Skip to main content

Southwest Airlines Community

Southwest Celebrates Embrace Your Geekness Day

eboren
Employee
Employee
avgeekToday, July 13th, happens to be Embrace Your Geekness Day, and here at Southwest Airlines, we’re celebrating a special type of geekness—avgeekness!  Avgeeks are aviation geeks, who love anything and everything from airline brand memorabilia to airplane parts.  Today (and every day) avgeeks should embrace their geekness and showcase their Fun-LUVing, quirky side!  Southwest Airlines sure does LUV you for it! I’ve gathered three of our sincerest avgeeks to explain their geeky, airline-related favorites!  Enjoy!  And if you’re an avgeek, share your stories with us by commenting below! Sunset and Sunrise Flights Communication Senior Specialist Dan Landson,
Windown Seat Sunset View
Windown Seat Sunset View
My inner avgeek comes out every time I step on a plane early in the morning or in the evening.  There’s no greater feeling in the world (at least in my mind) than seeing the sun rise or set while sitting in the window seat of one of our 737s.  The views are priceless, and it really makes you slow down and reflect.  Sunrises are unique in the sense that as the sun comes up, it represents a new day, a clean slate, and a chance to relax before the day really takes off.  If you catch me on an early morning flight, you’ll usually find me staring out the window while enjoying a cup of LIFT coffee. On the opposite side of the spectrum, sunsets are just as beautiful as sunrises.  The colors are usually much more pronounced, usually are much more colorful, and they bring closure to the day.  In the evening, I’m often staring out the window reflecting on the day and counting my blessings for how lucky I am to work for the best Company in the world! I LUV taking photos of sunrises and sunsets since it’s one of the most spectacular views we are afforded by flying at 40,000 feet, and of course, those photos are hashtaged on Twitter: #Avgeek. Aviation Collectables Customer Advocacy & Social Care Team Leader Rob Hahn Who knew there would be a day dedicated to the geeks around the world!  I will go out on a limb and say, I personally only fall into the avgeek category (although others may disagree!).  One cool thing about being an avgeek is that there is so much to geek about!  One of my favorite things is all of the collectables you can acquire when working for an airline.  In my 12 years working for Southwest Airlines, I’ve acquired a set of airplane seats, a few hundred t-shirts, multiple posters, a bobble head of our CEO, buttons … the list goes on and on. The problem is finding a place to store it all, because, naturally, you can’t get rid of any of it.  I have to admit, even before working for this great airline, I collected aviation treasures (or junk according to others) such as magazines, aircraft models, those good ole paper-printed flight schedules, and of course, airplane wings!  Airline collectables are such a hit with avgeeks—there are conventions held across the country where all of the aforementioned collectibles are traded and sold.  So, to all of the avgeeks out there—keep on collecting! Aircraft Fleet Communication Senior Specialist Richard West
Southwest Boeing 717 Model
Southwest Boeing 717 Model
As our Company’s resident Historian, I have the privilege of acting on my inner avgeek tendencies on a daily basis.  One of my favorite topics is our aircraft fleet, both currently and past.  There is always speculation among the avgeek community as to what our future fleet may look like, and there was a time in our recent history we anticipated adding a second aircraft, the Boeing 717, to the Southwest family early on in the AirTran integration process.  At the same time, we were also acquiring aircraft models to be displayed in our Heart of our History exhibit at the Frontiers of Flight Museum.  Along with a TranStar DC-9 and Southwest 727, a 1:20 717 in full Southwest livery was also commissioned to be incorporated into the growing exhibit. However, shortly before the extremely detailed model arrived, the decision was made for the 717s to continue their service elsewhere in the airline world, so the new model was now unnecessary.  Although our Southwest 717 model only reflects a concept for what could have been, it’s quite the conversation starter among my fellow avgeeks who see it proudly “flying” above my desk!