Reuters reported a recent development in the mergers and acquisitions space in an August 22, 2011 story. It reported that Southwest Airlines Co plans big changes for AirTran, a company it acquired in May, 2011.

Southwest, based in Dallas, is the world’s biggest player in the low-cost airfare space. Its CEO, Gary Kelly, talked to reporters after speaking to the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce.

He said his airline will begin flights in February of 2012 with 15 daily departures and five nonstop flights, with one between Atlanta and Dallas’s Love Field.

"I think we are going to make some radical changes to the AirTran flight schedule. We can improve the schedule. I think we can improve the fares," Kelly said.

Southwest turned 40 in June. Out of character, Southwest announced a weaker-than-expected quarterly profit this month.

It purchased AirTran Holdings for about $1 billion so it could expand in key U.S. East Coast markets like New York, Washington, D.C., and Atlanta, home of the world's busiest airport.

"There's a lot of uncertainty just in the environment right now with the economy, the outlook for business travel, fuel prices. All of those will have some bearing on what we do in the near term," Kelly said.

"I am still very bullish about Southwest growth prospects and we have a lot under construction to create growth opportunities of the future," he said.

Business in August looked "very strong" and there was also "somewhat better" year-on-year growth. However, he expressed uncertainty because of the state of the world-wide economy, business recovery prospects and uncertainty about the direction of fuel costs.

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