Southwest Airlines

Continuing its trend of going into overcrowded, delay prone airports it had previously avoided, Southwest Airlines announced it would be coming to Newark's Liberty Airport. The effort is part of Continental and United's effort to secure approval for their merger by agreeing to lease them 36 slots at the airport, which will allow for...
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Southwest responded to the NTSBs findings on the incident on Flight 2294 last July. For those of you who don't recall, that was the aircraft that made a landing in Charleston, WV when a hole suddenly opened up in the fuselage. The photos at the time were disconcerting for anyone who flies. After all,...
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Southwest quietly made a change to its contract of carriage last month, making us here at Flight Wisdom wonder if being forced to to announce material changes in the contract of carriage should be part of the DOT's proposed rulemaking.
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Welcome back. Our editor has been a bit behind with other things, but we're trying to get back on track and back in the saddle. Stay tuned for more guests, and more information. For today, more from previous guest Dan Webb.
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Our editor is back from his trip. Check out his review on the Auto Train. Meanwhile, back into the swing of things. Lots of business to take care of.
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Our editor will be going on the road for a few days, as a roving reporter for our sister project, Transit Wisdom, reviewing Amtrak's Autotrain. Until then, here's all the news that fit to podcast.
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The Briefing is the first to feature a guest, Benet Wilson, who covers Business Aviation for Aviation Week. We don't usually cover Business Aviation at Flight Wisdom, as it isn't our area of expertise, but it is Benet's business. Benet also joined our host for the first annual Aviation Geek Gilbert and Sullivan Day...
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The ash cloud getting you down? Remember, as Bob Ross said...clouds are very, very free. A special shoutout to regular listener Steven Frischling, of the Flying with Fish blog, who compared the delivery style of the Briefing with the Joy of Painting. Perhaps we should rename the Briefing to the Joy of Flying.
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Greetings from the Flight Wisdom Summer Palace. Today's briefing is hosted by the Infrequent Flier. If you enjoyed his presentation of the news, please drop him a line on Twitter @Infrequentflier.
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Today, we introduce a new opener for the Briefing, recorded by special guest announcer, the Bow-Tied Blogger. Comments are welcome.
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Lots of exciting new service in this briefing. We have tried a few different variations of our opening and closing. We'll continue to mix it up a bit, but if you have any suggestions on how to improve the Briefing, please contact us.
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It is very hard to write these sort of posts. When confronted with being called a Customer of Size, Kevin Smith complained. He was within his rights to do so, and anyone who feels wrongly singled out should.
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We hate the debate over large customers, be they big, tall, or both. It never ends. And it invariably gets into an argument about the obesity issue in America. We've often said the only fair thing to do is size the seats to the statistically average American and accept that some people, many through...
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Southwest announced today it would add Saturday only service from New York-LaGuardia Airport to Denver International Airport. The rest of the week the service will be offered on a one-stop basis. Saturday-only service is the only option as Southwest is not securing any additional slots at LaGuardia, but Saturday service is not slot or...
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When Southwest says, "It's On," they truly mean it. After losing the fight to take over Frontier, Southwest Airlines is simply going to take over Denver without their help.
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Image by Getty Images via Daylife We’d talked about Northwest Florida – Panama City International Airport before. It is a new airport being constructed to replace the old Bay County Airport. When it opens on Memorial Day, the old airport will close. Delta is currently the only carrier serving Panama City, offering regional service...
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Southwest Airlines announced today they are coming to the rescue of St. Louis, MO, which lost a great deal of service when American Airlines cut deep into what was once a major hub for TWA, which they absorbed. Beginning in May of next year, they will add the following routes:
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Air New Zealand had a message for Herb Kelleher and Southwest Airlines. They want Southwest Airlines to participate in a airline safety video musical…which may or may not be performed naked. Should Southwest accept the challenge? We’ll wait for the Airline Safety Video Music Awards.
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Image by Nick Chill via Flickr On August 28th, according to Manchester-Boston Regional Airport manager Mark Brewer, JetBlue hinted that a local demonstration of enthusiasm about the company’s arrival would be important. With airlines reducing seats and fewer passengers flying Manchester, airport officials recently offered incentives to attract new airlines and existing airlines to...
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Lee Lipton, Southwest's Director of Network Strategic Planning sees a future in low cost long haul in addition to its existing shorthaul products, but emphasizes there is no timetable for the move. Their chairman, Gary Kelly, said that the carrier is seriously considering operating flights to Canada, Mexico, and the Caribbean as soon as...
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We haven't done a service roundup in a while. Mostly because there hasn't been as much news in this area as there once was. Airlines don't announce discontinuance as much as they do inauguration. But this week had some interesting developments.
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Image by drewgstephens via Flickr This morning, Southwest Airlines announced it would offer an early check-in option for a $10 fee. For years, the Southwest Cattle Call offered a first-come/first-served option. Plastic cards were offered at the counter in order of check-in, and people lined up and boarded in check-in order. Then, when online...
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Southwest Airlines has just arrived in Boston to a great fanfare, and is already expanding service. On January 9th, they will add two daily nonstops to St. Louis. The same day, they will also add St. Louis service to another of their newest destination…Minneapolis/St. Paul. Elsewhere, they are redistributing capacity by reducing frequencies by...
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With all of the love we gave Virgin America on our flight back to Flight Wisdom HQ, we were afraid the two airlines that hold a special place in our hearts, Southwest Airlnes and JetBlue Airways, would be jealous. With that in mind, we offer video of Southwest’s triumphant arrival into Boston, in the...
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