other as far as the panhandle lol. they hit the road around noon...

they just made it to Amarillo, gonna get some dinner, don't know if they'll try and get a room for some rest or just push on thru...i'm sure they're miserable but i just texted my sister and told her based on me following the story they made the right decision. none of them are very seasoned travellers at all, and even if their flights made it the luggage situation and angry crowds alone would have caused meltdowns (there are other issues there).

anyway... i'm glad they got their first white Christmas ever in Denver this year bc i doubt they will ever come back for holidays. so much for making it an every other year tradition 😒

thanks, SWA

 

[HornOnTheBayou 8,931]

7 minutes ago, mchookem said:

they just made it to Amarillo, gonna get some dinner, don't know if they'll try and get a room for some rest or just push on thru.

Did the airline lose their luggage? If so, everything that they've got is just what they have on.

[deac_tracy 516]

8 hours ago, deac_tracy said:

Flying SW out of SAT tonight and my flight is shockingly not cancelled. It's the only flight flying out of SAT this evening that SW hasn't cancelled yet. Not sure if I should just take the chance and take it or just cancel the flight and book another airline.  Have a layover and would rather not get stranded there during New Years Eve weekend.

Cancelled my reservation and got a United flight on Saturday. Looks like my SW flight though got to its final destination with minimal delays.

Go figure.

[Brisketexan 105,154]

Did the airline lose their luggage? If so, everything that they've got is just what they have on.

Golf clap.

[HamsterHookah 112]

26 minutes ago, BearSchlong said:

Whatever ax you have to grind, that shit happened years ago. Like any company of that size, there are bodies buried everywhere. I've heard lots of IBM mafia stories.

Maybe you're right and Wall Street analysts are wrong.

I'm not defending their virtue, I'm just saying the 2nd part of your original statement is factually (and logically) incorrect.

You are clearly an IBMer from your last two posts lol BUT you have a point.

I was harsh on IBM with Ginni Rometty at the helm which saw them lose market share almost as fast as Tesla the last few months, but spinning off their consulting and staying close to the enterprise, this is an interesting read:

IBM is up 6% in 2022, topping every large-cap tech stock.

https://www.cnbc.com/2022/12/27/ibm-stock-outperformed-technology-sector-in-2022.html

 

But that guy is right-- the Mainframe is still king for IBM imho 

[Cap33 384]

4 hours ago, Bevo said:

flying the day after TG or Christmas is asking for a shit show.

First flight out the day after TG is a breeze, but agree on Christmas. No thank you.

[TonyTexas 10,515]

3 hours ago, immamac said:

SWA may not survive this. 

Ok Greenspoint

[YGIFS 19,450]

I didn't give a shit at first, but my immediate family and mom/sister are where they need to be.  But wife is getting all these cursory texts and emails 'n shit about being abandoned by SWA in myriad cities around the country.  Software, union politics, employee anger, fucked up logistics, incel grudges...it's like Twitter opened up an Airline.  

[GenXer 2,882]

Hanging at Cincinnati airport right now. AA flight canceled due to equipment. New plane coming in from Dallas right now. Hopefully, the crew won’t exceed their flight time and I get back to Dallas tonight.

My stay at the hotel was a train wreck. Sub zero temps caused the fire sprinkler to burst in room across from ours at 3:30 AM on Fri night. Fire alarm went off for 15 min, and then again at 4:30. The hotel decided to hire a sidewalk snow clearing vendor to scrape the sidewalks on two separate nights at 3 AM and 4:30 AM. 

 Could be worse. I could be flying SWA. The line at the SWA desk was a madhouse. TV crew was setting up to capture some man-on-the-street interviews.

Edited December 28, 2022 by GenXer

[Captainant 27,680]

6 hours ago, HamsterHookah said:

No offense, but your POV's seem pretty one-sided from the internal, central IT perspective.

As a consultant and delivery partner I've been a part of many, many "digital transformation" projects and invariably the reason we are brought in is because your CEO/C-Suite doesn't trust you. They don't believe the talent in-house can execute on big, board-level, mention-on-earnings-calls transformational projects. In most organizations you have a bunch of great wrench turners who can do what they are asked to do in a narrowly defined skill and responsibility set. Great. But, when, for example, you are rationalizing off 200 instances of ECS to 1 instance of S/4HANA you need a team of Accenture folks (or pick your poison, but you namedropped ACN) then, yes, it's gonna be multiple multiple millions of dollars with messy scope creep because your own executives and technical staff didn't even understand their own internal instances and processes and scope of work. An optimal approach, in my experience, is a good blend of bringing your SME's and in-house central IT along with the consulting and delivery partners

My job is definitely NOT what you'd call central IT lol, just about on the opposite end of the spectrum from that lol.

I don't disagree with anything you're saying in my post - ultimately the root of the problem is an out of touch leadership suite that's basically just playing buzzword bingo on pitches. They don't understand what their desired business outcome is - they're interested in justifying their big purchase last year with another big purchase this year so they can keep their budget and org growing. Nevermind that the people choosing the big do-nothing vampire partner firms rarely actually read the SOW or take ownership of the work itself actually meeting a business outcome - they're just checking the temperature on some random measurable on a report that doesn't make a shit to actually making the business better. And if it goes tits up, the person that signed the shitty SOW is usually gone onto the next place before it happens so it's just spilled milk then.

I'm saying that the problem frequently is that organizations hollow out their engineering talent and in-house central IT in favor of just signing big idiot SOW's with an outsourcing firm because they need to cut costs, and foresight is for pussies in many org cultures

[immamac 42,857]

1 minute ago, Captainant said:

My job is definitely NOT what you'd call central IT lol, just about on the opposite end of the spectrum from that lol.

I don't disagree with anything you're saying in my post - ultimately the root of the problem is an out of touch leadership suite that's basically just playing buzzword bingo on pitches. They don't understand what their desired business outcome is - they're interested in justifying their big purchase last year with another big purchase this year so they can keep their budget and org growing. Nevermind that the people choosing the big do-nothing vampire partner firms rarely actually read the SOW or take ownership of the work itself actually meeting a business outcome - they're just checking the temperature on some random measurable on a report that doesn't make a shit to actually making the business better. And if it goes tits up, the person that signed the shitty SOW is usually gone onto the next place before it happens so it's just spilled milk then.

I'm saying that the problem frequently is that organizations hollow out their engineering talent and in-house central IT in favor of just signing big idiot SOW's with an outsourcing firm because they need to cut costs, and foresight is for pussies in many org cultures

I honestly think people just don't know how computers work in the business world. 

[Captainant 27,680]

5 minutes ago, immamac said:

I honestly think people just don't know how computers work in the business world. 

and I am quite thankful for that - it makes for many career opportunities for me lol

[SaucyJack 3,488]

1 hour ago, HornOnTheBayou said:

Did the airline lose their luggage? If so, everything that they've got is just what they have on.

[FORTY NINE TO ZERO 2,652]

Wonder if any unaccompanied minors go missing

if even front line workers can’t get a hold of corporate it’s got to be a shit show  

 

insert Simpson’s won’t somebody think of the children meme 

[Aqua Buddha 14,598]

1 hour ago, HornOnTheBayou said:

Did the airline lose their luggage? If so, everything that they've got is just what they have on.

[Trey3216 15,346]

6 hours ago, ABSR said:

Unless there is some magical unaccompanied minor plane that shows up to carry them to their destination when everyone else does not have a plane, then almost assuredly there are.  And very likely indignant Karen like parents blaming everyone but themselves for shipping off the kiddos alone during the busiest travel time of the year after watching the 3-day news flood about the impending winter weather issue.

Sucks for the kids though.

I thought Epstein was dead 

[BearSchlong 8,098]

Will I be able to trade my Rapid Reward points for Best Buy coupons?

I did use WN drink coupons as stocking stuffers this year.

[DixonHur 11,335]

2 hours ago, immamac said:

I honestly think people just don't know how computers work in the business world. 

[Your Mom 4,806]

7 hours ago, immamac said:

SWA may not survive this. 

 

4 hours ago, DefinitelyNotHollywoodColt said:

 Ball game.

 

3 hours ago, Rimbo said:

Bankruptcy seems inevitable to me. It's just a question of which chapter.

They were on pace to net nearly a billon dollars this year.  This will eat into that some but it’ll still be a very profitable year.  And over 10 billion in the bank with relatively little debt.   As mentioned above, the outspoken passengers will move their business, and rightly so, but the majority of the flying public will keep on keeping on like they always have.  

Just a complete failure, years in the making, and very predictable.  They took risks operating this place like it’s still Herb’s little airline bouncing around Texas and it worked out fine for so long until one winter day when it didn’t.  The infrastructure hasn’t kept up with the growth.  It’s embarrassing. 
 

[Assman 1,830]

SWA will come out of this just fine.  They will lose maybe half of the customers that got fucked this week, but other than that it will be business as usual in a few weeks. 

As a SWA pilot like @Your Mom, I have my little "burn it to the ground" foam finger on as I watch this meltdown happen.  The bigger the disaster, the more leverage we have as a pilot group to FINALLY get the scheduling changes we've been asking for for years.  Our union has put in 1000s of hours of research and handed the company a scheduling proposal that would benefit both the pilots and the company by cutting the number of deadheads, reroutes, and other inefficiencies, but SWA has stood firm that their practices are good enough.  This is the result.  I don't care what Bob Jordan, Gary Kelly, or any of the other Bobs have to say unless it's "getting a new contract with our pilots is our #1 priority".  FUPM.

[Captain Ron 12,883]

7 hours ago, Reagan1k said:

If you live 100 miles, or even 50 shitty/slow miles from an airport and have to leave home 3 or more hours before a flight to be reasonably assured of parking and getting through security on time,  - It's not hard for a 2-3 hour flight to become an 8 hour travel day (all in)........Especially if the travelers aren't airport savvy (pre-check/clear/priority) and/or grandma doesn't live in close proximity to the destination airport

Draw a 60 mile circle around ATL or IAH and look at how many people would consider that their "closest airport", but are still over 90 minutes away from home when entering a parking garage there.

I'm still calling BS on the 8 hours flying vs 10 hours driving. The math just doesn't work out. Even if you put some crazy remote place where you say 1 hour to the airport, 2 hours of check-in be early (and be a complete airport yokel), 2 hours flying, 3 hours driving post airport, that 2 hour flight still gets you a long damn way. Someone else mentioned Dallas-Atlanta. Austin-St. Louis comes to mind, and those are 12 hour drives non-stop, and each likely needs 2 stops for gas.

The 60 mile/90 minute circle thing also doesn't really work out much either. I would say less than 5% of people in either Atlanta or Houston. You're close enough to a major road that eventually you are on a quick path. Is there traffic? Sure, but nothing that will take you 90 min to get to the airport.

I'm not saying that you won't have a day of travel, but that's a totally different thing that we aren't talking about.

I pretty much fit the common case of a traveler - close enough to an airport (20 minutes for me to Logan). I can navigate my way around physically and socially through an airport. Any reasonable flight to my half of the US (like a direct to Austin - 5 hours): Nice breakfast at my house, half day of travel, land, get settled at my destination. I'm usually eating dinner at a restaurant or with family that I am visiting at a reasonable time too. This trip for me is sub 7 hours.

[Blotto 23,526]

Sitting in Logan for a 6:30 flight back to Austin. I figured booking the first flight out would minimize the fuckery. Nope, JetBlue just announced they are swapping out the plane due to maintenance issues. And the plane they are replacing was already a replacement for the original plane. I wonder if they sell lube at the Hudson News. 

[Nice Guy Eddie 13,515]

it’s no surprise to me that an airline finally got screwed by running their planes so close to 100% occupancy. It’s a perfect storm. Employees are sick. Huge winter storm. And it’s the after-holiday travelers must to get back to home/work/school. And there is relatively little news right this minute, so this gets coverage.

I would also guess that SWA is simultaneously trying to maximize profit while fixing this. Sometimes the public image survival of a company requires that you set profits aside and fix the problem. They should have gotten the jets and employees to the right place on the 25th or 26th. As best as possible due to weather. That would have at least stopped the cancelled flights and they could address the stranded passengers.

Edited December 28, 2022 by Nice Guy Eddie

[YGIFS 19,450]

There's an "Airplane III" plot in here somewhere.  Jacobs, get me some coffee!  

[GhostOfTomJoad 9,328]

10 hours ago, immamac said:

I honestly think people just don't know how computers work in the business world. 

I'll never forget the reasoning a former CEO gave for nixing a critically needed IT infrastructure upgrade. "Every time I sign off on one these IT requests it ends up costing twice as much while performing half of what it promises. Figure out how to get better performance out of what you've got. Next." He was an EE with a PhD. 

Re: the current mess, my BIL is a SWA pilot who hasn't flown in over 2 years. He won't go into specifics, but blames it on FAA not giving him clearance due to medical requirements. He was a vocal C-19 anti-vaxxer who caught a nasty case of Covid while furloughed. He's been physically fine for at least the past 18 months, but I'm assuming he isn't passing some required physical that would allow him to operate a commercial airplane. Per the MIL, this is all an example of gov't overreach and the FAA preventing capable pilots from flying, and if her son was back in the air none of these cancelations would be happening. 🙄

 

Edited December 28, 2022 by GhostOfTomJoad

[Prepuce of Doom 21,075]

40 minutes ago, GhostOfTomJoad said:

 

Re: the current mess, my BIL is a SWA pilot who hasn't flown in over 2 years. He won't go into specifics, but blames it on FAA not giving him clearance due to medical requirements. He was a vocal C-19 anti-vaxxer who caught a nasty case of Covid while furloughed. He's been physically fine for at least the past 18 months, but I'm assuming he isn't passing some required physical that would allow him to operate a commercial airplane. Per the MIL, this is all an example of gov't overreach and the FAA preventing capable pilots from flying, and if her son was back in the air none of these cancelations would be happening. 🙄

 

Or perhaps the airline itself is troubled by the prospect of a pilot who doesn't believe in science and is vocal about encouraging others not to believe in it, either. 

Fuck around and find out, caveman. 

Edited December 28, 2022 by Prepuce of Doom

[Captainant 27,680]

31 minutes ago, Prepuce of Doom said:

Or perhaps the airline itself is troubled by the prospect of a pilot who doesn't believe in science and is vocal about encouraging others not to believe in it, either. 

Yeah maaaaan, the Bernoulli effect is just what the GUBMINT(!!!) wants you to think makes planes fly. Everyone knows planes are powered by space lazers

[troph 24,810]

It was catastrophic but SWA will be fine. Hopefully they will make the changes needed.  As for returning customers, wanna get away, companion passes, still one of the best points programs, and no bag fees will keep them competitive. As for travelers, the odds of being stranded at least 36 hours in this storm was substantial but I bet almost no one cancelled in advance.  Everyone from SWA executives to the flying public thought they were special and it wouldn’t happen to them. FAFO. 

Edited December 28, 2022 by troph

[lemonlime 5,503]

I'm still calling BS on the 8 hours flying vs 10 hours driving. The math just doesn't work out. Even if you put some crazy remote place where you say 1 hour to the airport, 2 hours of check-in be early (and be a complete airport yokel), 2 hours flying, 3 hours driving post airport, that 2 hour flight still gets you a long damn way. Someone else mentioned Dallas-Atlanta. Austin-St. Louis comes to mind, and those are 12 hour drives non-stop, and each likely needs 2 stops for gas.
The 60 mile/90 minute circle thing also doesn't really work out much either. I would say less than 5% of people in either Atlanta or Houston. You're close enough to a major road that eventually you are on a quick path. Is there traffic? Sure, but nothing that will take you 90 min to get to the airport.
I'm not saying that you won't have a day of travel, but that's a totally different thing that we aren't talking about.
I pretty much fit the common case of a traveler - close enough to an airport (20 minutes for me to Logan). I can navigate my way around physically and socially through an airport. Any reasonable flight to my half of the US (like a direct to Austin - 5 hours): Nice breakfast at my house, half day of travel, land, get settled at my destination. I'm usually eating dinner at a restaurant or with family that I am visiting at a reasonable time too. This trip for me is sub 7 hours.

The math can check out. My brother used to live about a ten hour drive from me. But he was about 60 miles from the nearest airport. And I had to connect to get there. So leave home 2 hours before my first flight. Then a connecting flight at least 4 hours assuming I don’t miss the connection. And then I had to drive another hour after we landed. It’s at least 7-8 hours assuming nothings delayed on either of the 2 puddle jumpers I had to take. And I didn’t have a car when I arrived. Much easier just to drive.