Southwest Airlines Community

Having a timetable available without requiring an internet connection is extremely helpful when traveling on a lark, or trying to reroute yourself. On southwest.com under Travel Tools, you can download the available schedules for a single market in PDF. But you never know where you are going to end up. I have several suggestions to reduce the inconvenience some people will experience with this change. The easiest change is you should be able to download the entire flight schedule as one PDF document. Another helpful change would be an email subscription list where anytime Southwest publishes a new schedule, it is automatically emailed as a PDF attachment to you, so you don't have to keep up with schedule and holiday changes. A final idea that would require more resources is to create iPhone / Blackberry / Android apps that store all available flight schedules and make it searchable much like in Travel Tools, but on your phone. In the end though, getting rid of paper flight schedules is a great win for the environment. ... View more

Hi Bob, Are there any line drawings or artist renditions from the city yet? Love Field has always been one of my favorite airports for it's 60's architecture (specifically the front entrance, main hall, and closed concourse), simple layout, and quaint feel. It seemed like one of the few remaining links to the heyday of aviation. For its age, it has been maintained excellently. The main concourse could use a refresh, but I have to say I was a little sad when I heard Love was getting remodeled. I hope the city's plan doesn't turn it into yet another generic 2000's modernistic airport. ... View more

Hi James, Can you share more info on how the new electronic devices security directive works, or is it one of those top secret rules travelers can't know about but still must follow? Do we have to take our iPods out of our carryons now? Do we have to take any protective cover off? If so, can we put them in a clear plastic baggie so they don't get scratched and smudged in the x-ray bin? TSA appears to have neglected to update their website. I found nothing in the "For travelers - Things to know" section, or any August press releases. Thanks. ... View more

Hi Susie, Since you broached the topic, and have been involved in testing new boarding procedures, can you talk about how this might work practically? When the plane arrives and your boarding group is called - are their numbers painted on the ground to guide Customers to their spot in the queue? Do you have to go down the line asking each Customer what number they are to find your place in the group? Does the Ops Agent call A6, or A1-10? Or is there a method I didn't think of? Of the processes I mentioned, each seem reduce the impetus to stand in line and reserve an earlier spot in the boarding group. But the methods I thought of also seem to have problems in Customer experience or operational expediency. Thanks, Colin. ... View more

Joe, Nitrogen is used in aircraft tires because it is less reactive than oxygen in regular atmosphere, no more likely to migrate through the rubber than other gasses that would be reasonable to use, and it is cheap. Rubber likes to oxidize, which decreases its integrity. High partial pressure of oxygen and high temperatures that aircraft tires experience would increase the rate of oxidization. Nitrogen keeps the rubber happy. ... View more