“One if by land. Two if by sea. Three if by…air?” Yes, Colonial humor was in high demand as Southwest began service to its 67th city this weekend.
Picture: We were greeted by the traditional water arch and a crowd of Southwest Employees when we landed.
Boston is a city steeped (tea pun intended) in tradition, history, and cobblestone streets. I found the city to be beautiful, pedestrian-friendly, and full of my three favorite foods: chowdah, baked beans, and beer.
On Saturday night, Southwest welcomed its Twitter followers, Facebook fans, and online friends to a social at the House of Blues. Karaoke was the main attraction, but my hat goes off to Kyle, our Flight Attendant from the ferry flight, as the best performer of the night. His rendition of Pink's "I'm coming out" was better than the original.
Picture: Kyle, our star Flight Attendant.
Sunday was our first day of service, with bagels and air guitar contest greeting our Customers. That afternoon, a team of 30-odd volunteers participated in a Share the Spirit event at the Curtis Guild School in East Boston. Southwest was able to partner with Boston Cares and the Container Store to bring a bit of LUV to this decades-old school located close to the airport.
We painted, we sweated, we cleaned…some of us even learned to use a miter saw! (Cough, me.)
On Monday, the festivities took an even wilder turn as our CEO Gary Kelly, Senior Vice President Culture & Communications Ginger Hardage, and Massport officials took a water taxi from Rowe’s Wharf to be greeted by cheering Southwest Employees on the other side of the harbor.
Picture: our water taxi
We then jumped in a duck boat headed to Boston Logan, Terminal E (with just a slight detour along the way.) The Lexington Minute Men and a marching band (complete with a fife!) waited at the entrance in what was surely one of the best greetings I’ve ever seen.
The town crier, well, cried, and Customers were treated to clam chowder, tea, and cookies. As one of the event photographers, I heartily enjoyed climbing playscapes, crawling on the floor, and swaying on a boat just to get that perfect shot. I’m sharing just couple of my favorites, but you can check out the rest on our flickr page.
Picture: the BOS Employees with the Southwest "Bags Fly Free" giant suitcase.
“Cheers” to Southwest now in Boston!