Southwest Airlines Community

As Southwest Airlines continues to integrate its network with AirTran’s we are creating opportunities for our Customers by way of improved itineraries and by adding new cities to Southwest’s route map. Another of those opportunities began last week as we are now bringing our Customers a way to book international destinations through www.southwest.com by linking Customers directly to www.airtran.com. Does that mean Southwest is flying to Cancun?  Well, not quite, but now, Customers looking to book nonstop international travel from key Southwest cities will have the opportunity to link over to www.airtran.com and book international travel on AirTran. I know what you are thinking, is this Southwest’s solution to international travel?  Is this the way Southwest and AirTran will begin connecting their networks?  While we are working on solutions for both of those questions—this is not the answer for either of those scenarios. What we are affectionately calling international web referral (say that three times quickly) is just a way for Southwest Customers to have an option of connecting to nonstop international destinations via AirTran. Customers in the following cities will see international options: Atlanta, Baltimore/Washington, Chicago Midway, Milwaukee, Orlando, and Tampa Bay..  When Customers select an international itinerary from these cities they will see the following message: They will then be directed to www.airtran.com where they can complete the booking process.  All flights booked on www.airtran.com will be subject to AirTran’s policies and procedures.     We’re excited about this new opportunity for our Customers and we continue to work toward integrating the Southwest and AirTran networks.  Our folks are working hard to bring these two airlines together and we’ll bring you more announcements in the coming months! ... View more

Be sure and listen to last week's Red Belly Radio podcast interview of Kendall. You know the people I’m talking about: the ones that can’t seem to put their smartphones away.  Ever.  In fact, it physically hurts them to put their phone away during a flight, and when their plane lands and they hear that DING!, they have to turn their phone on immediately.  They have to call someone, send a text, or check their email now…RIGHT NOW. Yeah, those people are so ridiculous…I really wish I wasn’t one of them.   My name is Kendall Ramirez, I’m an iPhone user, and I have a full-fledged addiction.  I even have an old school 2G iPhone, but I love it!  It may not be lightning fast or have GPS, but I’m lost if I don’t have it within arm’s reach.   With that kind of addiction, you can understand why I’m so excited that Southwest has launched our first iPhone app.  If I do say so myself, it’s a pretty cool app, and (even better!) it’s free.  You can book reservations, checkin for your flight, check your flight’s status, view flight schedules, and more.  If you’re a Rapid Rewards Member, you can access your account, see your credit balance, view your upcoming flights, and even see your flight history.  So, the app gives you access to the most important functions you need while you’re out and about.   Plus, the extra feature I really love is DING!  We’ve had our DING! desktop widget for years, which allows you to get deeply discounted, limited-time-only air fare deals on select flights.  But, you can only get the deals through DING! (they aren’t available on southwest.com) so if you were away from your desk when you were DING!-ed, you could completely miss a great deal.  Now, if you have your iPhone with you (which, if you’re like me, you always do) you won’t miss a DING! deal.  Now, that’s a great app!   We also have plenty of plans for future enhancements.  We’ve heard from many users that they want the ability to checkin from their list of upcoming flights.  That totally makes sense and we have it on our short list of enhancements.  Plus, we have a few more ideas up our sleeves.  And, don’t worry, we won’t forget about all you non-iPhone users.  We know you want an app, too, and we’re on it.  So, stay tuned… ... View more

  March 24 marked another huge milestone for Southwest Airlines!  Since our inception almost 38 years ago, loading baggage into the bins of our aircraft has been completely manual.  Our Ramp Agents determined the total amount of freight and baggage to be transported on the flight, and from that information, they would “plan” the distribution of the cargo between the two aircraft bins (located in the front and aft of the aircraft) based on weight and destination. But no more!  This week we successfully launched our Load Planning System (LPS), which is a preplanning tool that automates aircraft loading.  It was developed to improve our current baggage loading process and to make best use of bin space, with an ultimate goal of improving operational and fuel efficiency. The LPS system considers all the accepted baggage and freight, number of Customers traveling, and the amount of fuel loaded on the aircraft.  From that information, LPS calculates the best way to efficiently load the aircraft. Once calculated, the Operations Agent will review and approve the plan, and then print it for the Ramp Agent.  From that point, the Ramp Agent will be responsible for ensuring the baggage and freight are loaded according to the plan. Being efficient, saving money, and improving our processes is always important, but in today’s current economic environment, it is essential.  So next time you look out the window and watch baggage being loaded onto the aircraft, you’ll know there’s a plan for each piece!   ... View more