Southwest Airlines Community

  Dallas-based Southwest Airlines soars on American virtues 12:00 AM CDT on Sunday, July 4, 2010   Scott Burns is a syndicated columnist and a principal of the Plano-based investment firm AssetBuilder Inc. E-mail questions to scott@scottburns.com.   Napoleon was in his bathtub when he decided to sell the Louisiana Territory. His goal wasn't lofty. He just needed cash for his various wars. Fortunately, President Thomas Jefferson did have a lofty goal – a vision of a coast-to-coast America. So he made the Louisiana Purchase. The bathtub tidbit comes from The Epic of America, historian James Truslow Adams' 1931 history of the United States. "The character of our new acquisition to the west of 'the river' was not yet well known, but the exploring expeditions of Lewis and Clark in the Northwest and of Zebulon M. Pike in the Southwest had indicated that the prairies and plains were not of much use to settlers, and thus the western half of the country was to retain its reputation as the great American desert until after the Civil War," Adams wrote. Today the population center of the United States is well west of "the river." It continues to move farther west with each census report, as it has since 1790. Back then, it took the Lewis and Clark expedition two years and much hazard to get to the Pacific Ocean from Pittsburgh. Today Southwest Airlines flies from Pittsburgh to Seattle three times a day. Each flight covers the 2,483 miles in about seven hours, including time to change planes in Chicago. And the flight will set you back as little as $244. The average American worker earns that much in two days. The fare figures to about 10 cents a mile. According to the American Automobile Association, that's a bit less than it costs per mile to buy gasoline for the typical American car. We've come a long way and gone a great distance.   'I'll go anywhere Southwest goes'   Today the greatest hardship on a trip to the Pacific Ocean is the lack of food or a seat that is a tad narrow, but that's hard to complain about when you have a cash bar, free snacks and flight attendants with a sense of humor. Steve Penner, a friend in La Jolla, Calif., sums it up nicely: "I'll go anywhere Southwest goes. I won't go anywhere else." I share that preference. I only fly other airlines when absolutely necessary. There are reasons for this. One is that Southwest is a Jeffersonian airline, not a Hamiltonian airline. It has one class of seats, and what you see is what you get. The airline doesn't mess with having a first-class section to separate the elite from what BP chairman Carl-Henric Svanberg would call "the small people." We're all going down this road together, and we're all going to get there at the same time. Another reason I prefer Southwest is that I know I won't get nickeled and dimed. Both qualities are iconic American business values – making things available for everyone and doing it straight up. So it's not really a surprise that the LUV airline has made money in periods when others lost their shirts. Nor should it be a surprise that its $8.8 billion market capitalization is second only to one airline in the entire world (Delta Air Lines ), that it is more valuable than United and Continental combined, and that it is three times as valuable as American Airlines.   More for less   It was not always this way, but it is now clear that the Jeffersonian carrier is the winning airline in America. This glass isn't half-empty, and it contains a valuable message. It's also a good reminder that private enterprises, not public enterprises, are the ones that deliver more for less. In a 1999 column, I compared Southwest and Amtrak. At the time, Southwest was delivering slightly more passenger seat-miles than Amtrak, but Southwest was doing it at one-fifth the cost with one-fifth the employees and one-sixth the assets – while paying taxes rather than consuming them. Over the last two decades, Southwest has made positive changes. It goes more places, carries more people and still ekes out a profit. Amtrak is still losing money. It is still promising to work toward break-even, just as it was in 1981 when I first wrote about it. Yes, you read that right – 1981. That's government in action. Fortunately, the Southwest Airlines glass – and the glass of all great American enterprises like it – is still half full. So raise your half-full glass today to all our freedoms, to all that we do right – and to the freedom provided by Southwest to "move about" this great country. Scott Burns is a syndicated columnist and a principal of the Plano-based investment firm AssetBuilder Inc. E-mail questions to scott@scottburns.com. ... View more

Southwest Airlines Reports June Traffic DALLAS, July 7, 2010 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ — Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE: LUV) announced today that the Company flew 7.1 billion revenue passenger miles (RPMs) in June 2010, a 5.0 percent increase from the 6.7 billion RPMs flown in June 2009. Available seat miles (ASMs) increased 1.9 percent to 8.6 billion from the June 2009 level of 8.5 billion. The load factor for the month was 81.9 percent, compared to 79.5 percent for the same period last year. For June 2010, passenger revenue per ASM is estimated to have increased in the 24 percent range as compared to June 2009. For the second quarter 2010, Southwest flew 20.2 billion RPMs, compared to the 19.7 billion RPMs flown for the same period in 2009, an increase of 2.7 percent. Available seat miles decreased 0.3 percent to 25.5 billion from the second quarter 2009 level of 25.6 billion. The second quarter 2010 load factor was 79.3 percent, compared to 77.0 percent for the same period last year. For the first half of 2010, Southwest flew 37.4 billion RPMs, compared to the 36.6 billion RPMs flown for the same period in 2009, an increase of 2.2 percent. Available seat miles decreased 3.3 percent to 48.1 billion from the 2009 level of 49.7 billion. The year-to-date load factor was 77.7 percent, compared to 73.6 percent for the same period last year. This release, as well as past news releases on Southwest, are available online at southwest.com. SOUTHWEST AIRLINES CO. PRELIMINARY COMPARATIVE TRAFFIC STATISTICS JUNE ---- 2010 2009 CHANGE ---- ---- ------ Revenue passengers carried 7,914,269 7,658,376 3.3 % Enplaned passengers 9,562,142 9,005,109 6.2 % Revenue passenger miles (000) 7,066,096 6,731,254 5.0 % Available seat miles (000) 8,627,117 8,464,466 1.9 % Load factor 81.9% 79.5% 2.4 pts. Average length of haul 893 879 1.6 % Trips flown 96,753 95,843 0.9 % SECOND QUARTER -------------- 2010 2009 CHANGE ---- ---- ------ Revenue passengers carried 23,047,545 22,676,171 1.6 % Enplaned passengers 27,554,201 26,505,438 4.0 % Revenue passenger miles (000) 20,206,229 19,683,479 2.7 % Available seat miles (000) 25,471,845 25,552,927 (0.3)% Load factor 79.3% 77.0% 2.3 pts. Average length of haul 877 868 1.0 % Trips flown 287,222 289,573 (0.8)% YEAR-TO-DATE ------------ 2010 2009 CHANGE ---- ---- ------ Revenue passengers carried 43,024,380 42,435,861 1.4 % Enplaned passengers 51,248,665 49,555,428 3.4 % Revenue passenger miles (000) 37,367,943 36,575,108 2.2 % Available seat miles (000) 48,091,305 49,724,602 (3.3)% Load factor 77.7% 73.6% 4.1 pts. Average length of haul 869 862 0.8% Trips flown 549,114 568,708 (3.4)% SOURCE Southwest Airlines Co. ... View more

This edition of Flashback Fridays is a bit more personal than most, but with the Independence Day holiday right around the corner, I got to flashing back on how my airline career has been intertwined around July 4th. Even though I grew up in an airline family, I couldn’t remember a July 4th airline connection upon first reflection.  I did remember that I got to see my first major league baseball game on July 3, 1963, and it was Sandy Koufax pitching against Bob Gibson and the Cardinals in Dodger Stadium.   Besides the two Hall of Fame pitchers, I also saw Hall of Famer Stan Musial pinch hit.  The Dodgers won 5 to 0: Koufax pitched a complete game: and it took less than two hours to play—definitely not a bad July 4th memory. But on further reflection, I remember airport sightings of tearful goodbyes and joyful homecomings of servicemen going to and returning from a place called Vietnam.  Unfortunately, those same scenes are playing out in airports 50 years later, and they serve as a reminder that the freedom we celebrate on July 4th comes with a price. As to my own airline career, it has a special connection to a very special Independence Day.  I became an airline employee a few weeks before America celebrated its 200th birthday in 1976.  Several airlines either offered a special bicentennial livery like Braniff with its Alexander Calder designed 727 or a modification of their standard livery like my airline, Delta.  Delta had modified it’s “‘widget” logo on the front of the aircraft with stripes and stars, with the legend, “We the People, 1776-1976.”  Eastern had decal banners on all of their aircraft that said "1776...'what so proudly we hail' 1976."  Even railroads had locomotives in special bicenntenial liveries. July 4th seemed a little climatctic the next few years, but when I transferred to Oakland, on July 4th I would watch fireworks exploding all over the Bay Area from our operations trailer at the airport.  When my wife and I moved to Portland, we had several memorable Fourths.  The best one was sharing this quintessential American holiday with our neighbors from Belfast, Northern Ireland.  On another Fourth in Portland, I was on a flight that offered an aerial view of fireworks across the city. The number of my “Southwest Fourths” are almost in equal to those at Delta.  While working on the North Concourse at Love Field at what is now our Source of Support group, we could see fireworks from our windows.  On July 4, 2004, Southwest used three aircraft to take several hundred Employees to Philadelphia to march in the city’s annual Fourth of July parade.  Probably the most memorable Fourth of July that I can remember was being invited by Colleen Barrett to be part of a group attending Willie Nelson’s 2005 Picnic in Fort Worth that featured Bob Dylan, along with Los Lobos and the Doobie Brothers. How fitting if I could end my career during the nation’s tercentennial (yup, I looked it up—that is the 300th anniversary), but that’s not gonna happen.  There’s a chance I might still be working in 2026 on the country's 250th birthday—I’ll be 73. (I think that's the bisesquicentennial.) No matter if I am retired by then, I am like the George M. Cohan version of “Yankee Doodle Dandy” because my airline career was born on the Fourth of July (almost). Happy Fourth of July, and we will have some more traditional Flashback Friday material next week. ... View more

Airline to Offer Free Pedicab Rides for 20 Local Events, Starting Saturday, July 3, Before Baseball Game at Coors Field               DENVER—July 2, 2010— Southwest Airlines is launching a partnership with Mile High Pedicabs to offer free rides during 20 popular, local events around downtown Denver, beginning tomorrow before the baseball game at Coors Field.  Denverites should be on the lookout for a fleet of 25 Southwest-branded pedicabs for the next six months.  A “FREE RIDES” flag on the back of the pedicabs will signal when the ride is free, courtesy of Southwest.  Additionally, Southwest is partnering with the Downtown Denver Partnership (DDP) to sponsor the movies and concerts series in Skyline Park throughout July and August, with the concerts kicking off today and the movies to begin Saturday, July 3, with the showing of Field of Dreams.  To view a blog post talking about these efforts, visit our Nuts About Southwest blog at www.blogsouthwest.com.             “Southwest is dedicated to Denver, and we’re finding fun and creative opportunities to showcase our brand in a way that is unique to the Mile High City,” said Southwest’s Senior Vice President of Marketing and Revenue Management Dave Ridley.  “Denver is ‘Saying Yes’ to our robust flight schedule, low fares, and of course our popular Bags Fly Free policy, and we are returning the affection by increasing our involvement in the Denver community and finding ways to add value to our Denver Customers where they work and live.”     Partnering with the DDP, Southwest will sponsor a series of six movies in Skyline Park on Saturday evenings, in addition to eight lunchtime summer concerts in Skyline Park on Fridays, throughout July and August.  Southwest has teamed up with the Denver Cupcake Truck to give away 250 free cupcakes during the movies.     Southwest Airlines began service to Denver on January 3, 2006, with 13 daily nonstop departures to three destinations.  The airline currently operates 133 nonstop daily nonstop flights from the Mile High City, making Denver the fastest growing city in the Company’s history.  By August 2010, Southwest will operate 144 daily nonstop flights to 42 destinations from Denver.  To learn more about Southwest’s dedication to Denver, visit www.southwest.com/denver.  After 39 years of service, Southwest Airlines continues to differentiate itself from other low fare carriers—offering a reliable product with exemplary Customer Service.  Southwest Airlines is the nation's largest carrier in terms of originating domestic passengers boarded, now serving 69 cities in 35 states.  Southwest also is one of the most honored airlines in the world known for its commitment to the triple bottom line of Performance, People, and Planet.  To read more about how Southwest is doing its part to be a good citizen, visit southwest.com/cares to read the One Report.  Based in Dallas, Southwest currently operates more than 3,300 flights a day and has nearly 35,000 Employees systemwide   www.southwest.com ... View more

Fly Between Chicago Midway and New York LaGuardia; and Between Chicago Midway and Boston-Area Airports to Earn Triple Rapid Rewards Credits DALLAS, July 2, 2010 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ — Southwest Airlines (NYSE: LUV) is introducing a triple credit Rapid Rewards promotion for Members traveling between Chicago Midway and New York’s LaGuardia Airport and between Chicago Midway and our three Boston-area airports (Boston Logan, Manchester, and Providence). That means Rapid Rewards Members can earn three credits for every one-way flight (six credits when you travel roundtrip). At that rate, Members can earn a free* flight after just three roundtrip flights on these routes! Members who purchase a Business Select fare will receive 3.25 credits for flights between Chicago Midway and New York’s LaGuardia Airport and 4.0 credits for flights between Chicago Midway and any of our three Boston-area airports, making it even faster to earn an Award. To qualify, Rapid Rewards Members must register or join prior to travel by visiting: http://luv.southwest.com/servlet/formlink/f?kOHpjQSDTC. Members must book their flights and travel between July 2, 2010, and August 31, 2010.   It is fast and easy to earn free travel through Rapid Rewards. Rapid Rewards Members can earn credits by flying, or using the program’s Preferred Partners. It takes just eight roundtrip flights, or 16 credits, to qualify for an Award; however, Members can accelerate their earnings by using the Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards Credit Card from Chase, doing business with any of the airline’s other Preferred Partners, or by purchasing Southwest’s Business Select fares when flying. Plus, once an Award has been earned, Southwest Airlines allows the Member to transfer the Award to anyone. After 39 years of service, Southwest Airlines continues to differentiate itself from other low fare carriers—offering a reliable product with exemplary Customer Service. Southwest Airlines is the nation’s largest carrier in terms of originating domestic passengers boarded, now serving 69 cities in 35 states. Southwest also is one of the most honored airlines in the world known for its commitment to the triple bottom line of Performance, People, and Planet. To read more about how Southwest is doing its part to be a good citizen, visit southwest.com/cares to read the Southwest One Report™. Based in Dallas, Southwest currently operates more than 3,300 flights a day and has nearly 35,000 Employees systemwide. Terms & Conditions * The Rapid Rewards Award is free, but travel is subject to the government-imposed September 11th Security Fee of up to $10 per roundtrip. Travel good on Southwest Airlines published, scheduled service. Terms and Conditions: Two additional credits per one-way will be issued, except Business Select. Business Select Customers will receive 3.25 credits for flights between Chicago (Midway) and New York (LaGuardia) and 4.0 credits for flights between Chicago (Midway) and any of our three Boston-area destinations (Boston Logan, Manchester, and Providence). Member must register for this promotion between July 2, 2010, and Aug. 31, 2010 to qualify, and registration must be completed prior to commencement of travel. Valid on new reservations only. Reservations must be booked and travel completed between July 2, 2010 and Aug. 31, 2010. Rapid Rewards account number must be entered at the time of booking. Travel on an Award or Companion Pass does not qualify for promotion. Bonus flight credits do not count toward A-List qualification. Rapid Rewards credit will post to your account within four days of completing travel. Changes made to the itinerary after purchase may eliminate qualification for this promotion. All Rapid Rewards rules and regulations apply. www.southwest.com SOURCE Southwest Airlines ... View more

Carrier Now Offers 13 Daily Nonstops to Philadelphia from the Boston Area (Boston Logan, Manchester-Boston Regional Airport, and Providence’s T.F. Green International Airport) The airline that brought America the Freedom to Fly now unites two cites centered around Freedom. Southwest Airlines (NYSE: LUV) today began new nonstop service between Boston Logan International Airport (BOS) and Philadelphia International Airport (PHL). Initially, Southwest will start with five daily nonstops between the two cities. These new flights come in addition to Southwest’s service between other Boston -area airports and PHL: Four nonstops to/from T. F. Green International Airport in Providence (PVD) and PHL Four nonstops to/from Manchester-Boston Regional Airport in Manchester, New Hampshire (MHT) and PHL On August 14, 2010 , the carrier will add three additional BOS-PHL daily nonstops to the schedule, bringing the total to eight daily nonstops to/from Boston Logan and PHL. To accommodate Southwest’s rapid growth in Boston , Massport, which owns and operates Logan, built an additional gate at the airline’s current location in Terminal E. Southwest is now proud to operate three gates at Logan. Southwest is also proud to bring low fares to the PHL-BOS route that previously had none. Prior to the carrier’s announcement of service to PHL, the cheapest advance-purchase fare was well over $1,000 roundtrip. Southwest’s initial introductory fare back in February was $59 one-way, and it continues to be the Low-Fare Leader as the new service launches. When shopping for Southwest online, it’s important to know that Southwest Airlines’ low fares are available only at http://www.southwest.com. Not only will Customers find Southwest’s great rates online at http://www.southwest.com, but the site also hosts Southwest’s Travel Guide, where Customers can check out insider travel tips posted by those who frequent the Boston and Philadelphia areas. After 39 years of service, Southwest Airlines continues to differentiate itself from other low-fare carriers – offering a reliable product with exemplary Customer Service. Southwest Airlines is the nation’s largest carrier in terms of originating domestic passengers boarded, now serving 69 cities in 35 states. Southwest also is one of the most honored airlines in the world, known for its commitment to the triple bottom line of Performance, People, and Planet. To read more about how Southwest is doing its part to be a good citizen, visit southwest.com/cares to read the One Report. Based in Dallas , Southwest currently operates more than 3,300 flights a day and has nearly 35,000 Employees systemwide. Terms and Conditions Member will receive 1 (one) promotional roundtrip Rapid Rewards Award after registering, purchasing, and flying three (3) roundtrips between Philadelphia (PHL) and any one or combination of the following Boston Area airports (Boston Logan(BOS), Manchester (MHT), and Providence (PVD)) between June 28, 2010 and September 15, 2010 . To qualify, Member must include Rapid Rewards account number at time of booking. Promotional Award will be deposited into Member’s account within four (4) weeks of Member completing qualifying travel. Promotional Award expires on February 15, 2011 . Promotional Award expiration date cannot be extended or amended. Member will continue to earn Rapid Rewards credit on all eligible flights. Drink Coupon Books will not be issued with the Promotional Award. Award travel or Companion Pass travel does not qualify for the promotion. Changes made to the itinerary after purchase may eliminate qualification for this promotion. Travel good only on Southwest Airlines published, scheduled service. All Rapid Rewards rules and regulations apply. www.southwest.com SOURCE Southwest Airlines ... View more

I’ve done several Flashback Friday posts looking at what some of our airports were like “before Southwest Airlines,” and I hope they give a sense of what the airport was like before our arrival.  One of our newest airports is New York LaGuardia (LGA), but it has a history as unique as the city it serves.  Perhaps out of all the airports in the country that are named for an individual, LGA is truly representative of its namesake, Fiorello LaGuardia, former mayor of New York City. Mayor LaGuardia was a major proponent of air travel, and he felt that his city should take a leading role in that development.  He made headlines when he refused to deplane from a TWA flight in Newark.  Because his ticket read New York City, he wanted to fly to New York, not Newark.  The flight continued on to Floyd Bennett Field in Brooklyn, and he talked to reporters during the short trip across the Hudson and Manhattan.  American agreed to start serving Floyd Bennett, but the airport had many inadequacies.  The mayor began a major effort to gather support for a new municipal airport located on Flushing Bay in Queens.  Construction began in 1937, and amazingly New York Municipal Airport opened on December 2, 1939.  Almost from the start and in recognition of his role, newspapers called the facility LaGuardia Field.  The name was changed officially to LaGuardia Airport in 1947.  Many folks don’t realize that Mayor LaGuardia played a major role in the establishment of Idelwild Airport (today’s Kennedy International) also.  He realized that transcontinental and transoceanic flights needed longer runways and more space at an unconstructed facility.  Construction at JFK began in 1943, and it opened for commercial service in 1948. The original domestic terminal at LGA opened where the Central Terminal (used by Southwest) sits today.  It was a masterpiece of Art Deco design, and a contemporary of Chicago Midway and Paris Le Bourget.  In the view above, the terminal is still under construction, and the site of the 1939 World’s Fair is in the far distance. Besides the domestic terminal, LGA featured a Marine Air Terminal that was used by the Pan Am Clipper flying boats to Europe.  The terminal and hangar are in the middle foreground above, and a Boeing 314 Clipper is in the water at the terminal dock.  Delta currently uses this building for its shuttle flights, and the building features the largest mural created under the Works Progress Administration—James Brook’s Flight.  Because of the financial support for the construction of the airport, American received the land to build what were at the time some of the largest hangars in the world.  The Delta and US Airways Terminals now occupy this area, but in the photo above we see three American DC-3s and a lot of empty hangar space. Above we see a view of the original terminal in the late 1940s, judging by the TWA Constellations in an all metal livery.  Closest to the camera are three American Convair 240s and a DC-6.  LGA was one of the first terminals to segregate arriving and departing passengers on two levels inside the terminal. A much lamented feature of the original terminal was the observation promenade that ran in a semi circle above the gate concourse.  We can see some future aviation geeks strolling along the promenade in the photo above.  I’m guessing this photo was probably made during 1954 or 55.  Again, American has some 240s in the bottom portion of the photo.  Next are two Capital Constellations, joined by two United DC-6s.  At the top of the photo are three TWA Martin 404s and a L749 Connie, with three Northeast aircraft just beyond that.  At this point in time, LGA had become the primary short and medium haul airport for New York, with Idelwild handling transcontinental and international flights.  A role still played by LGA and JFK today. All of these photos were sent to me many years ago by the Port of New York and New Jersey Authority.  The Port maintained an amazing photo archive of the two New York City and Newark airports, but I read that the originals were destroyed in the Twin Tower collapse on 9/11.  Fortunately, the Port was very generous with their collection, and many, many prints are in circulation. ... View more

Ever since I became involved with our corporate archives, I have been facing a huge conundrum.  Southwest has never been accused of being shy, especially when it comes to good news.  Given that longheld corporate trait and the fact that this is being published on June 18, which is our 39th Anniversary, where are the publicity materials for our first flight?  We do have images of our first inflight drink menu, but that’s about it. The picture below is one of the earliest I have found, and it shows one of our first three 737s pulling into the North Concourse at Love Field.  Southwest’s first three aircraft were the only ones to carry the full titles “Southwest Airlines” on the tail, and starting with the delivery of the fourth aircraft in early 1972, the “Airlines” was dropped.  Considering the lengthy legal battle we had to fight just to get in the air, you would have thought that our first flight would have been a huge occasion.  I think I have been through every photo in our files, and I have walked every inch of our Headquarters building whose walls are a scrapbook of our history, and I have never seen a photo of that first flight.  I was left with no banners, no balloons, and no bands playing.  About the only thing we could pinpoint for sure were the two Pilots on our inaugural flight, Captain Emilio Salazar and First Officer Bob Pratt.  So, what happened?  I didn’t really know the answer until just a few days ago.  I was preparing our PulsePoint survey that runs on our internal web site.  The question was about our first flight and its routing on June 18, 1971.  Popular theory among us relative newcomers is that we inaugurated operations with the first departure from Dallas to Houston Intercontinental, which left at 7:30 am.  The legend has it that the reason our early morning flight to Houston is Flight #1 is because that was our first flight.  I wanted to see if I could confirm this piece of our folk history, and I checked with the keepers of our Corporate Records in the Executive Office.  We found a scrapbook of press clippings from 1971, and therein lay the answer to not only the first flight question but to the whole first flight hoopla (or lack thereof). (The photo above is also an early photo taken at our original hangar on the north side of Love Field.  The location is confirmed by the blast fence behind the tails.)  The book has  pages of newspaper clippings from June 17 and 18 reporting on the last-ditch legal battles to keep us on the ground.  As I am flipping pages, I am thinking the clippings from June 19 will have reports about the first flight festivities, and I am getting excited—at last the answers.  But wait, the only thing for June 19 is a lengthy Fort Worth Star-Telegram report about our Flight Attendants passing evacuation training.  Then at the very bottom of the article, all is finally revealed.  It mentions that Southwest began operations the previous day with the first flight to San Antonio—not Houston.  (This would have been the 7:00 am departure)  The article goes on to specifically mention that there was no ceremony, except that Dallas Mayor Pro Tem Ted Holland showed up to shake the hands of the Crew Members. Since that time, I was fortunate to ask Cofounder and Chairman Emeritus Herb Kelleher about the confusion about the identity of the first flight.  Our then President, Lamar Muse, felt that Dallas/Houston was a bigger market, and all the off-duty Employees and folks from The Bloom Agency who handled our advertising back then rode the 7:30 flight from Dallas to Houston Intercontinental.  Herb told me: "I guess that we actually had two first flights, but the San Antonio flight really was the first."  My poll question brought forth some comments from Captain Salazar's daughter, Loretta, who is also a Southwest Employee.  Loretta has been kind enough to share some of Captain Salazar's records with us, and among those papers are several handwritten pages that outline his flights for the first couple of months.  Next to each date is a circled number, either 20, 21, or 22.  It dawned on me, that these are the ship numbers for the flights he flew each day.  The Pilots stayed with the aircraft for their entire work day.  There on the line for June 18 is 21, which would mean he flew N21SW all day.  In turn, because he flew our first flight, N21SW would have flown our first flight. So why was Southwest “soft launched” to use a current buzzword?  My own theory is that there was concern that the legal issues hadn’t been put to bed yet.  Lamar asked Herb, who had just spent 48 hours without sleep working on last minute legal hurdles what he should do if the Sherriff showed up with a restraining order, and Herb told Lamar to "push the flight out on top of him and to leave tire tracks on his shirt."  Herb confirms the story, and  he adds, "After four years of fighting this, I was mad."  My own thought was that we didn’t want to publicize the exact time of the first flight, with the possibility of a confrontation.  Another more practical consideration, and which, it turns out is the real reason according to Herb,  is that with the start of operations, everyone had jobs to do and our folks had no time to devote to preflight ceremonies. If it is any consolation, there was a big kick-off party the previous night, so our birth did have some recognition. When I shared this info with a Coworker, he replied that he would have given anything to see that first flight leave.  And I agree that would have been remarkable.  However, the most remarkable thing is that the tiny group of young dreamers and industry retreads who took to the sky on that early summer day 39 years ago were able to persevere through so many critical challenges to build the Company we have today.  Happy Birthday, Southwest Airlines. ... View more

Customer satisfaction results for five industries show improvement for many of the largest companies in the travel and restaurant industries, according to a report released today by the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI). The report covers satisfaction with the quality of products and services provided by airlines, hotels, restaurants, fast food, and express delivery services.... Southwest Airlines drops 2% to 79, but still leads all airlines for a seventeenth straight year. The nearest legacy airline is Continental, up 4% to 71. The aggregate of all smaller airlines such as Jet Blue and Alaska Airlines is in between, dropping 3% to 75. American Airlines and US Airways are far behind but show sizeable improvements, up 5% to 63 and 62, respectively. United makes the biggest gain, up 7% to 60, although it is still last in the industry. Delta drops in the wake of its merger with Northwest, falling 3% to 62. For the complete report click on the link above ... View more

It’s a tradition here at Southwest Airlines that anyone hired during our first year of operation is considered an Original Employee.  I haven’t seen a current list, but several of them are still on the job working hard.  Those Employees who were with us on “day one” will celebrate their 39th Anniversary on Friday, June 18.  Next year is the big 40th Anniversary celebration, and we always celebrate our landmark anniversaries in a big way that includes our Original Employees. Similar to our Original Employees, I think we can set up a category of Original Passenger for anyone who flew Southwest during that first year.  Okay, I’m being selfish because I qualify, and in fact, I flew Southwest during our first month of operation.  My mother had signed up to attend a conference at the University of Houston, and my dad and I took Mom down to Houston on July 13, 1971.  Dad and I flew back to Dallas the same day. Then a few days later, he and I went down to pick up Mom, and we had a small vacation in Houston. This is where I make a confession.  We weren't paying Passengers.  My family flew on interline nonrevenue passes, which is pretty remarkable in hindsight because Dad was the Station Manager at Love Field for Continental Airlines.  Continental, along with Braniff and Texas International, was one of the airlines suing to keep Southwest grounded.  But, this legal fight didn’t keep Southwest from offering interline passes to Continental employees though, and once onboard our first flight, I found out why.  If we were lucky, there may have been 15 other Passengers onboard the airplane.  At the awards shows, they have seat fillers who hop into seats anytime someone leaves their seats.  Airline employees and families were the airborne equivalent of the awards show seat fillers, and our presenece made the airplanes look more filled during those terribly lean days.  I noticed that the décor on the wall of the first aircraft we boarded showed scenes from California like a movie studio and the Theme Building at Los Angeles International.  Having taken my first 737 flight two years previously on PSA from San Diego to Los Angeles, I recognized the interior.  Sure enough, we were onboard N20SW, which was originally built for PSA, who never took delivery.  During that week in July, I would also fly on N21SW and N22SW, the three original aircraft.    Therein lies my second confession.  I was a huge fan of both the 737 and of PSA—well of their Flight Attendants, to be specific.  My excitement in flying Southwest was based on flying a 737 (which were relatively rare in Dallas at the time) and the opportunity to compare Southwest’s Flight Attendants (they were called Hostesses then) to those of PSA.  I ask any of our original Flight Attendants reading this to forgive my misguided physical superficiality because I was in college then.  (And I admit that hot pants and go-go boots were a major attraction of those Southwest flights.)  With the benefit of looking back on almost 40 years I can now make a more substantial, ironical observation.  Southwest’s ticket counter at Love Field was squeezed in between the counters belonging to Delta and Continental.  Here’s the irony:  There at my hometown airport, the three airlines that would have the greatest effect on my life, Continental, Delta, and Southwest, were all together.  If I had only known the significance then. I flew Southwest as a nonrev again in October of 1971 to Houston to watch SMU play Rice.  I went to work for Delta in 1976, and by the time of my next Southwest trip in the spring of 1977, much had changed.  For this trip, I purchased my tickets, which were the receipts from a cash register.  The biggest difference was that both flights were packed with Customers.  Checking in for my return flight planted the inspiration to work for Southwest sometime in the future.  The previous evening, I had completed the most embarrassing public moment of my life by gargling the lyrics of California Girls to a mannequin in front of a large audience.  As I handed my ticket to the Gate Agent, she replied:  “Nice performance.”  I knew then that a Company that could appreciate such a unique skill as gargling  would be a FUN place to work.  And I was right.  So, during our birthday week, I’d like to offer a heartfelt thanks to our Original Employees and our other Original Passengers, too. If you flew Southwest back in those early days, we’d love to hear your stories in the comment section below. ... View more

Click on the link above to read former Southwest Social Media guru Paula Berg's thoughts on how to revolutionize corporate communications. ... View more

One of the cool things about trying to organize our historical archives is that, out of the blue, an amazing photo, clipping, or other artifact will spring to life.  Since June is our birthday month, the next four Flashback Fridays will be devoted to our earliest beginnings.   We have always made a big deal about June.  The photo below was in a pile of negatives, and it shows our original Flight Attendants performing at a Second Anniversary party.  Take a look at the posters behind them, they read, “June Is Our Birthday Month.”  So who am I to argue with history?   The big gem for this week’s column is this photographic poster below.  As far as I can tell, the photo was made mid-1972 because one of the Flight Attendants wasn’t hired until April 1972.  The location is our original hangars over on the Bachman Lake side of Love Field.  If you look closely, you can see a Frontier 737 parked at the very end of the North Concourse, just to the right of our 737’s tail.  A Braniff 727 can be seen just about the wingtip of the 737, and judging from the long shadows, this was shot in the evening.   As to the purpose of the photo, I can only guess, but it appears to show all of the Employees involved in one flight.  If we were to recreate this photo today, it would look very similar—minus the hot pants and (for the most part) big hair.  It really does take a village (or more aptly, an army) to put one flight into the air.  We have the First Officer and Captain in front, with the three Flight Attendants to the right of the Pilots.  In the back row are Ramp and Provisioning Agents, Mechanics, and Aircraft Appearance Techs.  There are also what appear to be several Customer Service Agents (back then, their title was Ticket Agent) and Operations Agents in uniform.  As to the folks in “civilian clothes” these probably included a Reservations Agent, a Dispatcher, and perhaps Schedulers and/or Admin Staff.   What gives me chills about this photo is that it freezes for all time a slice of Southwest life from a late afternoon in 1972.  And it really is a representative slice because there are 18 Employees in the photo, and this was ten percent of our entire staff at the time.  The Employees you see probably weren’t thinking about the legacy they were leaving; I would bet that they were most likely wondering when the photographer would let them get back to work.  However, in going about their daily jobs with passion and dedication, they gave us a legacy of the Southwest Way.  This photo reminds us that the legacy of Southwest wasn’t born of spectacular events; it was born of daily routines completed by ordinary people with an extraordinary approach to their job. ... View more

Our Denver Station sent us this eerie scene from the recent bad weather afflicting the Mile High City.  The wall cloud looks like the alien craft in Independence Day. ... View more

Even the most casual Southwest Airlines observer is aware of our high flying tribute to our home state of Texas, Lone Star One.  On November 7, 1990, the aircraft was unveiled in a ceremony that included the famous Kilgore Rangerettes.    Lone Star One was part of our 20th Anniversary celebrations, and in turn it “begat” our other state flag-themed specialty airplanes, California One, Arizona One, Nevada One, New Mexico One, Maryland One, Illinois One, and our latest, Florida One. What you may not know is that Lone Star One was not the first airplane we dedicated to Lone Star State.  In 1836 (no we weren’t flying then), Sam Houston defeated the Mexican general, Santa Ana in the battle of San Jacinto outside of what is now Houston.  The Republic of Texas was born, and 100 years later in 1936, Texas celebrated our Centennial with a World’s Fair held at Fair Park in Dallas.  Many of the park’s landmark Art Deco buildings were erected for the Texas Centennial celebration. When the 150th Anniversary of Texas Independence rolled around in 1986, the state decided to celebrate in a big way.  Special license plates were created, and many communities had local celebrations.  Southwest, naturally wanted to get in on the fun, and we named an aircraft, The Texas Sesquicentennial.  Aircraft N303SW was chosen, which meant our first four 737-300s all carried names, with N300SW through N302SW all being Spirit of Kitty Hawk. Compared to some of our later unveilings, the ceremony surrounding N303SW was low key.  It was parked at the gate with a giant stars-and-stripes bow wrapped around it.  A set of portable stairs were pulled up to the nose for the christening festivities before the bow was “unwrapped.”  Here we see Herb Kelleher surrounded by a proud group of Dallas Employees. Just think, the Texas Bicentennial is just around the corner in 2036. ... View more

The Southern Living magazine web site has five reasons you should visit Panama City Beach.  Check them out at the link above. ... View more

PR Week recently interviewed our own Olga Romero about our Hispanic public relations efforts.  Click on the link above to watch. ... View more

"The News Herald" of Panama City Beach has a story about how our Employees gave back to the community at the recent opening of our service to the new Panama City Beach Airport.  Click on the link above. ... View more

Panama City Beach's newpaper, "The News Herald," has a lot of online content about out first flights from our newest destination, Panama City Beach.  Just click on the link above. ... View more