Southwest Airlines Community

Hmmm, let's see... USS Blog Boy: "Just for the record i am a picky kind of person." SWA LUVer Girl: "... IÃ ... View more

Great post, Captain Ray! However, let me caution folks that asking to meet your pilots is NOT always the best idea. One time I was boarding a flight and a nervous passenger in front of me asked to meet the folks in the front office. The FA opened the door, and in the left seat was Peter Graves and in the right seat was Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and we heard a discussion involving repeated use of the words "roger" and "over". Seriously, the other tool I've used with nervous pax is to diffuse some of their fear with the use of humor. Often, if I can get someone laughing, they'll forget just how terrified they are, and in that moment of distraction, I am usually able to pry their fingers loose from my arm. You might also point out to people that statistically speaking, they are much more likely to be seriously injured in the gate area by those "A" group people who are jockeying to ease up ahead of others in line who aren't watching. Those folks should be told that except for the nose wheel, pretty much the whole plane lands at once and that a few rows forward aren't going to make THAT much difference in getting off at their destination. Keep up the great work, Roger! Huh? I mean, Ray, over. Huh? Kim External Blog Humorist 🙂 ... View more

ummmm, cuz you were too busy not being rude or violent? Or you were thinking about which blog boy you wanted to hug next? (maybe with the first initials of U. S. S.?) Kim Matchmaker Blog Boy 🙂 ... View more

Bert, Great blog post! Those are great common sense ideas that many infrequent, and even some frequent travelers overlook. Too many people assume that they are just fine having a name tag on the outside of their bag, but if they saw how many tags get snagged and accidentally ripped off, they would realize that just one tag on the outside is not enough. Here is another suggestion -- take some photographs of your bag from a few different angles with a yardstick standing alongside it. Print those and carry them with you in your carry-on when you travel. Then, IF your bags go astray, and the baggage office folks ask you what your bag looks like, you can say "like this...ta da..." and SHOW 'em! All it takes is five minutes by any bag carousel to know how relatively useless the answer "it is black with wheels on the bottom" really is. Along those same lines, since so many suitcase manufacturers have followed the Henry Ford philosophy for so many years (any color you want, as long as it's black), try a colorful piece of tape across the face or bottom of it, or one of those snazzy rainbow colored stretchy straps. Anything to make it look different from those other 18 bazillion black bags with wheels on the bottom. I have to say that out of hundreds and hundreds (maybe one day I'll have traveled so much I can impersonate Carl Sagan and say 'billions and billions') of flights on Southwest, the greatest airline in the world has only lost/loosed my bag TWICE. Once on the front end of a vacation and once on the return trip home. Very quick, courteous and professional responses both times meant that I had my bag within hours. The only time I've had to use that "But I checked them all together" line was on one vacation when I checked both kids in at the same time, and yet one was sent to the wrong place. Once again, baggage claims folks re-routed him to us within days and all was well. (OK, for those who didn't figure out that that was a joke, lemme tell you: that was a joke -- Southwest does NOT accept children as baggage. You have to carry 'em on with you.) Jordan, get in line, bud...I've got dibs on the next job that opens up in Brian's department! Leah, I've got news for you. Anyone who has met you would NOT need to be told that you would never be rude or violent to anyone, although you've got a pretty mean hug... :) Hey Jim (West Texas Blog Boy) -- howdy! I've got a question for you about your explanation. What happens in the Munster household when someone is describing something that belongs to Cousin It? "That is It's chair" would then be translated "That is it is chair." LOL And speaking of apostrophes, doesn't it irritate you when you see people misspell y'all by putting the apostrophe halfway through, as in ya'll? That is just WRONG! Kim Not sitting in It's chair 🙂 ... View more

Couple on the Strip: "Honey, I swear I keep hearing that Sphinx say 'V1' and 'Rotate' every fifteen minutes!" or TV commercial: "Southwest -- the one thing in Vegas that does NOT stay in Vegas, but leaves every fifteen minutes!" Kim External Stand-Up Boy 🙂 ... View more

James, You've made a dangerous assumption when you said "Based on your title I assume you really know what youà ... View more

Jim, I'll let you in on a huge secret if you promise to keep it to yourself. Southwest does NOT have any 737-800s, as Blog Boy pointed out, BUT they will soon be taking delivery of a few brand new A-380s. This will allow them to consolidate all of those DAL-HOU and HOU-DAL trips into ONE roundtrip per week and still carry the same number of passengers! :) Joe, The liferafts aren't the biggest issue for extended range operations. The main problem is removing enough revenue-generating seats to be able to store the supply of Candy Corn necessary for trans-Atlantic trips. Brian, What's the big deal about going to Paris on your own money? Gee, its only 104 miles -- just go east out I-30 to Sulphur Springs and then go north to US 82. You can make it in about two hours from here. Take your camera, because it is a scenic drive! Kim External Blog Boy and Travel Guide to Blog Boy 🙂 ... View more

James, What a great post! It sounds like you enjoyed some well-deserved "down time" in the Windy City. I've really never spent a lot of time there myself, but I have some scattered memories of a few memorable trips. My Dad used to travel there for conventions and so I had some opportunities when I was pretty young to travel along and do some family sightseeing. I can remember going to the Field Museum a few times as a small kid before I was ten years old, and then making a return visit in my early thirties with my own kids. Some of the same exhibits were still there, as I recall! But, my most vivid memory is the one of my "big trip". Our Dad had this tradition that when his children turned seven, they got to go on a "big trip" with just him, anywhere we wanted to go. For reasons I don't really remember, I chose to go to Chicago. (due to the timing of one of my Dad's business meetings, he probably slyly 'suggested' that I'd like to go there...) So, on the day I turned seven, he came and plucked me out of my first grade classroom with great birthday pageantry, back in a day when youngsters were NOT routinely taken out of school by their parents unless it was a significant event. We headed down to the Dallas train station, and boarded a late morning train for Chicago. I remember riding in the train and watching all of the scenery until it got dark. Following a fancy evening meal in the dining car, we retired to our cabin, where the porter had pulled down our beds. I can remember waking up during the night when the train stopped, and asking if we were in Chicago. But, it was only a nighttime stop in St. Louis. I went back to sleep and woke the next morning as we pulled into Chicago. After a few days of sightseeing and hotel room service (this was the "big trip" after all), it was time for me to return to Big D. However, my Dad needed to stay behind for business (probably so he could write off the entire trip! LOL), so my next big adventure was to go to the airport and board a giant AAirplane (sorry, SWA wasn't around in 1963) for my first airplane flight, which also gave me my first opportunity to be an unaccompanied minor, another pretty rare thing back in those days. Sitting in the window seat and watching my Dad leave the plane after getting me settled, I saw him descend the stairs and stand alongside the wing (also pre-jetway days) waving goodbye. So, my memories of Chicago go back a long way, but I know there is still a LOT that I haven't seen. Wait a second, I just thought of something. I never got credited for those AAdvantage miles!! Oh no!! I guess it doesn't matter, they won't honor 'em past eighteen months anymore, so some forty-four year old ones would've expired by now anyway. Kim The Veteran Traveler 🙂 ... View more

Well, Leah, she won't if you'll keep your Okie mouth shut!! Besides, I can cleverly use a bit of blackmail to suppress this incident by simply suggesting that you ask Carole about a joint production effort with HK. That'll throw the bloodhounds off of my scent... As my friend Joe might say, Would you prefer paper or plastic? The Mystery Shopper 🙂 ... View more

Ahh - ha... Now I've figured it out, Joe. Leah's birthday is June 56th. They kept telling me that new math would come in handy some day. Kim A fellow LUVer of Cherry 3.14159 🙂 ... View more

Paula, You're awesome, smart, fun and a neat person to know! You definitely deserve this "shout-out" from Angela, and I'm honored to be your friend! Best wishes always, Kim External Blog Boy 🙂 ... View more

SusanA, While I can't speak for all of the Culture Ambassadors, from what I heard today, poor Brody's career seems to have become one long attempt to get a word in edgewise with the other Ambassadors. However, he doesn't seem to mind too much, since hanging around these lovely ladies for a while now has only intensified the smile that we was wearing in the above picture! Kim EBB 🙂 ... View more

Leah, But if you do, how will people know whether you're heading out to visit Francisco on his ship or just flying to Seattle? Your PAL in DAL, EBB 🙂 ... View more

Just an FYI to all of Carole's online fans... I finally got to meet Carole in person today, and I've got news for those that only know her here -- she's even MORE charming and delightful in person than she is on the blog! And, the best news of all is that I got one of those famous Carole hugs!! Eat your heart out, guys! Kim External Blog Boy 🙂 ... View more

Leah, Howdy! Yes, you missed my post, which predated yours by about 30 hours! I guess you Okies aren't always SOONER in everything, are ya? Sorry for the lack of e-mails, but I've felt so snubbed since I read that you weren't going to come through Dallas that I threw my laptop out the window and let a big truck drive over it. So, I no longer have access to e-mails or the Internet. It makes it especially hard to blog now, as I have to psychically transmit my witty remarks directly into Brian's mind. It works most days, but if the humidity level or winds in Dallas are especially high, the messages sometimes get garbled. So if some of my posts look out of whack, itmighthavebeenasuddengustofwind. Hugs, Kim EBB 🙂 ... View more

James, Don't do it!! I've heard from some who have made the transition to the Dark Side of Adolescence, and it turns out that growing up ain't all its cracked up to be. Follow my lead and REFUSE TO GROW UP! The rarely childish but always child-like External Blog Boy 🙂 ... View more

Yeah, that was his name! I couldn't remember it, but I knew it was something foreign-sounding, like he was born in Ohio or somewhere... Actually, he said that his Employee number was longer, but he just rounded it up. EBB 🙂 ... View more

I was visiting with one of the engineers at Southwest the other day. It turns out that his Employee number is 3.14159265358979323846264338327950288419716939937510. Kim :) External Blog Boy ... View more

Paco, It would be a delight and an honor to share a beverage with ya! I prefer my Coke on the rocks, with a slice of lime. Better yet, as soon as I get hired at Southwest, you can come back to HDQ and I'll buy YOU a drink! (you'll have to call and make your own reservations, I don't understand how to talk to those people myself) Kim 🙂 ... View more

Paco, What in the world are you doing letting business interfere with your blog reading?? Put 'em on hold and let 'em listen to the witty comments there, or tell 'em to just call aanother aairline and see if they like the fares over there! Joe, Our leader and the son of Blog Dad and Blog Mom is absolutely correct! Your witty, clever, irreverent, irrelevant and hilarious "sign-offs" absolutely add a pricelss touch to our little corner of the cybersphere. We wouldn't be what we are (what are we?) without you! Thanks for your wonderful contributions! Kim External Blog Boy 🙂 ... View more

Uh oh, are you suggesting that she routed herself away from DAL on purpose? Gee, and I thought she said I was a good hugger. I guess we'll have to get a second opinion from Joe... LOL Kim External Blog Boy and former Leah Hugger 😞 ... View more

OK, now I have a second goal beyond just getting hired at Southwest. I want to shoot for a really cool employee number like 88888!! Kim 🙂 ... View more

Brian, Thanks for a great post! Wow, what a monster of an aircraft! Do you have any idea how many bags of peanuts (and candy corn) it would take to serve all of those pax? Yikes! I'm also thinking of a scene from, I believe, the movie "Airplane", and imagining a canyon blue Southwest 787 operating between DAL and HOU and the terminal announcement: "Southwest announces the arrival of flight number 7 from Houston Hobby, now pulling up to gates 4, 5, 6 and 7...." Kim :) P. S. Boeing only has one more major model type to go before they run out of their current series of numbers. After the 797, do you suppose the next one will be the 808? As Arsenio Hall used to say on his short-lived show, "things that make you go hmmmmmmmm...." ... View more

Just to show that I'm an equal opportunity guy... Hey Joe, come here, fella.... Kim 🙂 ... View more

Leah, You're NOT going to come through DAL? Then how in the world will you get to see me?? LOL Kim 😞 ... View more

Hey Paco, This works most of the time, but the last time I called and asked for YOU directly, you were rude to me! I specifically wanted to book a seat in first class, near the movie screen, for my round trip to Acapulco, and to put in a special meal request for a New York Strip instead of the usual filet, but were you helpful? NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! You just kept saying, "Fly to Mexico we do not" and "don't use the phone, use the Force" and calling me Luke. I'm sticking with the website, because if I open 137 web-browsing windows at once, I can effectively tie up every seat on one of your 737s!! LOL Great post, Jedi Buddy! Kim External Blog Boy 🙂 ... View more

I paid him to say that... ... View more

Carole, This was a great post, and I laughed and shed a tear at some of your memories. Working with people is always full of unexpected surprises but also many great rewards. In all fairness, though, I have to point out that FAs are not the only ones who observe traveling people. There is a subspecies of Homo Sapiens called Roadus Warriorites, and a favorite pastime of that breed is Studying the Greeting Habits of Flight Attendants. You really should realize that we're just as busy studying YOUR behavior as well. There are several distinct types that I've seen. Very common is the young female version that stands in the front galley busy repairing and reconstructing her facial war paint in a mirror prior to the arrival of first pre-boarders. However, sometimes that work takes longer than anticipated, and she is 'caught' in the act. That species is lower in the seniority pecking order than their cousins who gather in the rear galley and are able to primp and preen for a good two to three minutes longer before they are observed by outsiders. Equally frequently seen is the genus of FA known as the Suckus Up To The Captainus variety, which are usually absorbed with making small talk to a specialized group of Homo Sapiens with four distinctive black stripes adorning their shoulder area. A common garden variety of FA is the Nervous Twitterer, who is seen repeatedly and furtively checking a small piece of printed paper neatly folded and placed on the backside of their ID sleeve. This group of FAs appear to be highly concerned with their own migration patterns and some ritualistic timetable that requires their presence at certain pre-ordained locations at certain times. But, the subspecies most regularly encountered at Southwest is the Friendly and Helpful Variety. These are the ones who make eye contact when other Homo Sapiens arrive, and who smile and greet them as they might their own relatives. This type does not know a stranger and is kind to the youngest and oldest Homo Sapiens alike. They provide comfort, bring nourishment, answer repeatedly inane questions, and manage to maintain their great composure while doing it. Just remember, Carole...while y'all are watchin' us, we're watchin' YOU. Kim :) External Blog Boy P. S. Thanks for the great suggestion. The next time I see a lovely FA, I'll just saunter up and say "It has been a long time since I've hugged a woman!" I can hardly wait to get back to the airport and see what happens!! ... View more

Brian, What a great post about what was obviously a wonderful vacation! I have only visited the Lancaster, Pittsburgh and Philadelphia areas once, and would love to go again. Reading Phil's comments about the Pacific Northwest does remind me of the many visits we've made to that part of the country, from the Canadian border down to the area just south of Portland. Two of my wife's ancestors were original settlers to the southern edge of Portland, arriving by covered wagon in the early 1850s. Although I know that international travel is glamorous and that there are lots of interesting places in the world, both Phil's story and yours only reinforces my belief that we live in a pretty darn fascinating country ourselves, and that there are LOTS of cool places to go and things to see right here in the good ole USA! Kim :) External Blog Boy ... View more

Joe and Leah, Let me give you a confidential head's up. Anyone else reading this blog should close their eyes and skip to the next entry, because I can't let this get out to the general public. The secret is NOT bags of candy corn. This blog is just like any fine restaurant, but since it exists in cyberspace, it does not have the golden arches overhead. What do you do when you enter and want to get a good seat? Naturally, you 'encourage' the maitre d' with a crisp Presidential souvenir. You must realize that Brian is our maitre d', and as the Blog Master of the Universe, he controls what posts get in and where they are placed. Now, if you want your comments to receive entry into this rarefied space, you need to 'encourage' him. I learned early on that Brian is a big admirer of our seventh President, and as such, just loves to collect memorabilia adorned with his image. He seems to prefer green rectangular pieces of paper with President Jackson featured in the center, and I have found that when folded carefully, they will fit neatly into the CD drive on my computer and can be uploaded right along with my comments. (note the comment box below has a button labeled "Post" and right next to it is one that says "B. Lusk Encouragement Upload") I hope that now that you understand the system from a veteran blogger, you'll find that a higher percentage of your comments actually make it onto the blog. Best wishes, Kim :) P. S. Fore ann adishanal fiftee bukks, Bryen wil fex yore spelleng, buht i ka'nt useyoully aford et. ... View more