Southwest Airlines Community

Thursday used to be the night of must-see TV with Friends and Seinfeld.  Well this Thursday, it is once again with CNBC presenting their in-depth look at Herb Kelleher as part of their Titans series that chronicles some of America’s top business leaders.  The production team conducted in-depth interviews with Herb, Gary Kelly, Colleen Barrett, and other longtime Employees, and they scoured our archives for historical items to tell Herb’s and Southwest’s story.  Titans airs at 9 pm, 10pm, 12am, and 1am Eastern Time on Thursday. In advance of the airing, CNBC asked Herb to contribute a post to their blog, and his topic was, as might be expected, the People of Southwest Airlines.  To read the post, click here and set your dials to CNBC at 9ET/8CT Thursday night.   ... View more

Contest Celebrates 40 Years of Commitment to the Communities Southwest Serves DALLAS, July 12, 2011 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- Southwest Airlines celebrates the airline's 40th year of service and commitment to the communities where our Customers work and live by giving 40 deserving nonprofit organizations the chance to win 40 roundtrip tickets each. Nonprofit organizations focused on community initiatives that concentrate on education, diversity, military, environment, or families facing serious illness will share their stories and explain how they will use the 40 tickets to achieve their missions in the community. "Southwest is thrilled to spread the LUV by giving 40 nonprofit organizations the opportunity to receive 40 roundtrip tickets each to help champion their cause and positive impact in the community," said Linda Rutherford, Southwest Airlines' Vice President Communication and Strategic Outreach. "Our goal is to be the hometown carrier that truly cares by being involved in initiatives that resonate in the hearts of those in the communities we serve." Starting today through the end of day on July 14, nonprofit organizations can submit a photo illustrating the positive work they do in the community along with their compelling story to showingluvfor40years@wnco.com to explain how they make an impact in their community for the chance to win 40 roundtrip tickets. To view contest details, official rules, and to submit an entry, visit blogsouthwest.com. In its 40th year 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 and has recently acquired AirTran Airways, now a wholly owned subsidiary of Southwest Airlines Co. Southwest serves 72 cities in 37 states and 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 Airlines One Report(TM). Based in Dallas, Southwest currently operates more than 3,400 flights a day and has more than 35,000 Employees systemwide. www.southwest.com SOURCE Southwest Airlines ... View more

In many ways, the birth of Southwest Airlines was one of the few good things to come out of the “Swingin’ Seventies,” unless, of course, you were also born during that decade.  The Sixties were more exciting, more dangerous, more revolutionary, and the Eighties were more optimistic.  One survived the Seventies, but if you did, your shortterm memory was probably under frequent attack.  The Sixties had The Beatles, the Stones, and the other big British groups like The Who, not to mention our own Bob Dylan, and the fusion of Rock with Folk.  We saw the rise of music with a beat and a conscience.  The music of the seventies was disco and self-indulgence, but on the plus side, there were individual artists and bands pushing the edge through album rock.  In the sixties, you wore a flower in your hair to visit San Francisco, in the Seventies Gerald Ford survived two assassination attempts in and near the City by the Bay.   For iconic images of the Seventies, you can choose from the photos of the helicopter on top of the U.S. embassy in Saigon, with a stream of evacuees or maybe the hostages being held  in Iran.  Economically, the country was suffering from “stagflation” with little growth and high inflation.  You would have been lucky to find a mortgage rate under 12 percent.  Thanks to the OPEC oil embargo, gasoline spiked to $1.00 a gallon, if you were lucky enough to find a station that had gas to sell.  In spite of all this, or maybe because of it, Southwest not only survived, it thrived.   How could that be?  We came to life during a weird period when the pocket books of individual Texans were strained, but compared to all the other states, Texas was booming.  Folks were moving to Texas from all over the country.  It was the perfect time to cover the state with high frequency, affordable air fare.  Even those “evil oil barons” like J.R. appreciated Southwest’s convenient, timely service.   Rightly or wrongly, the Sixties had removed much of the formality in the relationships businesses had with their customers, and this trend only accelerated in the new decade, especially in Texas where Friendliness had been a trademark for years..  Our Customers liked being treated as a friend instead of a “Mister” or a “Miss.”    During the middle of this “me generation,” something happened that turned our attention back 200 years to the courage of patriots putting their reputations and lives on the line to support one of mankind’s more noble causes, the United States of America.  Our nation’s bicentennial in 1976 was the shining light of the decade, and Southwest learned how to celebrate big time during the bicentennial.  It’s as though we didn’t want to stop celebrating after the bicentennial “went away,” and our parties and events are big deals.   Maybe the most important event from the Seventies to affect Southwest (and it probably didn’t feel like it at the time with the daily pressures of running an airline) was the passage of the Airline Deregulation Act of 1978.  As we moved into the Eighties, we now had the chance to prove that Americans wanted and needed airlines that were truly able to compete.  The country would become our low-fare laboratory.    So yes, we did thrive during the Seventies, and in fact, we helped change the decade in a small way.  Along the way, we also survived the decade's hairdos, clothing styles, and other now outdated operational procedures depicted in the photos. ... View more

Here's more items that we pulled out of the time capsule at our 40th Anniversary Party last month.  We begin with more paper work saved for posterity.  The FLIFO department contributed this flow sheet of the day’s operation for June 18, 1991, and most of the Team signed it.   This might be the most unusual item preserved in the time capsule.  It looks to be a turbine blade from a JT-8D engine on one of our 737-200s.  It is signed by about 50 folks from Maintenance and Engineering.   The “Sim Techs” underestimated the Company’s and their own futures with this contribution to the capsule.  They guessed 20 new cities and three simulators, and thankfully, they were low on both of their estimates.   How many of you remember Ticket By Mail?  We would actually “snail mail” a ticket to our Customers.  The TBM Team contributed a sample Ticket By Mail ticket for the capsule. After the time capsule was sealed, I wonder if some Gate Agents noticed that they were missing the first boarding group of green plastic boarding passes.  However, the person who placed this batch of plastic into the capsule was prophetic in guessing that these would be historical artifacts.  That person also shows us how quickly familiar everyday tools can become forgotten memorabilia.  In that spirit, someone placed a bottle of Liquid Paper into capsule.   We can’t show all of this sculpture because the middle digit is saluting America West.  We found several articles in the capsule that had harsh words for our former competitor out of Tempe, Arizona, and it may be that the early 90s were one of several contentious periods between the two carriers..   Our final sample is the blue print of the second floor of Headquarters.  It depicts the building before the first small addition was added to the north side of what is now the three-story original building.  To see more of this document or the others shown here and on Part One, come down and visit us at the public unveiling today. ... View more

Let’s face it; air freight isn’t the flashiest of topics when it comes to commercial aviation.  Most people think of the airplanes, airports, Pilots and Flight Attendants.  These “more glamorous” aspects also gather the most photos, but freight contributes its fare share to an airline’s bottomline.  I worked in Detroit Air Freight for a short time at my previous carrier, and one of the guys I worked with used to joke that he had photos of shipping boxes on his walls at home.  Fortunately, we have some early Cargo photos from Southwest’s first few years.  I am guessing these photos are from the 1970s, judging by the hair, logos, uniforms, and backdrops, but I’m not sure where they were shot, or if it was the same location for all three.  Our Employees may can provide some details.   This might be the oldest photo.  Our original logo is on the wall beyond the Cargo Agent.  There’s no way to know if the hard-hat Customer is dropping off or picking up the three boxes on the counter.  From personal experience, the boxes probably contain metal parts, maybe fasteners, since each box has metal banding for shipping.  He could be shipping them from the factory, or he might be receiving them off an inbound flight to take directly to a work site; either way, it illustrates how urgent the world of Cargo is.    The next photo appears to be a different cargo facility, (unless the lettering in the top photo is behind the photographer.  Small articles are in the shelves behind the “lab-coated” Agent—are they arranged for pickup or are they arranged for outbound flights?  Through the window behind the Agent, we see fencing, which probably is where large shipments were held for pickup.  The Customer’s outbound package is on the scale, and it looks like he is filling out the airbill, while the woman patiently awaits her turn.   Our final photo looks like it might have been shot in a locker room with all the chain-link fencing.  (Is this the fencing/inbound shipment area seen through the window in the second photo?)  The “Hostess of the Month” poster featuring Flight Attendant CJ Bostic to the left of the Cargo Agent appears to be an attempt to bring some “style” into this room of boxes and manifests.  Then take a look to the right of the Agent.  When is the last time you saw a rotary dial phone?  Even more, when is the last time you saw a business using a rotary phone?  The piece of paper on the bulletin board nearest the Agent is a memo drawn up on stationery using our original logo, the same logo on the back of the Agent’s jump suit.  The Consignee’s package appears to be on the desk at the far right of the photo.  Take notice that, in all three of these photos, no computer can be seen anywhere in sight.  ... View more

No, I didn’t have to wear fins or goggles, and I could breathe just fine.  However,  I was lucky enough to dive to the bottom of the time capsule that was opened at the 40 th Anniversary Party in Dallas.  Here’s a report of what I found—so far.  The biggest quantity of items were the guess Southwest’s future contest entries.  Back in 1991, LUVLines invited Employees to guess the number of cities we would be serving, the number of Employees and the number of aircraft on June 18, 2011.  Many of the guesses are from a lot of folks who still work here, and a lot of them either guessed 72 as the correct number of cities or came very close.  A fewer number came close to the correct 35,000 Employees answer, and surprisingly, the number of aircraft we would need in 2011 puzzled almost everyone.  The closest to the correct number was one or two folks with 500.  Here’s a look at some of the other stuff I found:   Above is an overhead view of the full capsule.  Some folks attached photos around the sides.  The big roll of paper on the right is presentation of caricature of all our Officers at the time. Other work groups also made their contributions.  Cargo Accounting contributed this airbill for a RUSH shipment “to the future.”  Schedule Planning (now Network Planning) deposited this Wright Amendment schedule for Birmingham.  Someone signed for John Jamotta who was at the Paris Air Show.   Public Relations (now Communication) donated a copy of the daily news clips to the effort. And we will close this first look at the time capsule contents with a look at how far we have come in the technology word.  This disk is huge, almost the size of a universal remote.  I’m guessing that none of our hardware can play it anymore.  The note on it says “Bad disk that gave GTR and OAL headaches and unbelievable mental stress and anguish!”  I hope our uncovering it hasn’t released bad computer gremlins.  In the next edition, we will try to figure why America West were the “bad guys” in 1991, a look at the original blue prints for the Headquarters Building, and other interesting stuff.  ... View more

We are about a month away from opening day at one of the world’s great aviation events, Air Venture 2011 at Oshkosh, Wisconsin.  What could be better than warm Midwest summer days, cool summer nights, and airplanes from sunrise to sunset?   Since I wrote my last blog post, some amazing aircraft have committed to the show.  The brand new Boeing 787 will be on display Friday, July 29.  The world’s largest flying airship will be there as Zeppelin NT makes its first Oshkosh visit.  The airship is 246 feet long, which is 15 feet longer than a 747!  It will be conducting 45-minute public flights throughout the show.  This year is the 100 th Anniversary of Naval and Marine Corps Aviation, and the list of naval aircraft attending is hugely impressive ranging from current aircraft like the F-18 Hornet, P-3 Orion, C-2 Greyhound, to World War II planes like the Dauntless dive bomber, Wildcat fighter, Corsair fighter, Avenger torpedo bomber, Helldiver dive bomber, Catalina flying boat, to postwar classics like the Skyraider, Skyhawk, Tigercat, and Bearcat.  As part of our sponsorship of Honor Flights, we will operate an Honor Flight on Wednesday, July 27, that will take primarily Navy and Marine Corps World War II Veterans to Washington, D.C.  The Veterans will visit the World War II Memorial, and then return home to a hero’s welcome at Oshkosh.  That night, Naval Aviators and former Apollo Astronauts, Jim Lovell and Gene Cernan will recall their Navy and NASA careers.  Come by and see us at the Visitor’s Center’s Internet Café every day of the show.  We are especially looking forward to Saturday, July 30, which is Super Saturday.  The day starts with a hot air balloon launce, one of our 737s will be on display, and it tops out with a nighttime air show, a concert, and the ability to mingle with the Night Air Show performers... The thing I enjoy most about AirVenture is just walking among all these historic aircraft.  It’s the most amazing aviation gathering you will ever visit.  For more information about the show visit the AirVenture web site.   ... View more

I hope you aren’t too tired of photos from 1971, but I found another batch to share with you this week.  All of these photos appear to have been taken before June 18, 1971, which as you know was the day we began operation.  I used a magnifying glass to look at the name tags in the black and white photos, and they are labeled “Southwest Airlines Preview.”  The attendees, judging by their name tags, appear to have come from Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio.  I am aware that large event was held on the evening of June 17, so these photos may be a record of that event.  It’s also possible they were taken at an earlier date, but probably not much earlier because on June 16, 1971, Southwest’s future was very much grounded, until Herb Kelleher could conduct a 48-hour one man legal blitz.   No, I don’t know why the “12:30 p” flight is of so much interest in this photo.  It is one of the few daily flights scheduled to operate seven days a week.  What is of interest is that this is our initial June 18 flight schedule.  It would take several months before the bottom portion of the triangle between San Antonio and Houston is closed.  Also note that the timetable uses the phrase “Dallas/Ft. Worth” instead of “Dallas.”  At the time, Love Field was the commercial airport for both cities until DFW opens in January 1974.  In case you’re adding, the schedule has 18 flights operating Monday through Friday.   It looks like our Flight Attendants (Hostesses back then) were the stars of the preview.  The Flight Attendant at the left appears to be enjoying the conversation, and she wears the official uniform handbag.  The Employee on the right looks a bit distracted, and I am sure all our Employees wanted to do at this point was get in the air and start their jobs.   The next photo is from a different event, but it is also pre-June 18.  The location appears to be the ramp area around our original hangar on the north side of Love Field.  At this point, I don’t know who the men are, and they aren’t wearing any kind of badges.  In some earlier posts, I have used a different scene from this photo shoot.  Note the man holding the fedora in the center of the photo.  The sky looks a lot like the June we are having this year, and you can almost feel the humidity.  Note how clean the rear fuselage on N21SW is.  The 737-200s were notorious for having dirty aft fuselages after only a few flights.   And finally, this photo isn’t from the pre-June 18 period, but it is an early photo taken on the North Concourse at Love Field (you can see the ramp tower on the American or East Concourse through the window).  The Flight Attendant is holding a belt of some kind that has a large object attached to it.  My guess is that it might be some kind of ancient artifact like a bell with a clapper, but I could be completely wrong.  Maybe somebody out there remembers this event. ... View more

The actual date of our 40 th Anniversary is this Saturday, June 18.  This edition of Flashback Fridays is primarily pictorial, and my goal was to share some of my favorite photos from 1971 and 1972.  Along the way, I found some unique photos sharing our original procedures, so they are the “educational” portion of the program.   One of the iconic photos from 1971 is a variation of the one above with our Flight Attendants (they were called Hostesses back then) running across the ramp.  Many of today’s prints of that photo are grainy because they are copied from prints and not the negatives.  The photo above is a new digital version from the original negative, and it shows everyone was having a great time.   However, I discovered that only a portion of our Inflight staff is shown in the running photo.  This photo above was taken the same day from a different perspective, and it shows six or seven additional Flight Attendants, which I am guessing is just about our entire Inflight staff back then.   This appears to be a photo of the aircraft being repositioned for the shoot, but it illustrates a couple of Southwest historical facts.  The aircraft on the left is the first N23SW, and it is the fourth 737 delivered to Southwest.  Notice that it only wears “Southwest” on the tail without “Airlines” titling.  The aircraft in front of us, wears “Airlines” on the tail, so it is one of the first three aircraft delivered to us--only the first three wore the full titles on the tale .  N23SW is important to us because the need to sell one of the four aircraft caused the birth of the ten-minute turn.   By the same token as the “Running Flight Attendant” photo, modern day prints of this photo showing a sample of our work force have become dirty and tinted.  Above is a fresh version from the negative.   The photographer tried the shot from a higher perspective (above).  It really needs more people in the photo for this angle to work.   One of the work groups that didn’t receive a lot of attention from the camera back then is our Provisioning Folks who stock the aircraft.  Just beyond the Agent is N21SW, one of our three original aircraft.   And finally, here is our history lesson.  The Operations Agent is sorting “Gate Passes,” and I had asked a week or so ago, what Passengers turned in to board the aircraft in the days of the cash register receipt tickets.  This was it. The paper Gate Pass says:  “THIS IS NOT A TICKET  This pass allows the holder to board the aircraft.  It will be taken from the Passenger as he boards.  The passenger’s tickets will be collected during flight.”  Each pass has a boarding number up to 112, which is the capacity of the aircraft at the time.   In this last photo above, the Ops Agent is collecting the passes as the Passengers board the aircraft. ... View more

Recently, we’ve been looking at some Southwest “what ifs,” and wondering how life would have been different had various scenarios played out.  Here’s another one for you:  What if I told you Southwest had received governmental approval to begin service out of Chicago Midway almost two years before we operated our first flight out of Texas?  Well, it’s true, and it’s an interesting story because of what did and didn’t happen.   The story actually begins in December of 1976.  This is prior to the passage of the Airline Deregulation Act of 1978, and except for the intrastate carriers in California and Southwest, the airline industry is still firmly in control of the federal Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB).  The year 1976 was especially contentious for Southwest with repeated court battles about Harlingen service that had begun a year before.  Southwest had also applied with the Texas Aeronautics Commission for authority to serve additional points in Texas, and this request too had come under legal attack.  At the same time, the battle was raging to remain at Love Field.  Against that backdrop, Southwest forms a subsidiary airline, Midway (Southwest) Airway Co., to operate low fare service from Chicago Midway to St. Louis, Kansas City, Detroit, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Pittsburgh, and Cleveland.  All while Southwest proper still was just serving four cities.   The CAB begins hearings on Midway (Southwest)’s application 13 months later on January 31, 1978.  The new airline promises to serve the cities on its route map with fares up to 53 percent lower than existing fares.  The basic fare would have been $25 one-way for Pleasure Class (off-peak) and $40 one way for Executive Class.  Midway (Southwest) tells the CAB that nine 737s would be needed and Lamar Muse states that early 1979 would be the earliest flights could begin.  Again, 1978 is the year of Deregulation, and Alfred Kahn, Chairman of the CAB, is a firm proponent of airline competition.  As a result, Midway (Southwest)’s application flies through the CAB, and final approval is given on July 14, 1978, for the new airline to begin service.   A month later on August 11, “Southwest announces that its wholly owned subsidiary, Midway (Southwest) Airway Co., will for the time being, defer its plans for the commencement of service from Chicago Midway.”  And that’s the last mention of this curious chapter of Southwest Airlines.   So what happened?  These are my personal conclusions, based on the political and regulatory climates, and they aren’t based on any official conclusions.  I think the reason Southwest proposed the new airline was that every expansion move it made in Texas immediately received expensive and protracted legal challenges.  The possibility of operating as a interstate airline under CAB control (and protection!) offered a “plan B” in case any of the many legal cases crippled Southwest.  It may have also been a warning shot to some of the airlines trying to put Southwest out of business that you may also have to fight us across the Midwest AND Texas.   Lamar Muse resigns, about a month after the CAB hearings begin, and Howard Putnam replaces him on August 11.  One factor that had to figure in these changes at the top s was what to do with Midway (Southwest), and it’s obvious the decision was made to concentrate on Southwest.  The irony is that, with the passage of the Airline Deregulation Act, Southwest wouldn’t need approval to serve those proposed Midwestern routes on its own.  In fact, a new Midway Airlines was formed, completely independent of Southwest, to serve those routes and more from Chicago.  When the airline fails, Southwest moves into Midway in big way, and the station is now one of our busiest.  As for Lamar, he later founded Muse Air to fly longer routes, but it was based in Texas instead of Chicago.   So, once again, when one path has seemed a certainty, fate has stepped in to change direction, or more accurately in the case of Midway (Southwest) to prevent a change of direction. ... View more

If you look at all the twists of fate involved with Southwest’s beginnings, it’s amazing Southwest got off the ground, much less lasted 40 years.  I’ve always been amazed that just the right person for just the right situation seems to come along with amazing prescience.  Then just this morning, I was looking for references on something completely different, when a generally unknown nugget of information fell in my lap.  At first, it didn’t register with me what I had just read, but then I slowed down and read it again, and I realized that I was reading something so profound that, if it had of happened as planned, it would have been one of those landmark events that changed our Company forever.  (above Herb Kelleher and Rollin King)   Rollin and Lamar Muse I was looking through LUVLines from 1986 searching for information about a photo that was shot at the 15 th Anniversary Awards Banquet.  I looked in the June issue first, and didn’t find it, so I checked the next issue, which was August.  I didn’t find it there either, but I did find a short article from Southwest Cofounder, Rollin King.  Actually, Rollin had written the piece for the June anniversary issue, but it arrived too late and was carried over to August.  In it, he talks about shaking Captain Salazar’s hand before closing the door on our first scheduled flight.  He also reminisces about the dedication of the Rollin W. King aircraft.  And then comes Rollin’s description of a historical nugget about which I was totally unfamiliar.  He writes: One of the funniest things that has happened to me at Southwest was an event that never took place.  In early 1968, myself and two other members of our Board, Robert S. Strauss and John D. Murchison, almost completed a merger of Trans Texas Airways with Southwest Airlines, where Southwest would have been the surviving carrier.  We negotiated with the representative of the then owners and had a deal so close to being made that it was just a matter of crossing some t’s and dotting some i’s.  At the last minute, they walked away from the deal, and we never knew why.  The funny thing is that, except for that mercurial act of walking away, Southwest would have been in business three years earlier, and there would have been no Texas International or Texas Air Corporation. Wow!  I call that a historical bombshell.  But before you go looking at all the “ifs,” keep in mind that, especially under Civil Aeronautics Board regulations, airline mergers were tedious, politically charged affairs that could take up to years for approval, so there is a good possibility that the merger might never had happened, even if all parties had agreed.  Still, if it had happened, you have to think Southwest/Trans Texas would have moved to DFW Airport.  Without the Texas Air Corporation, their later mergers with PeoplExpress, Continental, New York Air, Frontier, and the acquisition of Eastern might not have happened.  Yes, this nonevent gives us a lot of fodder for speculation, but we already have a bucketful of “what ifs” to ponder.  What if Herb had taken a job on Wall Street instead of moving to Texas?  (Or had chosen Houston over San Antonio?)  What if Rollin hadn’t needed a lawyer?  What if the “Over the Hill Gang” had opted for retirement instead of a new three-aircraft airline?  What if Colleen had never left Bellows Falls?  We will never know because fate conspired to select the path that Southwest has followed for 40 years.  In that respect, fate has shaped the company we are and the culture we cherish.   ... View more

Anyone who has studied the history of Southwest knows the many legal obstacles we had to overcome just to start service.  But there were other hurdles to overcome before Southwest could fly, and many of those “loose ends” were being tied up 40 years ago in the days before June 18, 1971.  Last week’s Flashback Fridays looked at how to publicize a brand new airline, which was a very rare opportunity to have in 1971.  And this week, we look at one of the operational challenges the new airline had to face before it could fly a single Customer.  A couple of this week’s photos may be among the least seen visuals about Southwest’s early days, and they concern what we had to accomplish to achieve our Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Operating Certificate.  While it’s true we weren’t subject to the federal Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) for routes, pricing, or other service rules, we always have been under federal safety regulations through the FAA.  One of those regulations is an airline’s ability to rapidly evacuate a cabin in the case of an emergency.  The airplane below is about to undergo that test. Let’s stop and look at this photo for awhile.  The tests took place during the week beginning June 13, 1971.  In fact, on June 18, the day we began service, the only newspaper mention I could find of Southwest that day wasn’t about our first flights, it was about this test.  The location is the American Airlines hangar at Greater Southwest International Airport, the old Fort Worth airport immediately adjacent to the southern edge of what is now Dallas/Fort Worth International.  The airplane carries our original livery with the “AIRLINES” titling on the tail.  All of the windows have been covered over with paper and tape.  Look how shiny the brand new paint is.  Also, the onlookers are being kept away from the airplane to avoid injury when the slides inflate.  The hangar is of note because it is very similar to the former American and TWA hangars we are using at Chicago Midway. In the photo below, we see some of the participants in the drill after the slides were deployed.  Each person has a number, and this helps ensure that all the occupants of the cabin have deplaned.  I’m not the best judge of female ages, but some of these girls would appear to be teen-aged daughters of some of our Employees. For the drill, the FAA required a mix of passenger types and ages, and these boys appear to be somewhere between age eight and 12.  They also are probably the children of Employees.  (Or it could have been a casting call for Lost in Space.) This photo was in the folder with the other pictures.  I’ve learned to be careful about some of these early photos when it comes to guessing their meaning.  However, if the photo is part of the evacuation drills, it may have been taken before the aircraft left Love Field for Greater Southwest, or it might have been taken upon arrival at Fort Worth before the windows were taped over.  No matter; I include it here because it is a great informal shot from our earliest days. Oh, about the test?  We obviously passed.  As proof, here’s a photo of FAA Inspector William Moore handing Rollin King and Lamar Muse our FAA Operating Certificate.  If only the legal battles had been this calm. ... View more

With our 40 th Anniversary less than a month away, try to transport yourself back to May 1971.  You have something rare to publicize—a new airline.  Since World War II, there have only been a handful of new scheduled carriers certified by the Civil Aeronautics Board (the CAB) to this point.  In California, three or four intrastate carriers start up and remain within the state to avoid the CAB’s jurisdiction, but only two survive by 1971.  The idea of a new airline is foreign to the traveling public.  Yet, in less than a month, the courts willing, you are going to be competing against household names almost 50 years old.  What do you do? One of the things Southwest did in advance of beginning service in 1971 was to run this double page newspaper ad in the Dallas papers.  It is a public manifesto of rebellion against the way airlines have been run prior to June 18.  Like the way Jefferson used the Declaration of Independence to illustrate the colonies’ grievances against King George, this revolutionary advertisement is an indictment against the existing airlines. The excerpt above is about the only traditional part of the ad because it deals with safety.  If offers reassurance that the operation of the aircraft won’t be wild or radical, and that it will be conducted based on experience. In contrast to the Pilot section, everything else is different than the current carriers.  Directly across the page from the Pilot is a description of our “Hostesses,” and mixed in with the suggestive language and disparaging remarks about the other carriers is a promise that the new airline will treat Passengers like ... well, human beings. In 1971, the Boeing 737 was a rarity in Dallas with airlines using the DC-9 or BAC-111 instead.  Southwest spent some ink on introducing the 737 to the folks of Dallas.  Incidentally, the 737 is probably the most seen airliner over the city today. This ad contains the DNA of Southwest’s proactive Customer Service and what we call today transparency.  In our first really “big-time” ad, we admit that we won’t be perfect and will make mistakes.  If you experience a problem, the ad advises that you will receive a Love Stamp for a free drink. That big bold $20 probably caused a few headaches at Braniff’s Headquarters because they had taken shorthaul traffic in Dallas for granted.  But, right there in print, we laid out the major market segment we were seeking.  The ad goes on:  “At this low price, you can’t afford those long boring drives to Houston and San Antonio anymore.” Right under that is a standard National Cash Register machine, that we called a “love machine.”  The cash register receipt served as your ticket, and it was perforated.  At the gate, the Agent would pull the ticket portion, and the other portion was the Passenger receipt.  Back in those simple airport days, you could go directly to the gate to purchase your ticket. At the time, I thought our Love Potions were hokey, and I still do, but they are a part of who we are as a Company.  People still talk about them, and we have resurrected the concept for several of our 40 th Anniversary events.  That illustrates why this ad is so important.  It shows that being different and change are a longterm part of the Southwest psyche.  Too often, well-meaning people think that Southwest has to start charging bag fees and other items because the other carriers do that.  They want us to abandon our individuality.  Then others think we need to be the exact same airline we were on the morning of June 18, 1971, and they don’t realize that we began changing and adapting the moment the ink was dry on this add.  We added airplanes and cities; we grew outside of Texas when deregulation came; Love Potion #7 became a martini; hot pants and boots gave way to skirts and later casual slacks and shirts; we went to standard ticketing before pioneering Ticketless Travel; and a lot more. This ad didn’t send hordes of Texans flooding our gates demanding low fares, but they would come.  Today, ads this "wordy," would never run, but the amazing thing is we could make a 2011 version of this original ad, and although it might have different details, it would be very similar to this version. ... View more

Southwest is very proud of our Dallas roots.  For the past 40 years, our Headquarters has been in Dallas, our Pilots and Flight Attendants train in Dallas, our Dispatchers handle our flights from Dallas, and most of the Company’s support departments are in Dallas.  However another city has longer ties with Southwest, and in many ways, that city helped to define our Corporate Culture.  I am speaking of San Antonio.  San Antonio is where our Cofounders, Rollin King and Herb Kelleher, first met back in 1966 when Rollin needed a lawyer to liquidate his Wild Goose Flying Service.  After work, they would meet across the corner at the St. Anthony Hotel for drinks, and Rollin talked about his dream of starting an intrastate, low-cost airline similar to California’s PSA.  Other key folks who would later become Southwest legends, have roots in San Antonio, like President Emeritus Colleen Barrett, a single mom working as Herb’s legal secretary.  Even our current CEO, President, and Chairman, Gary Kelly is from San Antonio.   Because we kicked off our formal 40 th Anniversary celebration in San Antonio this week, I have some early photos of our San Antonio operation.  I love how simple and folksy our ticket counters were back then (above).  They featured large head shot posters of some of our Flight Attendants.  There are two additional things of interest in this photo, but unfortunately you might not be able to see them because of blog limitations on photos.  The first is that you can see the Mexicana counter down at the far left.  Secondly, the door to the counter’s back room is open at the far right of the photo, and you can see through the window at extreme right that it is daytime.   N24SW has just arrived and is deplaning Customers, while the far aircraft has just retracted its stairs and is preparing to depart.   On the 737, the integral air stairs were stowed just under the main entrance and below the cabin floor.   Next, we have a slightly later view of the San Antonio facility.  The two previous photos were from early 1973.  In the remaining photos, the backdrop of the counter has lost its folksiness, in exchange for the city plaques.    The gate waiting area certainly reflected a 70s design style, and as I point out in these early photos, there are very few carryon items, just cosmetic and brief cases.   One of the things that have remained the same over the years is the Customer Service we provide our Customers.  Here Ticket Agent (the position is now Customer Service Agent) Nancy Grubbs is intently trying to assist the Customer.   I’ve lived in Dallas off and on since 1967, and I do love this area, but because so many of our early and present Leaders come from San Antonio, I think the San Antonio background gave us tolerance and an appreciation for the individual and the importance of family, which has served us well over the years.  Thank you, San Antonio, for sharing your best with us. ... View more

Carrier to return and sponsor "World's Greatest Aviation Celebration" to honor 40 Years of Southwest Airlines history   [12-May-2011]     DALLAS, May 12, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Turning 40 has never been this much fun! Southwest Airlines (NYSE: LUV) takes its Anniversary party to the world's largest gathering of aviation enthusiasts in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, this July.  More than a half-million people are expected at this year's weeklong celebration of all-things aviation in Central Wisconsin, and Southwest's special participation will include a recognition and honor of military veterans, educational opportunities for young aviators, a chance to view a Southwest aircraft as few have seen one, and will build to a "Super Saturday" presented by Southwest Airlines, featuring a nighttime airshow, fireworks, and concert. From sunrise to well past sunset, "Super Saturday," presented by Southwest Airlines will be filled with must-see features, attractions, and activities, including country star Aaron Tippin in concert, a Night Air Show, and Daher-Socata Fireworks. The celebration will wrap up with a post-event party on ConocoPhillips Plaza, which will feature food, beverages, and a meet-and-greet with Night Air Show performers. "We're coming back to Oshkosh this year to share in the celebration of a milestone in Southwest history with our Employees and our Customers," said Chuck Magill, Southwest's Vice President of Flight Operations.  "To have this opportunity to honor and proudly showcase our Veterans as we commemorate 100 years of naval aviation is especially rewarding and exciting." As the official airline of the Honor Flight Network, Southwest Airlines supports flights all across the country during the year, which allows Veterans to visit the WWII Memorial in Washington, D.C.  One of those trips this year will transport Wisconsin veterans from Wittman Regional Airport on the Centennial of Naval Aviation.  The Veterans will return to a heroes' welcome at Oshkosh during a special airshow. "Warmth, friendliness, and individual pride are not only synonymous with the People of Southwest Airlines, they also can be used to describe the spirit that exists all throughout AirVenture and the EAA community," said Tom Poberezny, EAA and AirVenture chairman. "We are thrilled to have the support of Southwest as presenting sponsor of 'Super Saturday,' adding another exciting element to one of the many 'must-see days' at AirVenture." The 59th annual edition of "The World's Greatest Aviation Celebration" will be held July 25-31 at Wittman Regional Airport in Oshkosh. Additionally, Southwest is sponsoring a sweepstakes to provide one winner with roundtrip air travel to Milwaukee for two, one-day's admission to AirVenture for two, and a two-night hotel stay.  Rules and an online entry form are available at southwest.com/oshkosh. Visit NUTS About Southwest, the carrier's Company blog, to read details about this year's partnership as well as a recap of Southwest's past involvement with EAA AirVenture Oshkosh. Southwest Airlines serves Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport with nonstop flights to six cities: Phoenix, Las Vegas, Kansas City, Baltimore/Washington, Tampa Bay, and Orlando.  Additional one-stop or connecting service links Southwest Customers in Southeast Wisconsin to 55 cities across the country. About Southwest Airlines Co. In its 40th year 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 and has recently acquired AirTran Airways, now a wholly owned subsidiary of Southwest Airlines Co. Southwest serves 72 cities in 37 states and 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 Airlines One Report(TM). Based in Dallas, Southwest currently operates more than 3,400 flights a day and has more than 35,000 Employees systemwide. About EAA AirVenture Oshkosh EAA AirVenture Oshkosh is The World's Greatest Aviation Celebration and EAA's yearly membership convention. Additional EAA AirVenture information, including advance ticket and camping purchase, is available online at www.airventure.org. EAA members receive lowest prices on admission rates. For more information on EAA and its programs, call 1-800-JOIN-EAA (1-800-564-6322) or visit www.eaa.org. Immediate news is available at www.twitter.com/EAAupdate.  SOURCE Southwest Airlines ... View more

Every aviation geek in the world knows THE place to be the last week of July is Oshkosh, Wisconsin for the annual AirVenture event.  Part air show, part county fair, part trade show, part rock concert, AirVenture is the largest aviation event in the world with a half-million attendees.  Southwest took an airplane to the show last year, and we had a fantastic time.  This year we will be back, but with a larger, week-long presence.  All week, you can find us at the Welcome Center.  We welcome you to stop by and chat with us.    We are a presenting sponsor of “Super Saturday” on July 30, and once again we will have a 737 with a special AirVenture 2011 decal available for tours.  Super Saturday also includes a concert with Aaron Tippin, an amazing Night Air Show, and the Daher-Socata Fireworks show.  A post event party is planned for the ConocoPhillips Plaza, where folks can meet the Night Air Show performers. This year, we are hosting a sweepstakes that gives away roundtrip air travel to Milwaukee for two, one-day’s admission at AirVenture for two, and a two-night hotel stay.  Rules and the online entry form are at southwest.com/Oshkosh.    Most of all, AirVenture is about airplanes, big, small, slow, fast, and amazing.  This year is the 100 th anniversary of Naval and Marine Aviation, and historic Navy aircraft will be on display and in the air.  As part of the salute to Naval and Marine aviators, we will operate an Honor Flight, on Wednesday, July 27, to take approximately 80 World War II veterans to their memorial in Washington, D.C.  The Honor Flight returns home to Oshkosh late that afternoon, and it will feature primarily World War II Naval vets.   This year is also the Centennial of Air Mail, and early mail planes like the JN-4 Jenny and Stinson Tri-Motor will be there.  Legendary Pilots Bob Hoover and Dick Rutan are being saluted, and Hoover’s Focke-Wolfe FW-190 and Rutan’s Space Ship One will be represented. Like last year’s gathering of DC-3s, another legendary pre-war airliner is being saluted with the gathering of Lockheed 12s.  A B-29 and Curtiss C-46 are also scheduled to attend.  The really amazing thing about AirVenture is that the list of aircraft will continue to grow right up until show time.  I can only scratch the surface of the aeronautical delights that will be there, but I will be posting updates until we leave for the show.  For more detailed information about the show in general, click here. Advance purchase admission tickets and camping at AirVenture are now available here.   ... View more

Sweepstakes Celebrates the Carrier’s 40 th Anniversary   DALLAS—May 12, 2011—Just in time for summer, Southwest Airlines and SeaWorld are teaming up to offer Customers great savings on family vacations and the chance to win a trip to visit SeaWorld! In celebration of Southwest Airlines’ 40 th Anniversary and SeaWorld’s new Shamu show, “One Ocean,” the companies have partnered to give away 40 trips in 40 days! Each prize will include the following for a family of four: tickets to the winner’s SeaWorld of choice, hotel accommodations in that city, and roundtrip tickets on Southwest Airlines. Visit www.southwest.com/oneocean to enter to win. Additionally, Southwest is offering special anniversary deals in Orlando, San Antonio, and San Diego. Deals include 40 percent off hotels, $40 off Avis car rentals, fourth night free on vacation packages, adult tickets at kid prices to all three SeaWorld parks, and much more. To further the celebration, Southwest and SeaWorld Employees and Customers welcomed SeaWorld’s penguins, Pete and Penny, at San Antonio International Airport today.  Southwest Customers were greeted by this pair of Magellanic penguins, along with a lemur and a wallaby, and were able to take photos with the animals while chatting with the trainers. SeaWorld also gave away park specific admission tickets at the gates. “Southwest and SeaWorld’s uniqueness is captured in today’s event.  Two happy penguins, a lemur, a wallaby, and 40 trips in 40 days.  Only Southwest Airlines and SeaWorld together could create such a Shamu-sized promotion,” said Andy Allmann, Southwest Airlines’ Director of National Strategic Partnerships.  “For more than 25 years, Southwest Airlines and SeaWorld have partnered to provide our Customers the best overall family travel experience—from the first step into Southwest’s Shamu One plane to visiting one of their parks in Orlando, San Antonio and San Diego.” “We are proud to partner with Southwest Airlines in their 40 th Anniversary celebration.  This sweepstakes gives 40 families the chance to enjoy a VIP experience like only Southwest and SeaWorld can provide,” said Barbara Karasek, Corporate Vice President of Partnerships and Licensing for SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment. “The winners will also have the chance to dive into our brand new Shamu show called “One Ocean,” a multi-sensory celebration of life underneath the sea that entertains as it educates.”  In addition to the new “One Ocean” whale show, SeaWorld San Diego also debuts this summer Turtle Reef – an attraction that will allow guests to get an up-close look at 60 threatened or endangered sea turtles, as well as learn more about the threats sea turtles face in the wild.  The attraction also will feature thousands of tropical fish, and a new ride that takes passengers on an exciting rescue mission of their own. The focal point of Turtle Reef is a nearly 300,000-gallon aquarium with a massive underwater viewing gallery.   About SeaWorld SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment, a portfolio company of The Blackstone Group (NYSE:BX), operates 10 parks across the U.S. including SeaWorld parks in Orlando, San Diego and San Antonio; Busch Gardens parks in Tampa, Fla. and Williamsburg, Va.; Discovery Cove and Aquatica in Orlando; Sesame Place near Philadelphia, Pa.; and water parks Adventure Island in Tampa and Water Country USA in Williamsburg.  The 10 parks play host to 23 million guests each year and employ 20,000 people nationwide.   About Southwest Airlines Co.    In its 40th year 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 and has recently acquired AirTran Airways, now a wholly owned subsidiary of Southwest Airlines Co. Southwest serves 72 cities in 37 states and 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 Airlines One Report(TM). Based in Dallas, Southwest currently operates more than 3,400 flights a day and has more than 35,000 Employees systemwide.   ... View more

Southwest Airlines Reports April Traffic DALLAS, May 6, 2011 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE: LUV) announced today that the Company flew 7.0 billion revenue passenger miles (RPMs) in April 2011, an 8.7 percent increase from the 6.5 billion RPMs flown in April 2010. Available seat miles (ASMs) increased 7.5 percent to 8.8 billion from the April 2010 level of 8.2 billion. The load factor for the month was 79.7 percent, compared to 78.8 percent for April 2010. For April 2011, passenger revenue per ASM is estimated to have increased in the four to five percent range compared to April 2010. For the first four months of 2011, Southwest flew 26.2 billion RPMs, compared to 23.6 billion RPMs flown for the same period in 2010, an increase of 11.0 percent. ASMs increased 8.1 percent to 33.3 billion from the 2010 level of 30.8 billion. The year-to-date load factor was 78.7 percent, compared to 76.7 percent for the same period last year. This release, as well as past news releases on Southwest, is available online at southwest.com. SOUTHWEST AIRLINES CO. PRELIMINARY COMPARATIVE TRAFFIC STATISTICS APRIL 2011 2010 CHANGE Revenue passengers carried 7,522,952 7,495,073 0.4 % Enplaned passengers 9,223,678 8,911,492 3.5 % Revenue passenger miles (000) 7,040,248 6,477,421 8.7 % Available seat miles (000) 8,830,037 8,215,474 7.5 % Load factor 79.7% 78.8% 0.9 pts. Average length of haul 936 864 8.3 % Trips flown 96,683 93,719 3.2 % YEAR-TO-DATE 2011 2010 CHANGE Revenue passengers carried 28,638,067 27,471,908 4.2 % Enplaned passengers 34,822,796 32,605,956 6.8 % Revenue passenger miles (000) 26,236,133 23,639,135 11.0 % Available seat miles (000) 33,335,710 30,834,934 8.1 % Load factor 78.7% 76.7% 2.0 pts. Average length of haul 916 860 6.5 % Trips flown 370,506 355,611 4.2 % SOURCE Southwest Airlines Co.   ... View more

  During the 40 years that Southwest Airlines has been flying, perhaps no airport terminal built during that time has transformed its airport like the current Atlanta terminal.  I base that statement because the current Atlanta terminal is based on connecting passengers, which isn’t surprising when you consider that the hub and spoke concept was born in Atlanta during the 1970s.  The Kansas City, Houston Intercontinental, and Dallas/Fort Worth terminals are just slightly older but they were all built to serve local traffic and have had to undergo many changes to serve as hubs.  This week, we look at Atlanta before AirTran, much as we have looked at Los Angeles, Chicago Midway, Newark, and La Guardia before Southwest.  My career path with Atlanta’s other big carrier included almost a year at the old terminal in 1979.  I literally worked during the old terminal’s last months of existence.  (The terminal was located on the northern perimeter of the airport property, just off Virginia Avenue and just west of Delta’s headquarters campus.)  When you consider that we were operating over 350 flights a day, Eastern a similar number, and with Piedmont and Republic (just after North Central bought Southern) having large operations in a terminal about the same size as Love Field, you know it was crowded, chaotic, exciting, and a last dose of big time “airlining” like our parents experienced. Let’s start with this post card that actually is from the 1960s.  The resemblance between the old Atlanta terminal and Love Field is obvious.  The roof to the left with the scallops was the ticket counter area.  Because this building was a few years newer than Love Field, it was built to a larger scale in the operational area, with a large baggage makeup area and more concourses.  Even allowing for that, it was outgrown as soon as it was occupied, as this 60s shot reveals.  Piedmont has crammed five Martin 404s and a Fairchild F-27 into a ramp area designed for two aircraft. By the time I transferred to Atlanta in 1979, the Piedmont ramp area was just as crowded, and the aircraft were a lot bigger with 737s and a Japanese-built YS-11A filling the ramp. By this time, Eastern had built a large block concourse building on its part of the airport, but like Delta, it had outgrown its traditional part of the terminal and some flights departed from former Southern gates just beyond Piedmont.  The structures just beyond the far Eastern 727 are the current terminals—back then we called what would become the present facility the “mid-field terminal.” On the other side of that concourse we find Republic’s operation.  Most of the aircraft are still wearing their North Central and Southern liveries.  Delta had expanded to the old United (former Capital) concourse out of the picture to the left.  One night I was picking up mail from a 727 that was parked just to the left of the truck at the bottom left of the photo.  A Republic Convair 580 was parked right where the white line on the ramp ends just beyond that truck.  The 580 tried to power out of the gate, but it had been parked too close in.  The wingtip lacked about 2 inches from clearing the 727’s center engine exhaust.  It was quite a show while the 580 went back and forth in reverse thrust to gain those two inches.  Finally, the 727s was pulled forward to allow the 580 to clear. Above we see the two main Delta concourses.  The distances between concourses wouldn’t allow larger aircraft like DC-8-61s to taxi into the gate on their own power.  They also had to be pushed out to beyond the concourse ends on departure.  This added substantially to the ground time.  At the very far end of the second concourse, Delta built a remote parking area that handled up to nine aircraft (727s and DC-9s) on live flights.  Passengers checked in at a big hold room and caught busses out to their flights.  Because the concourse clearances were so tight, aircraft traffic was one-way in at the start of a flight complex and one-way out at the end.  Pity if you were on a late-arriving flight or a flight that needed to return to the gate.  You might have to wait over a half-hour just for the traffic to clear.  Also, by this point the current runway configuration was in use, so flights landing on the south runways had lengthy taxi times to detour around the new terminal construction.  Oh, take a look at the guy on the bag tug going between the United and Delta aircraft.  That was my job most of the time in Atlanta, transferring air mail to and from flights.  Driving tugs on these crowded ramps filled with moving aircraft was a challenge.  Moving through the terminal as a passenger was equally challenging, and traffic lines were painted on the floors inside the concourse to keep in and out foot traffic separated. Much has changed since I worked in Atlanta in 1979, with maybe the biggest change being that AirTran is now part of Southwest.  I can’t say I miss that old terminal, but I am glad to have had the opportunity to work there. ... View more

Carrier Introduces Additional Connections through Chicago Midway and Las Vegas and Announces ‘Explore Mexico’ Sweepstakes   DALLAS—May 5, 2011—Southwest Airlines [NYSE: LUV] today more than doubled the number of Southwest markets able to connect to Mexico, through both Chicago Midway and Las Vegas. 26 Southwest cities, primarily in the Northeast and Midwest, now connect to Volaris flights between Chicago Midway and Guadalajara, Mexico. These new markets include New York’s LaGuardia, Boston Logan, Detroit Metro, Newark Liberty International, Baltimore Washington International, Philadelphia International, Pittsburgh International, Minneapolis-St. Paul International, Nashville International, Indianapolis International, Lambert-St. Louis International, and Louisville International, among others.             In addition, more than 20 Southwest cities, primarily across the Southwest and West, now connect to Volaris flights between Las Vegas-McCarran and Guadalajara, Mexico. These new cities include Austin-Bergstrom International, Houston Hobby, Oklahoma City, Tulsa International, San Antonio International, and San Diego International, and join Denver International, Los Angeles International, Oakland International, Mineta-San Jose International, Sacramento International, and Phoenix Sky Harbor International, creating new connections to Cancun and Mexico City via Guadalajara.             In celebration of this new service, Southwest announces a sweepstakes for roundtrip travel to and two nights’ accommodation at an Intercontinental Hotel at any of Volaris’ gateway cities for two lucky grand prize winners. Learn more about this contest at www.southwest.com/mexicogiveaway. Last November, Southwest Airlines launched a new product that allows Customers to book international flights by connecting with Volaris, Mexico’s second-largest airline, to Volaris destinations of Guadalajara, Morelia, Toluca/Mexico City, and Zacatecas-all in Mexico.    Now over 160 cross-border flight itineraries are for sale at southwest.com.  For a complete list of service click here: http://swa.wieck.com/releases/05fbe1c7-4826-25f5-1b8c-19004dc2ea77             The connecting service provides Southwest and Volaris Customers a seamless transaction and travel experience. The airline’s international connection conducts two separate transactions, one with Southwest’s reservations system and one with Volaris’ reservations system. The unique technology will connect the two transactions and provide Customers with one low fare. Customers traveling on an international connection will be required to check in with each carrier, but luggage will be transferred by the airlines and delivered to the final destination, with only one touch point. Southwest Customers can book travel and learn more about Volaris’ service, policies, and procedures at www.southwest.com/mexico.  Southwest has created an international help desk staffed with bilingual Customer Service Agents to support this effort. Customers can call 1-888-329-8776 for assistance with their travel.    In its 40th year 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 and has recently acquired AirTran Airways, now a wholly owned subsidiary of Southwest Airlines Co. Southwest serves 72 cities in 37 states and 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 Airlines One Report TM . Based in Dallas, Southwest currently operates more than 3,400 flights a day and has more than 35,000 Employees systemwide. ... View more

Airlines will operate separately until receipt of Single Operating Certificate In the near term, Customers will continue to interact exclusively with their ticketed carrier AirTran aircraft to be converted to Southwest brand starting in 2012 Southwest’s Bob Jordan will serve as President of AirTran during integration DALLAS, TEXAS - May 2, 2011 – Southwest Airlines [NYSE:LUV] announced today that it has closed on its purchase of all of the outstanding common stock of AirTran Holdings, Inc. [NYSE:AAI], the former parent company of AirTran Airways (AirTran).    “The successful closing of this transaction is a significant accomplishment and marks a great day in the history of Southwest Airlines.  I want to thank the People from both Southwest and AirTran who helped us achieve this important milestone,” said Gary Kelly, CEO, Chairman, and President of Southwest Airlines.  “Our first order of business is to welcome our new friends from AirTran to the family in a truly Southwest Airlines way.   “The acquisition of AirTran represents a unique opportunity to extend our network into key markets we don’t yet serve, such as Atlanta and Washington, D.C., via Ronald Reagan National Airport. It gives us the opportunity to serve more than 100 million Customers annually from more than 100 different airports in the U.S. and near-international destinations, providing Customers more low-fare destinations as we diversify and expand the well-known ‘Southwest Effect’ to hundreds of additional low-fare itineraries for the traveling public. Today, we also celebrate the promise of expanding our presence at New York LaGuardia, Boston Logan, Milwaukee, and Baltimore/Washington, as well as extending our service to many smaller domestic cities that we don’t serve today, with access to key near-international leisure markets in the Caribbean and Mexico,” Kelly said.    “The timing of today’s closing in the current market environment could not be more important,” he continued. “With soaring fuel costs putting many airlines, yet again, in the red, Southwest brings many strengths to bear. Southwest not only brings profitability and financial strength to make this deal feasible, but it also positions the combined companies with an industry-leading investment grade balance sheet to weather the energy-price storm. In addition, it currently positions Southwest to offer improved job security, compensation, and benefits to AirTran Crew Members who join the Southwest family. Further, Southwest’s profitability and financial strength, along with the United States’ largest Low Fare network, puts AirTran Crew Members in a position to be part of a growing company again, once AirTran is integrated into Southwest.”     Transaction Information   Based on the average of Southwest Airlines’ closing prices for the 20 trading days ending three trading days prior to May 2, 2011, of $11.90, the transaction values AirTran common stock at approximately $7.57 per share, or $1.0 billion in the aggregate, excluding shares issuable upon conversion of AirTran's outstanding convertible notes*.  Each share of AirTran common stock will be exchanged for $3.75 in cash and 0.321 shares of Southwest Airlines' common stock.   Assuming no conversion of AirTran's outstanding convertible notes*, AirTran stockholders will receive 44 million shares of Southwest Airlines common stock, which will represent  5.6 percent of the Southwest Airlines common shares outstanding.  Additionally, they will receive cash of $518 million.  Including the existing AirTran net indebtedness (including outstanding convertible notes) and capitalized aircraft operating leases, the total transaction value is $3.2 billion. The transaction, including the anticipated benefit of net synergies, but excluding the impact of one-time acquisition and integration costs, is expected to be accretive to Southwest Airlines pro forma fully-diluted earnings per share in the first twelve months after today’s close and strongly accretive upon full realization of net synergies. Net annual synergies are estimated to exceed $400 million by 2013. One-time costs related to the acquisition and integration of AirTran are currently estimated to be approximately $500 million. AirTran revenues and operating income for the twelve months ending December 31, 2010, were $2.6 billion and $128 million, respectively.  Southwest Airlines revenues and operating income for the twelve months ending December 31, 2010, were $12.1 billion and $988 million, respectively. As of March 31, 2011, the combined unrestricted cash and short-term investments of the two companies was approximately $5.0 billion. Southwest’s funding for the transaction will be from its cash on hand.  In addition, Southwest Airlines has a fully available, unsecured revolving credit facility of $800 million. Southwest Airlines is committed to keeping all stakeholders updated on the progress of the integration process and intends to provide an update, in that regard, in conjunction with its second quarter earnings announcement, currently scheduled for August 4, 2011.     Leadership   Bob Jordan, Southwest’s Executive Vice President of Strategy and Planning, will serve as President of AirTran effective today. Bob Fornaro, who has served as Chairman, President, and CEO at AirTran, will move to a new key role today as a full-time consultant for the integration of the two airlines, working closely with Kelly and Jordan to ensure a smooth transition.  As previously announced, Southwest Airlines’ headquarters will remain in Dallas, with plans for AirTran’s operations and presence in both Orlando and Atlanta still under review. Additional announcements during the integration will be made as plans unfold.   Jordan will continue to serve on the joint Integration Board consisting of Kelly, Fornaro, Mike Van de Ven (Southwest Executive Vice President & Chief Operating Officer), Loral Blinde (AirTran Senior Vice President Human Resources and Administration), and Jeff Lamb (Southwest Senior Vice President of Administration & Chief People Officer). The Integration Board will continue to provide overall direction of the integration efforts. Until a Single Operating Certificate (SOC) is secured from the Federal Aviation Administration, AirTran operational Departments will continue operating under the AirTran operating certificate with the full authority of its operating teams led by Klaus Goersch, AirTran's Executive Vice President Operations and Customer Service. Goersch will report directly to Jordan, and will work closely with Mike Van de Ven. The remainder of the leadership structure will be communicated at a future date.         Customer Experience   Southwest and AirTran will immediately begin the work to integrate AirTran into Southwest Airlines.  However, AirTran will continue to operate under the AirTran brand with its same policies, procedures, and product features for a period of time.  Southwest plans to integrate AirTran into Southwest Airlines over time by transitioning the AirTran fleet to the Southwest Airlines livery, developing a consistent Customer Experience, and transitioning the operations of the two carriers onto a Single Operating Certificate.  Southwest currently expects it will obtain a SOC in the first quarter of 2012 and estimates it will take several years to fully transition AirTran into Southwest Airlines to become one airline.   In the near term, Customers can expect to interact with each carrier as they always have. Customers flying on AirTran will continue to make reservations or check in at airtran.com or by calling 800-247-8726, and visit AirTran kiosks and ticket counters.  AirTran Crew Members (employees) will assist on scheduled AirTran flights. Customers flying on Southwest will continue to make reservations or check in at southwest.com or by calling 800-435-9792, or at Southwest kiosks and ticket counters.  Southwest Employees will assist on scheduled Southwest flights. Customers will continue to earn and redeem through the respective frequent flier loyalty programs, as they do today, until those programs are combined over time.   Southwest plans to provide the ability for Customers to connect across the networks and integrate key Customer Service policies for a more consistent Customer Experience, in the fall or early next year, depending on both companies' readiness. Any changes to the Customer Experience on either carrier will be communicated in advance via southwest.com, airtran.com, and in direct Customer communications.     Celebrating our Employees   "Today's closing is an important first step to fulfilling our mission to spread low fares farther and increase competition throughout the airline industry," Kelly said. "Our progress, to date, on integration planning has been outstanding.  Without our Employees’ hard work and enthusiasm about this acquisition, we would not have reached this point.  As we now take it to the next level and begin to implement our integration plan, their continued efforts will be key to our success. I have confidence in our People and their ability to successfully execute these plans."   Kelly, Jordan, Fornaro, and leaders from both airlines today will host celebratory events in all mainland locations for both Southwest and AirTran. Following the closing, the three executives departed Southwest’s Dallas headquarters for Atlanta, AirTran’s largest Crew Member (employee) location, onboard an AirTran jet. The team will host an afternoon event for Employees at AirTran’s maintenance hangar there. The event will be webcast live for Employees and watched in such locations as Baltimore/Washington, Milwaukee, and Orlando, where the carriers each have a significant presence. Live Webcast Southwest and AirTran will provide a multimedia, live stream webcast of the day’s events in Dallas and Atlanta, as well as other video material featuring Southwest Leaders and Employees of both carriers, at http://www.ustream.tv/channel/southwest-airlines-headquarters. The material will be archived and available to view later on the same site. Additional photos, videos, fact sheets, and other resources are available at lowfaresfarther.com  and at Southwest’s digital newsroom, swamedia.com. About Southwest Airlines In its 40th year 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 72 cities in 37 states with the addition of service to Newark Liberty International Airport on March 27, 2011. 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 Airlines One Report TM . Based in Dallas, Southwest currently operates more than 3,400 flights a day and has more than 35,000 Employees systemwide. About AirTran Airways AirTran Airways is a wholly owned subsidiary of Southwest Airlines Co. and has been ranked the top airline in the Airline Quality Rating study twice in the past four years.  AirTran is the only major airline with Gogo Inflight Internet on every flight and offers coast-to-coast service on North America’s newest all-Boeing fleet. AirTran’s low-cost, high-quality product also includes assigned seating, Business Class and complimentary SiriusXM Satellite Radio on every flight. To book a flight, visit airtran.com.   *Pursuant to the terms of the indentures governing AirTran’s 5.50% Convertible Senior Notes Due 2015 and 5.25% Convertible Senior Notes Due 2016, holders of such notes may surrender their notes for conversion at any time during the applicable make-whole conversion period.  That period began on April 11, 2011 and ends on a date that will be publicly announced in a Notice to be sent to each Holder within 15 business days after today.   Including shares issuable upon conversion of these series of outstanding convertible notes, AirTran stockholders will receive 57 million shares of Southwest Airlines common stock, which will represent 7.1 percent of the Southwest Airlines common shares outstanding.  Based on AirTran’s common shares outstanding and assuming conversion of AirTran’s outstanding convertible notes, AirTran stockholders will also receive $671 million in cash.   Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements This news release contains forward-looking statements related to Southwest’s acquisition of AirTran Holdings, Inc. Specific forward-looking statements include without limitation statements related to Southwest’s integration plans and the anticipated impact of the acquisition on (i) the future operations of Southwest Airlines and AirTran Airways; (ii) Southwest’s growth opportunities; (iii) the Southwest and AirTran Customer experience, offerings, and benefits; (iv) Southwest’s results of operations, including expected synergies and the projected earnings impact of the acquisition; and (v) employee matters. These forward-looking statements are based on Southwest's current intent, beliefs, expectations, and projections and are not guarantees of future performance. These statements involve risks, uncertainties, assumptions, and other factors that are difficult to predict and that could cause actual results to vary materially from those expressed in or indicated by them. Factors include, among others, (i) Southwest's ability to successfully integrate AirTran's business and realize the expected synergies from the acquisition; (ii) the impact of fuel prices and economic conditions on Southwest’s business plans and strategies; (iii) the impact of the economy on demand for air travel and fluctuations in consumer demand generally for the services to be provided as a result of the acquisition; (iv) actions of competitors, including without limitation pricing, scheduling, and capacity decisions, and consolidation and alliance activities; (v) the impact of governmental regulations on Southwest 's operations; and (vi) other factors, as described in Southwest’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including the detailed factors discussed under the heading "Risk Factors" in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2010. ... View more

While it hasn’t been a secret, we really haven’t publicized our exciting preservation/museum project yet.  However, you certainly will know something is different if you pass the corner of Lemmon Avenue and Mockingbird Lane starting today here at Love Field.  A big shiny Southwest 737 is half-inside and half-outside the Frontiers of Flight Museum.  (Don’t worry, it’s planned that way.)  That’s a very special airplane, it is N300SW, The Spirit of Kitty Hawk, and it is the first of the modern 737s worldwide to enter scheduled service.  In fact, those first flights were such a big deal that we had Bob Hope host a big gala the night before it entered service.  For the inaugural flight on December 17, 1984, our Flight Attendants wore tuxes, and General Chuck Yeager, the first man to break the sound barrier, was onboard.  The 737-300 was introduced to the world as it took to the air at the exact same time the Wright Brothers had first taken flight on the same day in 1903. Because this is such an important airframe for Southwest, Boeing, and the airline industry, we thought it should be preserved, and I have been working on the Team to preserve N300SW.  The Team has become a large one, with volunteers from inside and outside Southwest, and along with some very generous donors, they are making our dreams into reality.  We are still compiling a list of the donors and the volunteers. The Spirit of Kitty Hawk is part of the "Southwest Airlines:  The Heart of our History exhibit."  The airplane will have its own exhibit area with 40 feet of displays and a small video theater.  In addition, we will have around 3,500 square feet of display space on the main floor of the museum that will include interactive video kiosks with a wide mix of our Employees to tell our story; a replica ticket counter from 1972, alongside the current version; part of a jetbridge; a large theater; and the Southwest Family tree depicting the airlines that make up our history, along with artifacts from those carriers—plus much more, including original art and items from Colleen’s and Herb’s personal collections.  We hope the exhibit will open in June for our 40 th Anniversary. To move the airplane into position for display, our Mechanics had to overcome some physical obstacles.  We had curbs and used heavy gauge steel plate to cross those items. When it came down to actually positioning the airplane inside the building, our Mechanics used specially made push bars with two jet tugs to inch the airplane into position.  The nose was steered by hand.  Display engines will be added in the next week or so, to complete the look. The end of the journey that began on December 17, 1984 ... View more

I love going to airliner shows, and I always try to attend at least the one held here in the Dallas/Fort Worth area.  Over the years, I have developed very specific interests, and those are books, timetables, and postcards.  I especially like postcards because they often have a personal meaning for me.  This year’s show was a few weeks ago, and I think I hit the jackpot. You may have noticed that I write about Amarillo a lot when it comes to my personal history with aviation.  Well, the postcard above of the old terminal there captures the very spot where I became enthralled with commercial aviation, and I very well could have  been at the airport when this photo was taken.  If we were flying on a trip with my family, we would have been inside the terminal awaiting our flight.  If it was a summer day, when I went to work with Dad (who was Continental’s Station Manager), I would have been on a ramp tug just behind the Braniff Convair, which was back of Continental’s ticket counter and ops room.  Since TWA was the longest serving airline, it always got the parking spot closest to the main lobby, then Braniff, then Central, and then Continental.  TWA flew their Constellations to Albuquerque (on the way to Las Vegas or Los Angeles) and Kansas City, Wichita, or St. Louis, and getting to see one in action was the highlight of any trip to the airport. Moving a bit closer to my current home, I found two early photos from the Fort Worth Airports.  The first one above shows the old passenger terminal at Meacham Field with an American Convair 240, Flagship Lynchburg.  Some sources list the date on this photo as 1951, which seems correct.  American started receiving Convair 240s in 1947 and the new Amon Carter Field opened in 1953, just south of the current DFW Airport.  Check out the unusual control tower on the old terminal.  When it was first built, the cab of the tower was taller and looked more like a light house.  It received the treatment you see here later in its history.  Unlike its successor, Amon Carter, Meacham is still an active airport, although this terminal was razed in 1968. Speaking of its successor, the photo above is of Amon Carter Field not too long after it opened for service.  We see a Delta Convair 340 and an American DC-6 and Convair 240.  American Airline’s current headquarters campus sits close to where the main terminal was.  The building of Amon Carter intensified the airport rivalry between Fort Worth and Dallas because it was built closer to downtown Dallas than downtown Fort Worth, but the entrance faced Fort Worth.  The Wright Amendment compromise of 2006 appears to finally put the airport issue to rest. While Fort Worth was enjoying the luxurious new Amon Carter Field, Dallas was still operating out of the crowded Lemmon Avenue terminal, built before World War 2.  We can date this photo to a short two-year window between mid-1955 and January 1958.  The Continental DC-3 sets the former limit because Continental didn’t serve Dallas until it acquired Dallas-based Pioneer Air Lines in 1955.  And, the aft limit is due to the current terminal opening in early 1958. And finally, I got this early postcard of the current terminal.  The photo above is late 1959 or early 1960 because Braniff didn’t begin 707 operations until then.  The view is from the indoor observation area with theater seats and looks out over the outdoor observation areas.  I would spend summer days out there, once my family moved to Dallas in 1967. The original Lemmon Avenue terminal can still be seen just above the 707’s fuselage, and it was torn down in 1960 or 1961.  That's five postcards and five glimpses into my aviation history. ... View more

SOUTHWEST AIRLINES RELEASES SECOND STATEMENT REGARDING FLIGHT 1919 AT CHICAGO MIDWAY Plane Exited Runway Upon Arrival; No Injuries Reported DALLAS—April 26, 2011—Southwest Airlines’ Flight 1919 exited the runway at Chicago’s Midway Airport while landing at approximately 1:33 p.m. CT today. The aircraft, a Boeing 737-700, arrived from Denver International Airport, where it had departed at 9:56 a.m. MT.   The preliminary passenger list, still subject to verification, indicates that the aircraft carried 134 passengers, five lap children, and five crew members. Initial reports are that no one was injured. The passengers have been safely deplaned from the aircraft using air stairs and have been bused to the terminal.   Southwest officials are working with passengers to get them to their final destinations. The airline is making outreach to each Customer onboard the flight to refund their roundtrip and issue them two complimentary roundtrip passes as a gesture of goodwill.   Southwest officials are in direct contact with the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) as they perform an investigation into the cause of this incident.   Southwest is working aggressively to minimize Customer inconvenience at Midway Airport. Customers are encouraged to check flight status at www.southwest.com before heading to the airport. Southwest is experiencing some delays at Chicago’s Midway Airport as a result of the aircraft off the runway. ... View more

U.S. Department of Justice Informs Southwest and AirTran That It Has Completed Antitrust Review   Transaction currently plans to close on May 2, 2011   Dallas – April 26, 2011 – Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) and AirTran Holdings, Inc. [NYSE:AAI], the parent company of AirTran Airways (AirTran), today announced they have been notified by the Antitrust Division of the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) of the termination of its Hart-Scott-Rodino Act review and the closing of its investigation of the airlines' pending merger.   AirTran stockholders approved the acquisition of AirTran by Southwest Airlines on March 23, 2011, which, when combined with DOJ approval and other regulatory clearances, constitutes one of the final steps toward closing the transaction.  Southwest said previously that it plans to close on May 2, 2011.    Upon closing, Southwest will turn its efforts to welcoming its new colleagues and integrating AirTran’s operations. Next steps also include beginning work on securing a Single Operating Certificate (SOC) from the Federal Aviation Administration, which is currently projected for completion in the first quarter of 2012.   On Sept. 27, 2010, Southwest Airlines announced that it entered into a definitive agreement to acquire all of the outstanding common stock of AirTran for a combination of cash and Southwest Airlines’ common stock.  The combination of AirTran and Southwest Airlines is expected to generate substantial benefits to consumers, including the expansion of low-fare competition in airline markets across the United States, the creation of broader network offerings with a wider range of consumer choices, improved quality and service, and the overall creation of a platform for new growth.   Southwest Airlines also would like to acknowledge the efforts of the United States Department of Transportation and the Federal Aviation Administration as the companies worked through this process.   About Southwest Airlines In its 40th year 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 and now serves 72 cities in 37 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 Airlines One Report(TM). Based in Dallas, Southwest currently operates more than 3,400 flights a day and has nearly 35,000 Employees. Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements Communications in this news release contain “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Specific forward-looking statements relate to Southwest’s plans and expectations with respect to its anticipated acquisition of AirTran Holdings, Inc. (“AirTran”). Forward-looking statements are based on, and include statements about, Southwest’s estimates, expectations, beliefs, intentions, and strategies for the future. These statements involve risks, uncertainties, assumptions, and other factors that are difficult to predict and that could cause actual results to vary materially from those expressed in or indicated by them. Factors include, among others, (i) the possibility that the transaction is delayed or does not close, including due to the failure of closing conditions; and (ii) Southwest’s ability to successfully integrate AirTrans’ business. Additional information concerning the risks associated with Southwest’s anticipated acquisition is included under the heading “Risk Factors” in Southwest’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2010, and in Southwest’s registration statement on Form S-4 filed with the SEC that includes a proxy statement of AirTran that also constitutes a prospectus of Southwest.  Southwest undertakes no obligation to publicly update any of these forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances that may arise after the date hereto.     ### ... View more

Southwest is operating our full schedule today (4/24) out of St. Louis. This will be our final update. ... View more

Southwest Airlines operations from Lambert-St. Louis International Airport are suspended as the airport works to clear debris and make safety checks following Friday night’s severe weather.  As a result, Southwest’s full schedule of Saturday flights to and from St. Louis has been canceled. Southwest has no reports of injuries among our Customers or Employees as high winds hit the airport Friday night.  Southwest operates from Terminal E at Lambert-St. Louis which has no major damage as a result of the severe weather. Southwest Customers holding reservations for Saturday and Sunday travel involving St. Louis should visit southwest.com to make changes to their travel plans and get flight-specific updates.  For information about Southwest’s St. Louis service, Employees and number of gates in Terminal E, please click here. Additional information is available from the Official site of Lambert St. Louis International Airport.   ... View more

This is the final question in the Nuts About Southwest birthday contest: Based on a post from me on September 28, 2007, what should you not do with online translation device? Never trust it was the answer.  Comments are closed ... View more