Southwest Airlines Community

February 16, 2011 – The Love Field Modernization Program (LFMP), which is the improvement program at Dallas Love Field Airport, is moving into its next phase of major construction: roadway development on Cedar Springs Road and a scheduled closure of the West Pedestrian Bridge. These are two exciting milestones as we move toward an improved Love Field. Airport lane closures began the week of February 7 in preparation for roadway construction, which is slated to start in early March. Traffic is currently being re-routed in response to the necessary lane closures. As part of Love Field’s public awareness initiative, signage will continue to be displayed throughout Love Field to help direct vehicle and pedestrian traffic during the process. Airport roadway construction will continue through late 2011. In order to minimize the impact on travelers, roadway work will be conducted at night. In addition to the lane closures, the West Pedestrian Bridge above Cedar Springs, which provides an upper-level connection between Parking Garage A and Terminal 2 (Southwest Airlines), will permanently close on Monday, February 21, 2011. The bridge is scheduled for demolition soon after its February 21 closing to allow for the expansion of Cedar Springs Road in front of the airport’s terminals, which will include additional and widened lanes. Once the West Pedestrian Bridge is gone, Love Field travelers who use Parking Garages A and B can access Terminal 2 (Southwest Airlines) by using the East Pedestrian Bridge or the ground crosswalk on Cedar Springs Road. Customers may still access the upstairs screening lane (West Checkpoint) from inside Terminal 2, near Baggage Claim. Travelers heading to Terminal 1 (Delta and Continental/United Airlines) will not be impacted by the West Pedestrian Bridge closure. About Love Evolution Love Evolution is the ongoing improvement process of Dallas Love Field Airport as it undergoes a dramatic evolution these next few years. The Love Field Modernization Program, focusing on construction, will transform our beloved airport and turn it into one of the nation’s premiere and modern airport facilities. The three original concourses will be eventually consolidated into one, centrally located concourse for all airlines. From more efficient travel to an increased number of airport concessions, the modernization program will create tremendous benefits for Love Field travelers. Press Contact: Katrina Keyes, LFMP Public Relations Director K Strategies Group E: kkeyes@kstrategies.com C: 214-403-2583 P: 214-599-9766 www.lovefieldmodernizationprogram.com ... View more

Southwest Airlines will be the first US carrier to test satellite-delivered broadband Internet access on multiple aircraft. With this innovation, Southwest Customers with a wi-fi enabled device will have full access to the Internet including e-mail, music, shopping, and virtual private networks (VPN) via a high-speed connection. Southwest Airlines is partnering with Southern California-based Row 44 and hopes to begin testing Internet capabilities on four aircraft this summer. "Southwest Airlines is pleased to announce its partnership with Row 44, and we intend to deliver the highest bandwidth available to commercial airlines in the United States," said Dave Ridley, Southwest Airlines' Senior Vice President of Marketing. "Southwest's selection of satellite technology will offer a more robust experience for more Customers per aircraft versus other solutions available in the marketplace." "Southwest is looking for the best solution for our Customers not only for Internet e-mail access, but for additional inflight entertainment as well," Ridley said. "We look forward to exploring this cutting-edge technology with Row 44 and hope this will keep our Customers productive and entertained inflight." "We're excited to partner with Southwest Airlines to keep passengers informed, in touch, and entertained," said Gregg Fialcowitz, President of Row 44. "This service will set the standard for excellence in inflight connectivity." After almost 37 years of service, Southwest Airlines continues to differentiate itself from other airlines-offering low fares and a reliable product with impeccable Customer Service. Southwest Airlines is the most efficient airline in the sky and offers Customers a pleasant traveling experience. Southwest recently updated its gate areas and improved its boarding procedure to make flying Southwest productive and convenient. Southwest Airlines (NYSE: LUV), the nation's largest carrier in terms of domestic passengers boarded, currently serves 64 cities in 32 states. Based in Dallas, Southwest currently operates more than 3,300 flights a day and has more than 33,000 Employees systemwide. Row 44 is the fast, global, fleet-wide solution for inflight broadband services -- high-speed Internet, video entertainment, cell phone support, and airline operational services. The system offers wide-body, narrow-body and even regional jet support along with flexible service deployment options. And its cost effective because installation is quick, the hardware is light, and the service leverages existing satellite networks.   ... View more

Southwest Airlines today announced that it is refining its schedule beginning May 10, 2008. Through the elimination of 57 existing roundtrip flights from its May flight schedule, Southwest today will add 40 roundtrip flights in key growth markets such as Denver. Many of the changes will be seasonal to accommodate peak summer demand. For a complete listing of the flight changes go to: http://www.southwest.com/about_swa/press/080109_chart.pdf. "Southwest Airlines is concerned about slowing economic growth, and we want our flight schedule to be built around flights that are in high demand," said Gary Kelly, Southwest Airlines Chief Executive Officer. "Our Employees continually evaluate our flights to see how we can offer our Customers the most efficient flight schedule in the business." Southwest Airlines is offering special fares for all new nonstop service. For a complete list of fares visit http://www.southwest.com/?src=PR_NS_010908. Fares are as low as $79 one-way with a 14-day advance purchase and as low as $99 one-way with a 21-day advance purchase. Fares apply only to new service. See fare rules below. "Southwest is intent on strategically changing its flight schedule in 2008 to reflect demand and grow revenue -- even adding seasonal flights when we can," Kelly said. "We've improved our boarding procedures and updated our gate areas to make our Customers more productive, and we look forward to 2008 as being one of the most productive yet for Southwest Airlines." Southwest is the only U.S. airline to remain consistently profitable this decade, and enjoys an unprecedented string of 34 consecutive years of profitability. Southwest has a low cost structure, strong balance sheet, and the most comprehensive fuel hedge of any major U.S. airline. After almost 37 years of service, Southwest Airlines continues to differentiate itself from other low fare carriers -- offering a reliable product with impeccable Customer Service. Southwest Airlines is the most productive airline in the sky and offers Customers a productive traveling experience. Southwest recently updated its gate areas and improved its boarding procedure to make flying Southwest convenient and simple. Southwest Airlines (NYSE: LUV), the nation's largest carrier in terms of domestic passengers enplaned, currently serves 64 cities in 32 states. Based in Dallas, Southwest currently operates more than 3,300 flights a day and has more than 33,000 Employees systemwide. Fare Rules: All fares are available for purchase today for travel beginning May 10, 2008, through Aug. 3, 2008. The new nonstop flights between Denver and San Jose, St. Louis, Raleigh-Durham, San Antonio, and Philadelphia require a 14-day advance purchase. The new nonstop flights between Austin and Ft. Lauderdale, between Ft. Lauderdale and Manchester, and between Denver and Los Angeles require a 21-day advance purchase. The new nonstop flights between Jacksonville and Las Vegas, between Austin and Oakland, and between Nashville and Norfolk require a 14-day advance purchase and are available for purchase today through May 10, 2008. Sale fares apply only to new service and are only available at http://www.southwest.com. Fares are available one-way and are combinable with all other fares (except Senior Fares). When combining fares, all ticketing restrictions apply. Seats are limited. Fares may vary by destination and day of travel and will not be available on some flights that operate during very busy travel times and holiday periods. Fares do not include a federal segment tax of $3.50 per takeoff and landing. Fares do not include airport-assessed passenger facility charges (PFC) of up to $4.50 one-way and U.S. government-imposed September 11th Security Fees of up to $2.50 one-way. Fares are subject to change until ticketed. Tickets are nonrefundable but may be applied toward the purchase of future travel on Southwest Airlines if unused. Fares are valid only on Southwest-published, scheduled service and are not available through the Group Desk. Any change in itinerary may result in an increase in fare. Standby travel requires an upgrade to the full unrestricted fare. Fares are not necessarily common rated in the Washington, D.C. area (Baltimore/Washington and Dulles), the Bay Area (Oakland, San Francisco, and San Jose), or the Los Angeles Basin. Orange County and Washington D.C. (Dulles) are not included. SOURCE Southwest Airlines CONTACT: Public Relations of Southwest Airlines ... View more

Southwest's Cofounders got together in 1967 to discuss their idea for a new airline that would bring the Freedom to Fly to America, and when Rollin King finished sketching out the idea on a cocktail napkin, Herb Kelleher told him, "Rollin, you're crazy. Let's do it!" Much the same thing happened when we presented the idea for this blog to Southwest's Leaders. They thought we were crazy – but hey, we are nuts, and we're doing it! So, from deep in the heart of Texas, we say "Howdy" and welcome you to Southwest's homestead in the blogosphere. (By the way, in case you stumbled upon this site by accident and were looking for our regular web site, southwest.com, this link will take you there: www.southwest.com.) Our goal with this blog is to give our readers the opportunity to take a look inside Southwest Airlines and to interact with us. This is as much your blog as it is ours. We have lined up a crew of bloggers representing a diverse cross-section of our Company. The most current postings will be found on the home page, and we have organized the archives by category. We want to build a personal relationship between our bloggers and you, and we need your participation. You are the "other half" of this blog, and our bloggers can't wait to communicate with you, so get busy posting. This is the point where we insert the "fine print" and discuss the guidelines for posting. The Southwest Blog is starting out as a moderated site because we want to ensure that everyone stays on topic. We would LUV for you to post your thoughts, comments, suggestions, and questions, but when you post, make sure that they are of general interest to most readers. Of course, profanity, racial and ethnic slurs, and rude behavior like disparaging personal remarks won't be tolerated nor published. Even though our blog is moderated, we pledge to present opposing viewpoints, and we will strive to keep it interesting, diverse, and multi-sided. Our bloggers want to engage in a conversation with you, but not every post will receive a response from us. However, we encourage you to respond to our bloggers and to the posts of other individuals. We also ask that you be patient with our bloggers for a response. Some of our bloggers are Flight Crew Members, so they may delay a response for a few days while they are "on the road." (Actually, we should probably say that they are "in the air.") One final disclaimer – the Southwest Blog is not the forum to address personal Customer Service issues. All of us have "day jobs," and we simply don't have the resources through this blog to resolve individual concerns. Even though this is not the forum, Southwest is eager to resolve your concerns. Our Customer Relations/Rapid Rewards folks want to assist you, and you can contact them by mail at Southwest Airlines, Customer Relations/Rapid Rewards, P.O. Box 36647, Dallas, Texas 75235-6647; by phone at (214) 792-4223. For reservations, please visit southwest.com or call our Reservations Center at 1-800-I-FLY-SWA (1-800-435-9792). ... View more

  That's right!  Here's your chance to do something in Vegas that will stay in Vegas.  Southwest Airlines is proud to be the Official Airline of the BlogWorld Expo, which is being held at the Las Vegas Convention Center on November 8 and 9.  This is a huge event promoting blogging and new media, and we hope everyone will stop by our booth at the event and meet some of our Blog Team. Even better, we are offering a package to attend BlogWorld for one creative Nuts About Southwest reader.  This package includes air travel for two on Southwest Airlines to Las Vegas from your closest Southwest city; the good folks at BlogWorld are providing free registration for the Expo; and our friends at the MGM Grand are providing a room for three nights (November 7 through November 9).  All you have to do is visit our contest site (provided by our friends at spigit.) and provide your best Las Vegas-style caption for the photo which was provided by Darrin Bush of the Las Vegas News Bureau.  The deadline to submit your caption is midnight (Pacific Time) on Friday, October 26, 2007,  and the winner will be notified on Monday, October 29, 2007.  The caption with the most "thumb's up" will win this great prize.  Also, please visit the contest site to vote for your favorite caption. (Contest rules are posted at the official contest site.) Remember, for your caption (and vote) to count, it must be posted on the contest site provided by spigit. ... View more

Click here to listen to our CEO Gary Kelly talk about various issues and opportunities facing Southwest Airlines. ... View more

The Southwest Blog Crew hopes that everyone had a great Holiday Season, and we thought we would start out the New Year with some Holiday photos from James Malone--see below! ... View more

With Christmas and New Year's Day just around the corner, we know that our readers are probably busy with other "stuff" instead of reading the blog.  (We hope that some of that "stuff" is visiting friends and family on one of our LUV Jets.) So, we will be going on a bit of a break in posting new material until "next year," but we will still be publishing your comments in the meantime--so keep them coming.   Your Blog Crew - the Blog Boy, Brian, the Blog Beauties, Angela, Ginger, Jill, Linda, and Paula, and all our Employee bloggers - raise (or knowing them, drain) a cup of Holiday cheer and send you the best Season's Greetings!  See you on January 2. ... View more

Southwest Pilot Terry Taylor talks about the airplane he landed in Grand Rapids, Mich. ... View more

Southwest President Colleen Barrett and Chairman Herb Kelleher talks about our first plane to depart Dallas after the 9/11 attacks. ... View more

Southwest attorney Dick Ketler tells a story of the flight attendant on the first SWA flight he got on after 9/11. ... View more

Southwest Director Nan Barry and two Southwest Reservations Sales Agents tell a story of taking care of our airline friends in the aftermath of 9/11 ... View more

Blogger and Southwest Airlines Schedule Planning Employee Bill Owen talks about how SWA Employees put their lives on hold to help secure the Company.     ... View more

This was the first Southwest Airlines commercial following the Sept. 11 attacks. ... View more

The staff of Nuts About Southwest join with the almost 32,000 Southwest Employees in sending our thoughts and prayers to everyone touched by the Comair tragedy in Kentucky. ... View more

Our fellow blogger, Gordon Guillory, made the front page of the Wednesday August 16, edition of The Wall Street Journal.  The article "Bees on a Plane Are A Real-Life Problem Vexing Some Pilots" recounts the story that he told first here at Nuts About Southwest. Unfortunately, it requires an online subscription to view the electronic version, but if you are a subscriber or read the paper version, you will read about our famous blogger! Way to go, Gordon. ... View more

We realize that some of you may be looking for a place to post your comments about assigned seating versus open seating.  Please place these comments in the post on the subject from our CEO, Gary Kelly.  To access Gary's post, click here.  Please try to keep on topic with the other posts.  Thanks from the Southwest bloggers. ... View more

Ok...we want to hear from you. More specifically, we want to hear your favorite "Southwest-isms" on a recent (or even not-so-recent) flight you've been on. For example... On a recent flight to Baltimore, the pilot came over the loudspeaker and said, "Ladies and Gentleman, I have some good news and I have some bad news. The bad news is ...it's raining and 40 degrees in Baltimore right now. The good news is...I just saved a bunch of money on my car insurance by switching to Geico." ... View more

Southwest's Cofounders got together in 1967 to discuss their idea for a new airline that would bring the Freedom to Fly to America, and when Rollin King finished sketching out the idea on a cocktail napkin, Herb Kelleher told him, "Rollin, you're crazy. Let's do it!" Much the same thing happened when we presented the idea for this blog to Southwest's Leaders. They thought we were crazy — but hey, we are nuts, and we're doing it! So, from deep in the heart of Texas, we say "Howdy" and welcome you to Southwest's homestead in the blogosphere. (By the way, in case you stumbled upon this site by accident and were looking for our regular web site, southwest.com, this link will take you there: www.southwest.com.) Our goal with this blog is to give our readers the opportunity to take a look inside Southwest Airlines and to interact with us. This is as much your blog as it is ours. We have lined up a crew of bloggers representing a diverse cross-section of our Company. The most current postings will be found on the home page, and we have organized the archives by category. We want to build a personal relationship between our bloggers and you, and we need your participation. You are the "other half" of this blog, and our bloggers can't wait to communicate with you, so get busy posting. This is the point where we insert the "fine print" and discuss the guidelines for posting. The Southwest Blog is starting out as a moderated site because we want to ensure that everyone stays on topic. We would LUV for you to post your thoughts, comments, suggestions, and questions, but when you post, make sure that they are of general interest to most readers. Of course, profanity, racial and ethnic slurs, and rude behavior like disparaging personal remarks won't be tolerated nor published. Even though our blog is moderated, we pledge to present opposing viewpoints, and we will strive to keep it interesting, diverse, and multi-sided. Our bloggers want to engage in a conversation with you, but not every post will receive a response from us. However, we encourage you to respond to our bloggers and to the posts of other individuals. We also ask that you be patient with our bloggers for a response. Some of our bloggers are Flight Crew Members, so they may delay a response for a few days while they are "on the road." (Actually, we should probably say that they are "in the air.") One final disclaimer — the Southwest Blog is not the forum to address personal Customer Service issues. All of us have "day jobs," and we simply don't have the resources through this blog to resolve individual concerns. Even though this is not the forum, Southwest is eager to resolve your concerns. Our Customer Relations/Rapid Rewards folks want to assist you, and you can contact them by mail at Southwest Airlines, Customer Relations/Rapid Rewards, P.O. Box 36647, Dallas, Texas 75235-6647; by phone at (214) 792-4223; or by fax at (214) 792-5099. For reservations, please visit southwest.com or call our Reservations Center at 1-800-I-FLY-SWA (1-800-435-9792). ... View more