Southwest Airlines Community

Hi everyone.  I am posting this on Christmas Eve, and I hope that you will allow me some personal reflection in this edition.  During the 58 years I have been on this planet, I have been associated with the airline industry in all 58 of those years either through Dad’s employment with Continental or my own almost 35 years of airline employment at Delta and for the last 15+ years, Southwest.  That’s a lot of airline Christmases. One thing you learn when you enter the industry is that this is our busiest time of year.  If you are on the frontlines, most often you will work major holidays like Christmas and New Year’s Day until you build up some seniority.  Because it is such a busy travel time, standby travel is a challenge at best during the holidays, and Employees only travel if there is an empty seat.  During the 19 Christmases while I was at my former carrier, my wife and I lived away from family for most of those occasions.  We only spent two Christmas Days with our family during that time, and we had to return home each time late on Christmas Day because that was when there were seats available on what is a slow travel day.  Even though we didn’t try traveling over Christmas, we were able to come home near Christmas.  For ten of those years we lived in Portland, and the local “Made in Oregon” shops provided us with the taste of the Northwest for our gifts to my parents.  Tina’s parents lived in Fort Wayne, Indiana, which was even more difficult to reach,  Since I have been with Southwest, we have stayed close to home with one exception:  The only Christmas Tina spent in Fort Wayne was her mother’s last. My airline Christmas memories wouldn’t be complete without a mention of mail, since at one time, commercial airlines were primary haulers of the US Mail.  Unless you worked on the ramp in the era before e-mail, texting, and social media, you have no idea of what the mail volume was like between Thanksgiving and Christmas.  You would load 2,000 to 3,000 pounds of mail (or more if time and space permitted) on a flight and that wouldn’t even make a dent in the outbound mail volume.  At large airports, carts filled with mail would just sit until a flight had enough bin room to accommodate some of it.  The Postal Service would scramble to find extra aircraft to carry mail.  I remember one Christmas in Portland when I arrived at the Airport Mail Facility and saw three piston-powered Douglas DC-6 freighters from Alaska picking up mail. Then about a week before Christmas, the flood reduced to a trickle, and the backlog would disappear.  Still, mail from procrastinators would always be late.  It saddened me to load mail late in the day on Christmas Eve or on Christmas Day in the knowledge that it would arrive too late at its destination.  For those who know me, the next Christmas revelation will come as no surprise.  My dad was transferred to Los Angeles after I had finished fourth grade.  That was a seminal point in the development of my “airline geekiness,” because I discovered all the facts contained in books about my favorite subject, airplanes.  I quickly devoured the literary offerings in the Center Street School library like Aircraft of the Navy, and I knew there was more.  Soon I found out about legendary English aviation authors like Gordon Swanborough and William Green and the incredible aircraft books they were compiling.  My best friend, Herb Jewell, had a copy of the most amazing aviation book that I had ever seen, Green’s The Observer’s World Aircraft Directory.  From front to back, it contained a listing of every military air arm in the world and the type of aircraft they flew, a short description of the world’s airlines and their fleet types, a section on military aircraft insignia, a section on aircraft engines, then a comprehensive listing of probably 85 percent of the aircraft types flying in the world.  I think the price was $3.95—a large sum in 1962.  For Christmas, that book was my own “Official Red Ryder Carbine-Action Two-Hundred-Shot Range Model Air Rifle,” and I had to have it.  Unlike Ralphie’s parents, my mom and dad didn’t have to worry about the book putting my eyes out—and I didn’t have to face a scary Santa with scarier elves.  My book is still a prized possession in my library, a time capsule from the airlines’ transition into the jet age.  What was your best “aviation” Christmas?  Let us know in the comments below.  The Blog Team wishes all of you a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.  Because so many of you are off doing fun things, we will be taking the next week off for new posts for the most part.  There probably will be one or two posts for New Year's Eve, and we will continue to moderate your comments thoughout the week, so keep posting.  Enjoy the photo below from a Christmas Past.   ... View more

In part one of our previous Flashback to Oakland in the late 1970s, we primarily looked at the scheduled airlines and cargo charters.  In this final installment, we take a look at some large first generation jets serving the Oakland Airport (OAK).  There was a 20-year period from the end of World War II to the introduction of the 727 and DC-9, when the words “four-engine equipment” were a selling point to airline passengers.  That meant you would be flying on the newest, most comfortable aircraft around instead of an unpressurized DC-3.  In 1978 and 1979, DC-10s, L-1011s, 727s and 737s were taking over the airways with the 757, 767, and A-300 soon to arrive.  Yet at OAK, the early four-engine jets like the 707, Convair 880 and 990, and the DC-8 were still common.     Even in late 1978, this Delta DC-8-51 was an aviation veteran.  Along with United, Delta introduced the DC-8 to the world.  The aircraft above, N806E, was delivered in 1959 and it was the last of the five original Delta DC-8-11s with straight turbojet engines.  It was converted to a DC-8-51 with fan jets in 1963.  The DC-8 was always a favorite of mine to ride because of the large windows.  The DC-8-51s retained curtains instead of window shades and the window seats all shared one padded arm rest that ran the length of the cabin.  The Flight Attendant call button rang an actual bell, instead of an electronic chime.  We had one DC-8 flight a day, when I worked in OAK for Delta.  It would arrive about 4:00 p.m. from Dallas/Fort Worth and San Francisco, just across the bay.  We would clean it, and it would depart around 8:00 p.m. in the evening for Las Vegas and Dallas/Fort Worth.     Yes, the airplane above carries the Delta livery, and it did belong to Delta at one time.  It is a DC-8-33, N8166A, and it belongs to charter operator Michigan Peninsula Airway or MPA.  The -33 was the first international version of the DC-8, and this example flew with Pan American before being sold to Delta.  Pan Am had purchased DC-8-33s because they had a greater range than the early 707s from Boeing.  Unlike the DC-8-51 at the top, this aircraft retains its noisy, smoky turbojets.  This aircraft is on one of the auto parts charter flight that we mentioned last week.  It would go on to serve other charter carriers before being scrapped in Angola in 1988.     Captiol Airways was a Memphis-based charter operator that utilized DC-8s on regular charters to Hawaii from OAK.  The aircraft above, N911CL, is a DC-8-61 or as they were popularly called, a “stretch eight.”  This aircraft had flown with National before they merged with Pan Am.     Trans International (TIA) was one of two locally based charter airlines in OAK, the other being World.  TIA operated charters to Europe utilizing the DC-6-63 and newly delivered DC-10-30s.  The DC-8-63 had different engines than the DC-8-61 and it possessed a longer range.   This aircraft, N872TV, spent most of its life flying with charter airlines.  It was delivered to Flying Tigers, and went on to serve with FedEx and UPS.  The building under the tail is still standing, but cargo buildings are located near where the airplane is parked.     One of the rarest airplanes to serve OAK was the Convair 990 above.  Less than 40 were delivered to airlines, and while the airplane was one of the fastest airliners ever built, it was very expensive to operate.  This aircraft, N8259C belongs to the Denver-based travel club Ports of Call.  Members owned the aircraft kind of like a time share, and their cost to go on one of the club’s flights was relatively inexpensive.  Besides Ports of Call, other travel clubs with airliners were based in Detroit, and Indianapolis (where ATA—American Trans Air later became a scheduled operator).  This airplane began life with Varig in Brazil; then went to Modern Air Transport; before it joined Ports of Call’s fleet.  OAK was a popular charter destination because of its proximity to San Francisco.     Finally, this photo reflects the changing nature of the OAK Airport due to deregulation that was passed in 1978.  One of the first steps on that path was the Civil Aeronautics Board assigning unused route authorities to new carriers.  Overnight, Braniff went from zero to 21 flights a day in OAK.  Braniff went to the used aircraft market and among the items they acquired were some of the Delta DC-8-51s.  This is N820E, which had flown into OAK wearing the Delta livery a few months earlier.  Now, in the photo above taken March 9, 1979, it is operating nonstop service for Braniff from OAK to Fort Lauderdale.    I still have a fond spot in my heart for OAK, and whenever I fly in there, it is a bit like coming home. ... View more

Southwest Airlines and Flight Simulator Technicians Ratify Contract Extension DALLAS, Dec. 16, 2010 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ — Southwest Airlines (NYSE: LUV) is pleased to announce that its Flight Simulator Technicians, represented by the International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT) Airlines Division, voted to ratify an extension to their current agreement. The agreement is for a two-year contract extension through October 2013. The current contract would have become amendable on November 1, 2011. “I want to congratulate both sides for ratification of a contract that delivers mutually beneficial enhancements to pay, benefits, and work rules to our dedicated Flight Simulator Technicians,” said Mike Van de Ven, Southwest Airlines Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer. “The negotiating teams were able to balance our competitive needs with our Technicians’ requests to quickly come to an agreement as we head toward our 40th year of operation.” After nearly 40 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 Airlines One Report™. Based in Dallas, Southwest currently operates more than 3,100 flights a day and has nearly 35,000 Employees systemwide. southwest.com  SOURCE Southwest Airlines ... View more

Southwest Airlines Announces 20 Firm Boeing 737-800 Deliveries in 2012 Wed, Dec 15, 2010 DALLAS, Dec. 15, 2010 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- Today, Gary Kelly, Southwest Airlines Chairman, President, and CEO spoke at the Wings Club in New York City and shared additional details on introducing the Boeing 737-800 to the Southwest fleet. Kelly announced the Company will substitute 20 of its 737-700 orders for -800s, with the first delivery scheduled for March 2012. With both its Pilots' and Flight Attendants' Unions ratifying their contracts to add the -800 to their current collective bargaining agreements, the Company is continuing to finalize discussions with the Boeing Company regarding substitutions of the -800s for the -700 positions, and configuration and equipage options. "The -800 represents many exciting opportunities for our Employees and our Customers," Kelly said. "We are looking to the future and the -800 sets the stage to bring more destinations into the realm of possibilities for Southwest, to operate a more economical aircraft, and to offer better scheduling flexibility in high-demand, slot-controlled, or gate-restricted markets." The current plan is to deliver these 20, 737-800 aircraft in full Extended-range Twin-engine Operational Performance Standards (ETOPS) configuration. The current configuration also includes the Boeing Company's Sky Interior that offers a quieter cabin, improved operational security features, and LED reading and ceiling lighting. After nearly 40 years of service, Southwest Airlines (NYSE: LUV) 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 Airlines One Report(TM). Based in Dallas, Southwest currently operates more than 3,100 flights a day and has nearly 35,000 Employees systemwide. Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements This news release contains forward-looking statements related to Southwest's plans and expectations regarding the introduction of the Boeing 737-800 to its fleet. These statements are forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. These forward-looking statements are based on the Company's current intent, 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) the impact of fuel prices and economic conditions on the Company's overall business plan and strategies; (ii) consumer demand for air travel; (iii) actions of competitors, including without limitation pricing, scheduling, and capacity decisions, and consolidation and alliance activities; (iv) the impact of governmental regulations on the Company's operations; and (v) other factors, as described in the Company'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, 2009, and under the heading "Forward-looking statements" in the Company's Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q for the quarters ended March 31, 2010, June 30, 2010, and September 30, 2010. southwest.com SOURCE Southwest Airlines ... View more

Southwest Airlines to Offer More New Service and More Low Fares From Newark Liberty International Airport Low Fares to New Nonstop Destinations Today, Southwest Airlines announced ten additional daily nonstop flights from Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR) with three daily nonstops to Baltimore/Washington International (BWI), three daily nonstops to Denver International (DIA), two daily nonstops from Houston Hobby (HOU), and two daily nonstops to Phoenix Sky Harbor International (PHX), beginning June 5, 2011. These cities join the previously announced nonstop service from Newark to Chicago Midway (MDW) with six nonstop flights, and St. Louis (STL) with two nonstop flights—which begins March 27, 2011—providing Newark a total of 18 daily Southwest Airlines departures. To celebrate this new service, Southwest Airlines is now offering fares as low as $49 one-way, for a limited time, between Baltimore International Airport (BWI) and Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR), in addition to great deals to other cities. Take advantage of these super low fares available only at southwest.com. These fares are available for purchase today through Dec. 17, 201011:59 p.m. Pacific Standard Time, good for travel between June 5, 2011, and August 12, 2011. To see the list of markets and take advantage of these special fares, visit southwest.com. Examples of fares include (see additional Fare Rules below*):   $49 one-way between Newark Liberty International and Baltimore/Washington International $109 one-way between Newark Liberty International and Denver International $129 one-way between Newark Liberty International and Houston Hobby $129 one-way between Newark Liberty International and Phoenix Sky Harbor International “Southwest is proud to offer its low fares to a very popular market. This announcement is the second wave of Southwest’s new schedule at Newark Liberty International to fulfill additional demand to and from ”xn-location">New York City for our Customers," said Gary Kelly, Southwest Airlines Chairman of the Board, President, and CEO. “More service, more flights, and more connections mean a stronger network from East to West.” This Newark service will join New York LaGuardia International Airport and Long Island Islip MacArthur International Airport in strengthening Southwest’s presence in the New York-area. To read more about this announcement, visit nutsaboutsouthwest.com. In August, Southwest Airlines announced its intent to serve Newark Liberty International through a lease deal with Continental Airlines contingent upon the closing of the already approved Continental and United Airlines merger, certain governmental approvals, and all conditions for service have been met. With this agreement, Southwest Airlines has the right to operate up to 18 daily roundtrip flights at Newark Liberty International. About Southwest After nearly 40 years of service, Southwest Airlines (NYSE: LUV) 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 bottomline 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™. Based in Dallas, Southwest currently operates more than 3,100 flights a day and has nearly 35,000 Employees systemwide. http://www.southwest.com/ * Fare Rules These fares are available for purchase from Dec. 15 through Dec. 17, 2010 at 11:59 p.m. Pacific Standard Time only at southwest.com or swabiz.com. Travel valid from June 5 through August 12, 2011. Fares do not include federal excise tax of $3.70 for each flight segment. A flight segment is defined as a takeoff and a landing. Fares do not include airport-assessed passenger facility charges (PFC) of up to $9.00 and government-imposed September 11th Security Fee of up to $5.00 one-way. Seats are limited. Fares may vary by destinations, flight, and day of week and won’t be available on some flights that operate during very busy travel times and holiday periods. Fares are available for one-way travel. Fares may be combined with other combinable fares. Fares are not combinable with Senior Fares. When combining fares, all rules and restrictions apply. Fares are nonrefundable but may be applied toward future travel on Southwest Airlines. Fares are not available through Group Desk. Any change in itinerary may result in an increase in fare. Standby travel requires an upgrade to the Anytime Fare. Any change in itinerary may result in an increase in fare. Standby travel requires an upgrade to the Anytime Fare. Fares are subject to change until ticketed. Offer applies to published, scheduled service only. SOURCE Southwest Airlines ... View more

Southwest Airlines Statement Regarding Stock Clerk Vote on Its Tentative Agreement Tue, Dec 14, 2010 DALLAS, Dec. 14, 2010 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- Southwest Airlines (NYSE: LUV) today offered a statement in response to the "no" vote by its Stock Clerks, represented by the International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT) Airlines Division on the tentative agreement it had with the Company: "We reached a tentative agreement that delivered healthy wage increases to our hard working Stock Clerks, even during this difficult economic time," said Mike Van de Ven, Southwest Airlines Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer. "Both sides put a lot of effort into getting to this point, and for this agreement to be rejected after assistance from a mediator is a disappointment for all involved." IBT represents more than 170 Southwest Airlines Employees. Earlier this year, Southwest and the Teamsters agreed to seek assistance from the National Mediation Board through the mediation process as defined by the Railway Labor Act. www.southwest.com SOURCE Southwest Airlines ... View more

For the next two holiday editions of Flashback Fridays, I thought I would share some photos that I took back when I was the youngest instead of oldest in my work group.  At the start of my airline career, I worked several years in Oakland for Delta.  We only had three flights a day, so there was a lot of free time, even after we cleaned the layover aircraft’s interiors from stem to stern and top to bottom.  I kept my camera in my locker because the Oakland Airport (OAK) was an amazing place.  You quite simply didn’t know what airplanes would show up on the ramp from day to day.  In 1979, there was only what is now known as Terminal One, and its concourse was a single level with outside boarding.  There were four distinct patterns to flights at OAK:  The largest frequency were intrastate flights of Air California and PSA; then longer haul ”SFO-reliever” flights of American, Delta, Hughes Airwest, United (the largest in this category) and Western (with Braniff arriving later); followed by charter flights from Europe and Hawaii; and finally tramp freighters serving the GM plant in Fremont.   At the time these photos were being taken (March and April 1979), Southwest was preparing its first interstate service from Texas to New Orleans, and within a decade it would be the major player in OAK. As the largest of the “CAB carriers” (interstate carriers governed by the Civil Aeronautics Board), United had two gates in prime, close-in positions on the concourse.  The big square part of the building above the nose was the main lobby, and the enlarged portion of the tower was the OAK Club, a private, membership-only lounge, where you could see the SFO Airport and downtown San Francisco.  The airplane is United N7084U, a short-bodied 727-22, and most United flights from OAK used the smaller 727s.  The building behind the tail is part of the international wing of the building.  (Unlike the other photos on the page, this one was made in June 1978.) Delta operated the larger 727-200s at OAK, and the airplane above is a historic one.  It is 727-295, N1939, the first “stretch 727 to enter airline service.  Northeast Airlines was the launch customer for the larger 727-200, and they merged with Delta in 1972.  We used Gate 9, just outboard of the two United gates, and our operations offices were inside a house trailer just in front of the nose.  Our initial three daily departures were an originating morning flight to San Jose (SJC) and Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW), an early evening flight to Las Vegas (LAS) and DFW and a nonstop red eye to DFW.  Oddly enough we didn’t have an inbound flight from LAS; instead we had two inbound flights from DFW via SJC and one via SFO.  We weren’t allowed to carry local passengers between either SFO or SJC an OAK, but United and Air California did. Speaking of Air California, OAK was their maintenance base.  Their primary aircraft was the 737, and two of their three main routes from OAK were to Orange Country and Ontario.  Their third main route was unique, and it went to Lake Tahoe.  Because the Lake Tahoe airport had strict noise rules and jet aircraft at the time were severely performance limited by the altitude and mountains surrounding the airport, Air California operated a small fleet of Lockheed Electras for the service.  Above is N123AC, which was originally delivered to Northwest.  It had long-range fuel tanks, and it was also used for some of Air California's charter flights.  (It had been the team airplane for the San Diego Padres their first year in the National League.)  Behind the Electra is a 727 of the airport’s busiest operator, PSA, which flew to Los Angeles, Long Beach, San Diego, and Burbank.  Behind the camera location is the location where Terminal 2 would be built.  All of Southwest's arriving flights taxi by this location.  I don’t know if it is still located there, but the former ground level PSA gates housed our OAK Pilot Base. Auto parts charters for the GM Fremont Assembly Plant created a large demand for ad hoc cargo charters, usually from Willow Run Airport near Detroit.  The types of aircraft used on these charters ranged from old DC-6s above to modern purpose-built freighters, like the civil version of the C-130 Hercules.  Actually the DC-6 (N3022F) is an ex-Navy R6D-1 (C-118).  The crew let us go on board, and the flight engineer had just finished pumping about 50 gallons of oil into the oil tank on top of the wing.  He confided that one of the engines had a major oil leak, and they had feathered it en route.  As far as I know, the airplane made it safely home to Willow Run. Four days later on April 9, this Trans International Hercules (N20ST) was operating the auto charters.  Although it may look like a C-130, it is actually a Lockheed L100-30, the civil version of the Hercules.  This airplane had an interesting history.  It was delivered originally to Saturn Airways before going to Trans International.  It was leased to Southern Air Transport in 1987, and then to a series of owners.  It was shot down by Angolan rebels while on a United Nations mission the day after Christmas in 1998.  While the freight building shown in both of the above photos is still standing, the area behind the camera has changed a great deal.  In 1979 that area was open land, filled with jackrabbits, but today it is filled with ramp and cargo operators like FedEx.  Next week, we will take a look at OAK’s charter operations, DC-8s, and the first days of deregulation, so stay tuned.  ... View more

Southwest Airlines Honored by the American Meteorological Society for Its Innovation in Advance Applied Meteorology Southwest In-House Meteorology Team is Honored for Advances in the Aviation Industry DALLAS, Dec. 9, 2010 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ — Southwest Airlines’ in-house Meteorology Team was recently recognized when the Council of the American Meteorological Society (AMS) named Rick Curtis, Southwest’s Chief Meteorologist, the recipient of the 2010 Award for Outstanding Contribution to the Advance of Applied Meteorology. This award will be presented to recognize Southwest Airlines’ outstanding contributions in advancing the use of meteorology within the airline industry to further enhance safety and efficiency of operations. “As a weather-dependent operation, the Meteorological Team is the eyes and ears of Southwest. We depend on them to provide Operational Leaders a precise forecast every day to secure the safety of our Customers, our Crews, and our aircraft,” said Greg Crum, Southwest Airlines Director of Operations. “We are proud of the great work the Meteorology Team does every day, and we congratulate them on this great achievement.” Rick will be honored at the American Meteorology Society Annual Meeting awards banquet to be held on January 26, 2011, at the Washington State Convention Center in Seattle. The AMS Annual Meeting will gather the nation’s top contributors in the fields of atmospheric, aviation, oceanic, and hydrologic sciences to focus on the advancement of meteorology within a variety of industries. Rick has been at Southwest Airlines for 13 years and serves as Chief Meteorologist for the Southwest Airlines Operations Coordination Center. He graduated with a Bachelor in Science in Meteorology from Lyndon State College, and was a 2005 Southwest President’s Award winner. He concentrates on strategic weather forecasting, weather research, weather instruction, and is Southwest’s primary representative to the aviation meteorology community. ABOUT THE AMERICAN METEOROLOGICAL SOCIETY The American Meteorological Society promotes the development and dissemination of information and education on the atmospheric and related oceanic and hydrologic sciences and the advancement of their professional applications. Founded in 1919, AMS has a membership of more than 14,000 professionals, professors, students, and weather enthusiasts. AMS publishes nine atmospheric, related oceanic and hydrologic journals, both in print and online, sponsors more than 12 conferences annually, and offers numerous programs and services. ABOUT SOUTHWEST AIRLINES After nearly 40 years of service, Southwest Airlines (NYSE: LUV) 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 3,100 flights a day and has nearly 35,000 Employees systemwide. www.southwest.com/ SOURCE Southwest Airlines ... View more

Southwest Airlines Reports November Traffic DALLAS, Dec. 8, 2010 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ — Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE: LUV) announced today that the Company flew 6.5 billion revenue passenger miles (RPMs) in November 2010, a 10.7 percent increase from the 5.9 billion RPMs flown in November 2009. Available seat miles (ASMs) increased 5.7 percent to 8.1 billion from the November 2009 level of 7.7 billion. The load factor for the month was 80.1 percent, compared to 76.5 percent for the same period last year. For November 2010, passenger revenue per ASM is estimated to have increased in the seven to eight percent range as compared to November 2009.   For the eleven months ended November 30, 2010, Southwest flew 71.4 billion RPMs, compared to 68.5 billion RPMs flown for the same period in 2009, an increase of 4.3 percent. Available seat miles remained flat from the November 2009 level of 90.2 billion. The year-to-date load factor was 79.2 percent, compared to 76.0 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 NOVEMBER 2010 2009 CHANGE Revenue passengers carried 7,362,817 7,028,993 4.7 % Enplaned passengers 8,858,830 8,255,414 7.3 % Revenue passenger miles (000) 6,506,882 5,879,163 10.7 % Available seat miles (000) 8,127,548 7,686,018 5.7 % Load factor 80.1% 76.5% 3.6 pts. Average length of haul 884 836 5.7 % Trips flown 91,159 89,286 2.1 % YEAR-TO-DATE 2010 2009 CHANGE Revenue passengers carried 80,901,928 79,273,009 2.1 % Enplaned passengers 97,281,181 92,983,281 4.6 % Revenue passenger miles (000) 71,398,991 68,486,053 4.3 % Available seat miles (000) 90,166,606 90,168,802 - Load factor 79.2% 76.0% 3.2 pts. Average length of haul 883 864 2.2 % Trips flown 1,021,956 1,034,327 (1.2)% SOURCE Southwest Airlines Co. ... View more

This week, we flashback to Hobby Airport in Houston before it was Hobby Airport and before Southwest was a twinkle in Herb’s and Rollin’s eyes.  I confess that I owe the inspiration for this post to Michael Bludworth who is a volunteer with the 1940 Air Museum at Hobby.  (I’m saving that building for a future Flashback because it is a unique gem among aviation architecture.)  Michael, who is a regular reader of this feature, shared some photos he took during the mid-60s and some earlier ones from his collection. Let’s start with a photo before the current terminal opened.  Michael pegs the date at 1954 for this photo, and those of you familiar with Hobby will notice that there are only two concourses.  As built, the building bears a huge resemblance to the now destroyed Amon Carter Field in Fort Worth.  Both airports opened about the same time, and they both featured a semi-circular restaurant between the concourses.  Although jetbridges were many years in the future, the concourses are double decked, like those at Amon Carter.  Passengers would walk from the terminal on the upper level until they found the stairway leading to the gate hold room on the lower level.  As this point in time, the airport was known as Houston International Airport, and it wasn’t until 1967 that it was renamed for William Hobby, former Texas Governor (and father of Bill Hobby, former Texas Lieutenant Governor and a member of Southwest’s Board of Directors). The photo above was taken about a year later, and it shows an Eastern Constellation parked at the concourse, and you can just make out another unidentified aircraft behind it. Michael’s picture from 1965 shows the layout of the terminal with three concourses, which remained until the recent remodeling with its one central concourse.  I know it’s hard to see with the small blog-size photos, but the top concourse belonged to Braniff, and that is a BAC-111 parking at the gate.  On the center concourse, Trans Texas has three aircraft, a DC-3, a Convair 240, and a Convair 600 parked at the close-in positions with two Eastern 727s on the far end of the center concourse.  Michael’s caption says the aircraft on the bottom concourse is a Continental 707, but I think it is more probably a Delta DC-8. Be sure to notice all the oil stains on the ramp from all the piston-powered aircraft. Pan Am put the “international” into Houston International with their daily Boeing 720 flight to Mexico City, which continued to Guatemala, San Jose, Costa Rica, and Panama City.  Four days a week the flight also stopped in San Salvador, Tegucigalpa, and Managua.  Here N781PA waits for the trip south. Trans Texas Airways (TTA) was headquartered at the airport, and Michael’s photo above captures DC-9 N1301T, which was the prototype for the DC-9 series.  After flight testing was done, Douglas refurbished the aircraft and sold it to TTA.  Airline geeks will know that TTA morphed into Texas International, whose parent company acquired Continental.  And then the magnificent photo below captures Hobby today.  Thanks again to Michael Bludworth for sharing his collection with us.  And hopefully, we will be able to share some vintage photos of the airport’s art deco masterpiece original 1940 terminal, which is located across the airfield from the current terminal.  The building has been restored to its original glory and now houses the 1940 Air Terminal Museum—a must see for any airline enthusiast. ... View more

Southwest Airlines Pilot's Union Ratifies Boeing 737-800 Tentative Agreement Company Set to Move Forward With Decision to Add -800 To Its Fleet DALLAS, Dec. 1, 2010 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- Southwest Airlines (NYSE: LUV) is pleased to announce that its Pilots, represented by the Southwest Airlines' Pilots' Association (SWAPA), voted to ratify a tentative agreement reached with the Company in October to add the Boeing 737-800 to the current collective bargaining agreement. With this positive vote, the Pilots' current contract will also be extended by one year, becoming amendable August, 2012, and will include the potential for wage rate increases based on the Company's financial performance. SWAPA is made up of more than 5,600 Southwest Pilots. "We've said all along that we wouldn't introduce a new aircraft type into the fleet without involving our Flight Crews as part of our deliberations," said Mike Van de Ven, Southwest Airlines Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer. "Since we began evaluating the opportunity to introduce the Boeing 737-800 into our fleet, both our Pilots and Flight Attendants quickly grasped the potential benefits along with the added operational complexities associated with this decision. All Southwest Employees and Customers should be excited at the opportunities adding the 737-800 to our fleet will bring." The Company will now move forward finalizing discussions with the Boeing Company regarding substitutions of the 737-800s for the -700 positions, and configuration and equipage options. Southwest currently expects to take delivery of its first 737-800 in the first quarter of 2012. Two weeks ago, Southwest Flight Attendants, represented by Transport Workers Union (TWU) Local 556, ratified its tentative agreement reached with the Company to add the Boeing 737-800 to its current collective bargaining agreement. After nearly 40 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 Airlines One Report(TM). Based in Dallas, Southwest currently operates more than 3,100 flights a day and has nearly 35,000 Employees systemwide. www.southwest.com SOURCE Southwest Airlines ... View more

Southwest Airlines Announces Rapid Rewards Triple Credit Offer Exclusively for Facebook Fans A Million Strong and Counting! DALLAS, Dec. 1, 2010 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ — Southwest Airlines has become the first airline to reach one million fans on Facebook! And while there are a million ways to celebrate, we’ve decided to offer our fans a special Rapid Rewards promotion, available today only! Facebook Fans can earn triple Rapid Rewards credit on all their flights purchased today for travel between December 1 and December 31, 2010! With this promotion, Members can earn a free* flight after just three roundtrips! Registration is required through the airline’s Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/southwest). Fans who are not yet Rapid Rewards Members can join today and receive a special enrollment offer of up to five credits and become eligible for the triple credit promotion. This promotion is offered exclusively through our Facebook fan page.   “For five years, we’ve been involved in social media as a way to engage our Customers,” said Linda Rutherford, Southwest Airlines Vice President of Communication and Strategic Outreach. “We’ve built a massive online following for one simple reason – we care about our customers. Through this effort, we’ve identified what our Customers want, what we’re doing well, and how we can improve. If a million fans is any indication, it’s working!” It takes 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 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 nearly 40 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 and now serves 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 3,100 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 roundtrip. Travel is good on Southwest Airlines published, scheduled service. Two additional credits per one-way will be issued, exceptBusiness Select.Business Select Customers will receive 3.25 credits for flights less than 750 miles and 4.0 credits for flights 750 miles or longer. Member must be a Southwest Airlines Fan on Facebook. Member must register for this promotion on December 1, 2010 by 11:59 p.m. CST, and registration must be completed prior to commencement of travel.Valid on new reservations only. Reservation must be booked on December 1, 2010 by 11:59 p.m. CST. Qualifying travel must be completed between December 1, 2010 and December 31, 2010. Rapid Rewards account number must beentered at the timeof booking.Travel on an Awardor 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. BN035  southwest.com SOURCE Southwest Airlines ... View more

In the just released 2010 Zagat Airline Survey, Southwest scored first in the following categories:  Top Website, Best Consumer On-Time Estimates--Domestic, Best Luggage Policy--Domestic, Best Value--Domestic, and Best Checki-in Experience.  For details, click the link above. ... View more

I’m not a big “holiday guy."   I’m usually in bed before the New Year clicks over, I don’t wait for Christmas with eager anticipation like I once did as a kid, and I won’t drive far to see fireworks on July 4th.  However, I do have a very special holiday, and Thanksgiving Day is a very big deal to me. In my previous incarnation with another airline, I had the privilege of working in Paris on what originally was an open-ended temporary duty assignment in 1991.  In the end, it wound up lasting about a month.  That month happened to be November.  I fell in love with France and was excited about working at a major European airport (at the time, you couldn’t see Sud Caravelles, Dassault Mercures, Tupolev TU-154s, and Middle East Airlines Boeing 707s together anywhere else but Paris Orly), but the work was the most stressful of my almost 35-year airline career.  Toward the end of the month on Thanksgiving Day, I became very homesick, especially when I realized that all across the US people, including my family, were celebrating Thanksgiving.  My final permanent duty with my original airline had me living apart once again.  This time, I was in Dayton, Ohio, for ten months.  The plan was that my wife would stay in Dallas and try to sell our house.  The house never sold, and I wound up taking a severance package and came back home.  All of that was very much in the future when Thanksgiving rolled around.  In the middle of an American Airlines strike, I wouldn’t be stopped from coming home from Dayton on Thanksgiving, and flew two airlines with a connection in Louisville just to get home.  (I stayed in Dayton for Christmas.)  My own times away from home were brief, and I can only imagine what military families go through this time of year.  But, I know that given the opportunity to be home on only one holiday, it would be Thanksgiving. I like the fact that Thanksgiving isn’t commercialized.  You don’t send Thanksgiving cards or exchange Thanksgiving gifts.  It is a time for family and camaraderie, and this year my family will be entertaining my mom and a longtime friend of my wife.  All of us on the Blog Team are going to take a short break on posting new material, but we will keep moderating your comments.  We will be back with new material on Friday.  Until then, have a Happy Thanksgiving! ... View more

One thing I’ve learned while exploring our archives is that we have a lot of photos of people, but very little photos of processes.  That’s not surprising because of our Culture of placing the Employee first, but it does cause some historical gaps.  Recently for a video project, we were looking for photos of our old plastic boarding passes in use.  For so many years, we just took that procedure for granted, so there was no impetus to make photographs.  Fortunately we found several shots in a feature about the Employees in one of our Stations.  The same lack of visual documentation applies to other routine parts of our operation.  The photographs in this Flashback Friday are of a similar vein as the boarding pass photos.  They were taken for other uses, but still reveal some great historical tidbits. The photo above is taken at the Dallas Operations office here in Dallas, and there is a reason that the Employees appear to be triumphant as they point at the flight board.  This photo originally appeared in the November-December 1978 issue of our Employee magazine, LUVLines, and the caption explains the reason for the joy.  On October 16 of that year, the morning shift at the station dispatched all 28 flights ontime.  Shown in the picture are Operations Agents (left to right) John Witt, Keith Guthrie, Don Overturf, and Bob Debenport with Chief Operations Agent Bob DeVoe on the far right.  Granted, this isn’t a huge historical landmark, but its importance is that it reveals a slice of daily life for the Dallas Station.  The chalkboard lists all of the day’s departures from Dallas.  The first numerical column is the flight number, then the ship number, gate, departure time, ontime status, Captain, and then remarks.  In the remarks box is the planned takeoff weight of each flight, then a square for the initials of the Operations Agent assigned to the flight, and in the next box, some kind of numerical entry (a notation on the fuel?).  Flight #5 has a departure time of 4:00 a.m., which is considerably earlier than any of our current flights.  Another point of interest is that already at this early date in Southwest’s history, the board doesn’t show any of the three original aircraft in service. If you didn’t have the corresponding LUVLines story from 1976 for the photo above, you could still determine, based on the items/information in this photo, that it was taken at Hobby Airport in Houston between February 11, 1975, and March 1, 1977.  Why Hobby and why those dates?  You can’t see it with the blog-size photos, but the board depicts flights only to Dallas, San Antonio, and Harlingen.  Since Hobby is an original city and Harlingen was our fourth city, it has to be Hobby because Houston isn’t shown as a destination on the board.  We started service to Corpus Christi, our fifth city, on March 1, 1977, so there would have to be flights showing for Corpus if it was after the latter date.  Note the trash cans attached to the board that is serving as boardmail collection boxes.  The fact that Hobby has a mail box threw me off a bit in identifying the photo, but then I figured out that the Hobby “box” is for intra-station mail.  At this time, it appears that Hobby has two gates, 1 and 3.  Although this specific photo didn’t appear in the article about Houston Operations, another photo would appear to identify the Employee as Operations Agent Sam Haney. The LUVLines reporter visited the station on July 27, 1977. My own airline career began about the time of these photos, and as the photos show, blackboards and chalk were an essential tool of commercial aviation.  In all of our stations, my original airline had boards very similar to those above.  Today of course, all of this information is computerized, which is a blessing when retrieving information, but we have lost something too.  Thirty or so years from today, future historians won’t find visual records like these showing a slice of our daily operation.  ... View more

Southwest Airlines Flight Attendants' Union Ratifies Boeing 737-800 Tentative Agreement DALLAS, Nov. 18, 2010 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ — Southwest Airlines (NYSE: LUV) is pleased to announce that its Flight Attendants, represented by the Transport Workers Union (TWU) Local 556, voted to ratify a tentative agreement reached with the Company in September to add the Boeing 737-800 to the current collective bargaining agreement. With this positive vote, the Flight Attendants’ current contract will also be extended by one year, becoming amendable May 31, 2013, and will include the potential for wage rate increases based on the Company’s financial performance. TWU 556 is made up of more than 9,700 Flight Attendants. “Since we began evaluating the opportunity to introduce the Boeing 737-800 into our fleet, the TWU negotiating committee and Leadership Team quickly grasped the potential benefits along with the added operational complexities associated with this decision,” said Mike Van de Ven, Southwest Airlines Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer. “This was an important step in our due diligence process, and we are pleased that our hard working Flight Attendants recognize the long-term benefits of adding this new aircraft to our fleet.” The decision to add the -800 still isn’t final. The carrier is still waiting for a ratification vote with its Pilots’ Union, SWAPA, and is continuing to evaluate network and configuration options. Any details regarding firm orders with Boeing, timing, and quantity of deliveries are still to be determined. If the Company pursues the -800, a joint committee would meet to work on the logistical details related to scheduling and bidding procedures that adding a fourth Flight Attendant will require. After nearly 40 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 Airlines One Report TM . Based in Dallas, Southwest currently operates more than 3,100 flights a day and has nearly 35,000 Employees systemwide. www.southwest.com SOURCE Southwest Airlines ... View more

Southwest Airlines Appoints New Member to Board of Directors Thu, Nov 18, 2010 DALLAS, Nov. 18, 2010 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- The Southwest Airlines Board of Directors today appointed Tom Nealon to the Board, effective December 1, 2010. Nealon is Group Executive Vice President of J.C. Penney Company, Inc. For a photo of Nealon, please visit: www.swamedia.com/photos. Nealon's JCPenney responsibilities include Information Technology, jcp.com, Corporate Strategy and Planning, and Digital Ventures. Nealon joined JCPenney as Executive Vice President & Chief Information Officer in 2006. "We couldn't be more excited to have Tom join the excellent talent that already resides on the Southwest Board of Directors," said Gary Kelly, Chairman of the Board, President, and Chief Executive Officer for Southwest Airlines. "Tom's extensive knowledge in technology and his leadership skills will serve Southwest and its People well." Nealon earned a Bachelor of Science degree from Villanova University in Pennsylvania and a Masters degree in Business Administration from the University of Dallas.Prior to joining JCPenney, Nealon was a partner with The Feld Group, where he served in a consultant capacity as Senior Vice President & Chief Information Officer for Southwest. Nealon has also served as Chief Information Officer for Frito-Lay, a division of PepsiCo.Nealon is the recipient of the 2010 MIT Sloan School of Business Award for Innovation Leadership and was recognized by Information Week as a "Premiere 100 CIO'" in 2006 and 2010. Nealon will initially serve for a term lasting until the Company's next Annual Meeting of Shareholders in May 2011. Other members of Southwest's Board of Directors are: David W. Biegler; Douglas H. Brooks; William H. Cunningham, Ph.D.; John G. Denison; Travis C. Johnson; Gary C. Kelly; Nancy B. Loeffler; John T. Montford; and Daniel D. Villanueva. After nearly 40 years of service, Southwest Airlines (NYSE: LUV)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 Airlines One Report(TM). Based in Dallas, Southwest currently operates more than 3,100 flights a day and has nearly 35,000 Employees systemwide. www.southwest.com ... View more