Southwest Airlines Community

Quick little revival, conclusion and final hail mary of a proposal First - last flight I was on with SWA I was able to get certain wireguard-based connections to work- BARELY, just unusable unless the flight is empty. IPTV boggs down the GEO-SAT based internet SWA switched to slowly around 2016. Given how much BETTER other airlines wifi is (i.e. using ground station 5G based comms instead of GEO (I believe SWA is now all GEO-based comms specifically provided by Viasat).   Before all this mess started happening, SWA was using a similar system that providers like American Airlines uses (4/5G direct to ground receivers eliminating the huge GEO (geostationary earth orbit satellite) latency. Before SWA offered free TV, speeds were great (given the era and the medium), it would die over bodies of water and as much direct testing I could and experienced when SWA started flying to Puerto Vallarta - a route taken by AA usually only, I was able to compare and contrast for a while, AA would cut out just as SWA would as we got into Mexico from DFW if AA and sadly only via connecting flight if SWA (boy I would love if LUV got an international terminal, I will do everything in my power to avoid layovers, which is why I say limited testing).    Then, SWA switch from Business to ‘free TV’ which is when this all started happening. Basically, I figure what happened is ViaSAT sold SWA on a contract of some sort and it wrecked business users so they could advertise free live junk TV without needing DISH.     SWA started having connectivity over Mexico but still very poor AA still doesn’t, but it’s gotten a lot better as 4/5G get’s deployed in Mexico (heck, I get 5G in Puerto vallarta with speeds around 200Mbps / 10Mbps up which is huge compared to just 4 years ago - note ON LAND via mobile not via the airplane’s wifi). To this day I will happily pay AA wifi because I can actually use VPN with RDP reliably. As long as we’re flying over land in the US. Mexico has gotten better so much so that I will buy it now when going down to PVR. (I still hate DFW though, not as bad as connecting in Houston, though).   AA doesn’t have free TV (from what I can recall). I may be mistaken, I think I recall seeing Dish being a provider for a bit. Separate systems.  So SWA being the cost-cutters they are, were likely sold a great deal with ViaCrap who I assume basically told SWA they could provide both wifi and ‘dish-style’ TV without the extra cost and hardware/maintenance of managing 2 systems. What they DIDN’T say was that it would completely bog down the bandwidth because IPTV isn’t the same thing as Dish. SWA may or may not have known the ramifications of this ‘cost saving’ measure, I will assume someone knew but they thought who cares about wifi when you have MOVIES AND TV FOR FREE (marketing department).  I hope ViaCrap contract ends with SWA soon, I’ve honestly been travelling less on SWA just because they used to be tech-focused (was one of the first airlines to provide decent wifi from what I recall as most orginally started with SAT and very expensive at that. But internet connectivity on a 2-5 hour flight is critical. If I want to watch a movie, I will preload it from Plex.  People are going to get sick of the 7 channels on SWA and the sub-dial-up speeds. And as a manner to ‘keep kids quiet’, In my opinion, I think kids these days would prefer the internet over archaic-style cable tv.  Which brings me to my final proposal: SWA, you would change the game for business, wait, everyone, flying SWA if you signed on with Starlink. My team has been installing Starlink for multi-home/business backhauls in very rural areas in Texas in which they previously paid $300+ a month for ViaCrap at each location - now through some nifty WISP-ing 1 business class dish backhaul supplies 10x the speeds, 1/20th the latency and shared saving thousands of dollars. Results were far far far better service from the prior mix of ViaSat and HughesNet. StarLink is a game-changer and I believe the airlines that sign on first will benefit best. I dare you, SWA - DO IT!  https://www.starlink.com/business/aviation     ... View more

I recently read that it could take Southwest two years to gear up for redeye flights for issues related to crew contracts.  New pilot and flight attendant contracts were just settled recently.  Surely this issue, which was proposed last year already by the company, were addressed in these contracts.  What could possibly take two more years?  There are already flights carrying over into the following day (DEN-ATL 2100-0155) in the schedule.  Common guys; get this done! ... View more

There are posts on this subject going back to 2006.  Until the Federal law changes, nothing will change.   As stated previously, this subject needs its own category due to the traffic generated. ... View more

@denno wrote: I looked in the "Press Release" section of the SWA website, but haven't found one covering this new (8/10?) release about free same day standby.  Can someone point out the location of the press release? There's some messaging out there, I don't see it in the press release section of the website though, but here is a post from a Southwest staff person: Southwest Airlines Launches Same-Day Standby for W... - The Southwest Airlines Community     ... View more

They are on the move again and seem to be using the last batch of gates today including M38, 39, 40, and....32.   I was out visiting the airport but not flying this weekend and noticed a big blue bird sitting at the far end (M40) and thought i would check in on the gates.         ... View more

Air travel has risks, any airline can and has had an occasional meltdown, pick your poison or pick your pleasure. I was impacted, and made adjustments, no worries. If it was life or death I would have booked another carrier, chartered part 135, or flown my own plane. It wasn't, thankfully. Still, Southwest came through rebooking my flights at no charge, extending my companion pass so that I could renew it with points in January, and unexpectedly gave me 50,000 points for my canceled flights. Southwest is not perfect, none of them are, but they're one of the safest airlines, they meet my use case, and they take care of their customers under adversity. I thank Southwest for that and will continue to support them, including two new trips I just booked. Anyone truly not happy with Southwest can book an alternative; but me, I'm staying with them.   PS - I'm neither a shill nor Southwest employee, just a regular customer who's flown millions of miles across the globe with all carriers and by myself. ... View more

The new CEO needs to resign. ... View more

I am currently enjoying a great life in Florida after making a fortune in the financial side of healthcare and owning a car dealership for 20 years.   Yeah', I'm not the brightest bulb in the box.  I only have two Masters', what can you expect? ... View more

I 100% agree!   Family boarding is between A and B.   B ppl are early birds who paid.  So what do we get?  The privilege to sit with a kid who didnt pay extra?  ... View more

I don’t mean the Travel bloggers. I mean the Southwest media department which normally puts something out the day of or the day after a schedule release.    Denno  ... View more

Haven't heard anything about MAX 7s since there has been so much focus on the MAX 8 these past few years.    I did find this from June 2021:    https://www.flightglobal.com/fleets/united-views-737-max-7s-as-potential-737-700-replacements/144377.article    The 737 Max 7 remains in flight testing, with Boeing aiming to begin delivering the type in 2022. The company operated the first Max 10 flight on 18 June and aims to hand over the first of that type in 2023. The Max 8 and Max 9 are in service.   --Jessica ... View more

@TheMiddleSeat wrote: I've tried to follow this squabble because I think it's partially an interesting business turf war, but it's also rather comical and childish.  I hadn't seen anything about it for awhile so I did some searching like you may have and came up with zero recent stories about it.  The last news I did find spoke of more delays in the trial.  Sounds like it is still unresolved.   --TheMiddleSeat It is not yet resolved. ... View more

For those that want an interactive route map right now, there's this website that you can use for all airlines: https://www.flightconnections.com/route-map-southwest-airlines-wn You just change the airline and it'll show their route map. It's not as up to date as the individual airline's website, but it does pretty well with keeping up on route changes!     -Andrew E DEN based | Southwest Passenger | Aviation Enthusiast ... View more

Good info, but SWA is not to blame for Boeing’s shortcuts.  If Boeing could not have made the new plane with the same type rating without needing simulator training, that is 100 percent on Boeing.   ... View more

Southwest allows you to search flight status by flight number and it shows all the flights under that flight number from my understanding/experience. ... View more

Basically, Southwest wants to be able to keep their plane available to fly the rest of their flights minus Colorado. The big 3 take the risk, Southwest didn't want to. It is frustrating but it's a business decision to not risk the rest of their flight schedule being affected. ... View more

I've taken several LAS-AUS flights that leave at 8pm arrive after midnight and many times they have been 90-100% full. In March i took a LAS-AUS flight that left at 7:20pm arriving at midnight and it was 173 of 175 plus a few lap children.    I take a lot of late flights from Florida as well and they are mostly full.  ... View more

You might want to look at posts near the end of another thread for ideas.   https://community.southwest.com/t5/Travel-Policies/How-can-I-find-737-Max-route-schedules/td-p/118771/jump-to/first-unread-message ... View more

Yes, I know Lorren and I also know if she says there's no answer then there's no answer and no need to continue questioning it.    --TheMiddleSeat ... View more

DFwskier, wasn’t that essentially what I just said?  Careful, your chauvinism is showing again.  😉 ... View more

My guess is Southwest is more likely to expand free standby to other people booked on a reservation where one person is A-List, just like they have done with priority boarding.   --TheMiddleSeat ... View more

And even with well thought out flight plans and schedules, they change. I've had 3 this past 3 months that have changed and/or been canceled altogether, including a trip to Cozumel.  Not berating you, but NOBODY should think that anything is going to go as planned at this time.  I live in a state where for the past month on and off 5 times were able to eat indoors, and then not.  Right now not, and only outdoors.  That may even change tomorrow.  It's just the way it is right now.  Yes, we all hope for the best, but deal with the reality of the final result. ... View more

@Iowagirl1 wrote: The check in system is not as represented. I fly biweekly on Southwest, and each time I set my alarm to check in precisely 24 hours before. I often get b30+. I find it hard to believe that the entire plane checked in within 2 minutes of the check in process opening.    Well, when you check in you have A-List Peferred, A-List, and Early Bird purchasers in front of you. SW automatically gives them boarding spots at t+36 from flight time. That's potentially a lot of people who already have boarding posiions befoe you check in.   Also, almost everyone nowadays tries to check in at t+24. So if you are 30 seconds or a minute late, there are other people that checked in before you   You sid said you fly SW bi weekly. Why afren't you A-List? ... View more

@denno wrote: Will Southwest ever offer the means to book multi-city itineraries (like other carriers do) without having to book a separate reservation record?   Dennis G You mean like this?   https://www.southwest.com/air/booking/?cacheDiagnostics=Cache+Binary+Session+Size+%28bytes%29%3A+%3D7146%3Cbr%2F%3ECache+pointer+disc%3A+%3Dsdc%3A067771C180764444894DEACBEC949170&redirectToVision=true&clk=GNAV-FLIGHT%2F%3Fsrc%3DPREMSCCMAIN000000071816&leapfrogRequest=true ... View more

Interesting. I am with you in that it seems strange. It could be that SW needs the planes in a certain place first thing in the AM. It could also be that folks will do what it takes to get home; for me, if I can get a full days work in and still not have to stay a night in a hotel, I’m game.  I would rather get home well after midnight than get up at 3:30am to make a crazy early flight. But that’s just me! :cathappy: ... View more

Potential agreement on the way: https://dfw.cbslocal.com/2019/03/17/southwest-mechanics-union-reach-tentative-deal-labor-dispute/amp/ ... View more

When it's winter and I'm skiing, I'm on a 12 days in Colorado and 9 days in Texas regimen - Catching a DAL flight early Monday morning so I can ski on Monday, and 12 days later catching a late flight Friday  out of DEN so I can ski on  Friday . Rinse and repeat all winter...   So I ski 10 out of 12 days (never on weekends and holidays) and then rest for 9 days    not this year due to back trouble..  oh well.... ... View more

I don't think so! But I know Alaska took over Virgin's domestic flights as they already shared a lot of things before Virgin stopped domestic sevice.. I wouldn't be surprised if Alaska took over other airlines it has similarities like this with ... View more