Southwest Airlines

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 perimeter...
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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 to Memphis...
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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 begin service...
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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 check-in became...
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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 one flight...
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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 event...
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Southwest Airlines launched yesterday its service to and from Boston’s Logan Airport. The service will offer five daily nonstops to Baltimore-Washington International Airport and five to Chicago-Midway. Connections will be available to forty-eight other destinations. Southwest will be operating from gates E1A and E1B in Terminal E, alongside the international service. For the first time,...
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We love Southwest and are happy to finally see them in our hometown of New York City. We are hoping they expand beyond Baltimore and Chicago to new offerings, which would require additional slots at LaGuardia Airport. One of the most wonderful things about Southwest is their philosophy of People-first. They want to offer a...
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The Southwest Blog has a post up on upcoming changes to their website, which will improve the experience. “As Customers are directed to the new booking area, they will experience an updated user-friendly design. Plus, on direct flights (with stops but no change of planes), we will now show you the city location where your...
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Image by Getty Images via Daylife We previously reported that Republic Airways had put down a bid to buy out Frontier Airlines. Today, another airline put down a bid, Southwest Airlines. Southwest announced it was preparing a bid to compete with the Republic bid, which had been given tentative approval. If it is successful, Southwest plans...
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Earlier in the week, we reported on Southwest Airlines 2294, which made an emergency landing in Charleston, WV with a hole in the fuselage(pictured left). The NTSB continues to investigate. The section was removed from the aircraft and examined in the NTSB Materials Laboratory. The damage left a hole measuring approximately 17 inches by...
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Image via Wikipedia Southwest announced the end of the paper timetable. The current timetable(pictured left), effective June 28th, the first one featuring LaGuardia, will be the airline’s last timetable. Like many people, we have collected and hoarded timetables as a snapshot of the past. Airline after airline discontinued these documents, moving to online systems. The nice...
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We’ve had mixed feelings in the past about reporting on airline incidents. We were tempted to take the high road and say nothing until the NTSB issued a report, which is months later. We decided that since it is news, and people are interested, we would try to lay out the best information we...
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Southwest Flight 2294 made a safe landing at Yeager Airport in Charleston, West Virginia after a hole appeared in the fuselage of the aircraft, causing the plane to decompress. The flight, heading from Nashville to Baltimore, diverted to Yeager after the hole appeared in the ceiling of the cabin. No one appears to have been...
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We’re going to try to start posting some notice of fare sales when they become available and see how that goes. We’ll be limiting it to large sales of note. Southwest is offering a massive seat sale, where all routes are on sale for $30/$60/$90(depending on distance), with the following caveats: Purchase by July 8, 2009,...
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In the final installment of our series on our time on Southwest, we explore the process onboard. Southwest is known for its friendly and enthusiastic in-flight crew. The flight crew was very cooperative with our obsessive picture taking. The flight itself was uneventful. We had a free seat next to us, which allowed us...
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We are continuing our series of posts on our Southwest Experience. We got a lot of wonderful material and pictures, and we haven’t even talked about our time onboard yet. To any other airline tempted, if you send us somewhere, we’ll take just as many pictures and talk to as many people as we...
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