Southwest Airlines Community

Good luck in getting this restriciton ended. It should definitey happen. Obviously, pilots at all ages should be required to undergo testing for vision, etc. But there is no reason to impose an arbitrary age restriction. This issue has become more sensitive for me. I work in information technology--an industry where just about everyone over 35 has been a victim of age discrimination. ... View more

It is sometimes guess work--predicting how much business you will have a few months in advance. I worked in the hotel business and noticed the same thing. I naturally wonder what it costs to schedule further ahead than five months or so. Is there some pressing reason for making a reservation further in advance? ... View more

I naturally wonder what is the reason for a buckled seat belt after the plane has landed safely. There certainly isn't much that can go wrong when a plane is simply taxi-ing at 15 mph. ... View more

Is there any chance that the system will be interfacing with web sites like Expedia, Orbitz, Travelocity, etc.? ... View more

What prevented you from landing at JFK, LGA, HPN, EWR, PHL, or BDL? It seems like BWI was a long way to go. ... View more

I checked the web site for the Austin airport. All the other airlines have delays. Southwest had none. I'm glad I'm flying on Southwest tomorrow. ... View more

It's also the reason that Southwest has been able to turn a profit every year since 1973. This kind of efficiency and teamwork is something any company should envy. If I was starting ANY KIND OF BUSINESS, I would love to talk to Herb just to get his insights on what to do to create a successful one. My roomie is a ramp agent for Continental and admits that they could never turn planes this fast. Incidentally, Southwest is about the only other airline that he respects. ... View more

I noticed this: Flight 1359: AUS 9:15am to BWI 1:20pm Flight 67: BWI 2:25pm to PIT 3:20pm I could book these flights separately. However, I can not book an AUS-BWI-PIT flight. Is this an error? ... View more

I'm confident that you will have more service in Pittsburgh. Southwest has gotten to the top with a philosophy of controlled, patient, disciplined growth. SW has already humiliated USAir in other cities. It will happen there, too. I'm from Austin. ... View more

I would like to see more connections to PIT. That is closest to where my family lives. A BNA-PIT or HOU-PIT connection would be great. ... View more

I have always wondered about the association of candy corn with Halloween. This explains it. ... View more

But he's probably going to have a healthy retirement, especially if he took Southwest stock when he started out. ... View more

http://blogs.usatoday.com/sky/2006/09/breaking_news_t.html#comments It looks like some restrictions ahve been relaxed. ... View more

My roommate works for another airline as a ramp agent. His last day off was 14 August. ... View more

Here's a quote from this web site: http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=businessNews&storyID=2006-09-06T163316Z_01_N06446119_RTRUKOC_0_US-AIRLINES-SOUTHWEST.xml&archived=False "We were impacted in the month by the security event," Southwest spokeswoman Beth Harbin said. "We are hoping it is a short-term blip ... but we don't know that yet." ... View more

Hasn't there been a lot of talk about replacing this airport? I believe it is the busiest single-runway airport in the US. ... View more

This is a second-hand story, but I like repeating it. One of my associates said he knew a guy who was a captain with Braniff, UPS, and Continental. Then, he took a co-pilot's job just to get on with Southwest. It sounds like Southwest is the airline pilots want to work for. It makes me feel safer when I am on a Southwest plane. ... View more

Bill, Do you have a date for when the Christmas flight schedules will be up? Chris ... View more

Rickenbacker Airport in Columbus, Ohio, is LCK. It used to be Lockbourne Air Force Base. SJC=San Jose, California, USA. SJO=San Jose, Costa Rica. Who decides who gets what? How did Montreal get YUL? ... View more

We only have 17,576 possible airport code combinations with three letters. How soon will it be before we run out of codes? ... View more

This sounds like an interesting job. I like the term focus city. I live in Austin, and Southwest has the largest presence here of all the airlines. They offer 15 cities directly, and no other airline comes close. I would like to see more options for Pittsburgh, but that should come in time. Living here, I have developed a fondness for "little" airports. AUS has 23 gates. It's just easier to get around, easier to get in and out of. Columbus, where I lived for six years, also has a great airport. I don't think you will find an easier-to-use airport for its size (56 gates). I have noticed that with Southwest, I may be changing in a small airport like El Paso. That's fine with me. I have also noticed that Southwest has no service at all from Austin to Denver or Omaha. I suppose we can thank the likes of Jim Wright and Kay Bailey Hutchison for that. It seems like the whole hub-and-spoke system was just a fad that came in the late 1970's. Federal Express had actually started it, and it works very well for what they do. But that's not the same business. Here's an interesting article originally from the _Wall Street Journal_, "How a City Can Win by Losing its Airport Hub Status": http://classwork.busadm.mu.edu/Economics%20Newspaper%20Articles/Microeconomics/Price%20Searching%20Markets/2004/2004%2004%2028%20How%20a%20city%20can%20win%20by%20losing%20its%20airport%20hub%20status.PDF ... View more

#1. I am out here because I lost an arm-wrestling match. #2. I was a minute late, and they had already shut the doors. But I grabbed onto the plane and will make it home on time. #3. This is better than riding a motorcycle. #4. The flight attendants caught me smoking in the bathroom again. ... View more

Weren't weather delays one of the reasons that Southwest pulled out SFO? ... View more

Flight attendants have a responsibility for safety, just like anyone else in the crew. While the responsibility is not as great as that of a pilot, it still exists. ... View more

BWI and IAD may be close in distance, but they are very far apart in drive time. SW also flies to both Burbank and LAX. I imagine that DCA was not considered because of perimeter restrictions (1250 miles). "If you can make it there, you can make it anywhere." When is SW going to consider a New York area destination? Islip does not count. I can understand why SW would want to avoid Newark. LaGuardia has perimeter restrictions (1500 miles). I think White Plains would be an excellent addition for SW. I know this is off-topic. But when will the flight schedules for Christmas be on the web site? I'm just getting excited about my holiday plans. I would also love to see a few more flights in and out of Pittsburgh. ... View more

Gary, I don't know why I didn't say this earlier. If Southwest wants to get more customers, there is one simple solution here--get on web sites like Orbitz, Expedia, Travelocity, etc. The first three times I flew, this is where I want to look for plane tickets. It wasn't until I flew Southwest on a job that I learned that SW and many others aren't on these web sites. I still go to these web sites, just to price check. I prefer to make my reservations the old-fashioned way--over the phone. ... View more

I love open seating. This seems like a decision that is designed to appeal more to travel columnists than to passengers. Nobody turns planes faster than Southwest. It is this efficiency that has made SW a profitable company for 33 years. My roommate works for Continental and admitted to me that they could never turn planes as fast as SW does. He really has a lot of respect for SW. ... View more

I have been in contact with an official from the Collin County airport in McKinney (just north of Dallas County). He is not happy with this agreement at all. Here are his comments: "8. The most serious threat to McKinney is found in Paragraph 6. That paragraph suggests that the DFW will oppose efforts (of any airline) to initiate commercial passenger air service during the 8-year period at airports within an 80-mile radius of Love Field. 9. Dallas and Ft. Worth are attempting to impose restrictions upon airports outside of their jurisdiction through federal legislation, i.e., an attempt to 'expand the misery and expense' that the Wright Amendment has caused the flying public since its inception." He also told me that they are actually looking into adding commercial air traffic at their airport. Collin County includes Plano, so they definitely have the money to do this. And a third commercial airport would be the final solution for flyers in the Metroplex. They would probably leave AMR in droves. Here is another interesting tidbit. JetBlue has announced that they are starting service to Houston Hobby. They already serve Austin, but the Metroplex doesn't get them. JetBlue was founded by former Southwest execs, so I am sure they know all about the shenanigans that go on in the Metroplex. http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/business/4004728.html ... View more