Southwest Airlines Community

Although I wasn't traveling, I was celebrating this Fourth of July weekend by preparing for a very big trip I'm about to take. Some major changes in my life are about to occur, and because of them, it is with mixed feelings that I announce here to my friends that this will be the last post by External Blog Boy. For two years, it has been a true blessing and an honor to serve as "External Blog Boy", offering my opinions on tremendously important topics, incredibly irrelevant topics, and everything inbetween. I cannot begin to describe what a privilege it has been to appear here electronically alongside my many wonderful friends at Southwest Airlines, including Brian, Paula, Shelley, Sunny, Carole, Leah, Joe, Francisco and a whole gaggle of others too numerous to mention. The chance to banter back and forth, tease each other and just be a part of the excitement of the Nuts About Southwest Blog has been a true delight for me. In the near future, you may read in this very blog what has become of your third-favorite nut (after dry roasted and honey roasted), but until then, rest assured that even if External Blog Boy MUST retire tonight, this is a good change. Kim :-) External Blog Boy (ret.) ... View more

Brian, What a cool looking website! I've explored it a bit, and I'm impressed by the thought that has gone into setting this up. My problem is that years ago when I was moving my office to my home, I threw away stacks and stacks of hundreds of those old tear-off stubs that were given to confirm Company Club and then Rapid Rewards flight credits. So, if I was going to even attempt to log mine, I'd need you to reach DEEP into the old SWA computer records, back to when Herb used to list every day's business on a yellow, lined legal pad! When you get YOURS entered, be sure and give us a peek. Kim EBB P. S. Now, if you want some REALLY impressive statistics, instead of a log of how many flights I've taken in my life, how about a log of how many little bags of Southwest peanuts I've eaten? LOL 🙂 ... View more

Wow. ... View more

Joe, That is not Brian in picture 019 -- don't let him fool you. In fact, what you are seeing is a sneak preview. You've heard of celebrities going out in public wearing a disguise so as to remain 'incognito', and you're obviously familiar with the SWA tradition of big Halloween festivities. Picture 019 was not supposed to be published, because it is an image of CEO Gary Kelly's trial run at his costume and makeup for this year's HDQ party, where he intends to appear as "Brian Lusk". I think that Gary has done a pretty good job, and that his get-up looks fairly realistic. A lot better, even, that some of the bad attempts of resembling people that I've seen at various wax museums. However, it looks like he could still use some work before the final version is chosen. Do you know where he could find a good 'appearance technician' to help him out? LOL Kim External Blog Boy, who is going to dress up as Joe Friedmann for Halloween 🙂 ... View more

Joe, Nahhh, Pacers have larger back seats for those Automated Candy Corn Dispensing Machines that are MUST HAVE equipment for any of Brian's vehicles... Besides, he likes cranking up his eight-track player and listening to Bohemian Rhapsody when he is stuck in traffic in Big D. Kim EBB 🙂 ... View more

Scott, If they continue that trend of debuting the specialty planes in the area being promoted, then someday you might look forward to a sixty-second delivery flight for the future Washington One! Joe, Your explanation makes perfect sense to me. Now, do you suppose that any plane Paula is on is similarly referred to in FAA radio traffic as "Blog Two"? Oh, and by the way, that naming protocol surrounding Brian does not just extend to aircraft. When he drives to work each day, he is easily recognized on the roads of Dallas by the splashy paint job that boldly proclaims "Blog One" on his 1976 AMC Pacer... Kim External Blog Boy 🙂 ... View more

Paula, Thanks for this great blog thread! I've long been impressed with Boeing's experience, engineering and design skills and expertise at building aircraft, but I had NEVER realized they could build a 737 so DARN FAST! See what happens when people are paid by the job instead of by the hour? :) Joe, you said that our fearless leader was in town for the unveiling, and it looks like Paula was there with her high-speed camera as well...so I'm just curious -- do they travel in a special Southwest jet named "Blog One"? Kim External Blog Boy whose heart still swells with pride when he sees Lone Star One 🙂 ... View more

Hollee -- Congratulations! I can see where this would be slightly overwhelming news! However, I would suggest that when people ask you if you know what you're 'having' (an incorrect use of the present tense of the verb, unless they ask you while you're actually in labor 🙂 ), you simply respond with "some babies", and let 'em wonder the rest! You and your husband are in for a wonderful time of blessing, heartache, great joy, pride, embarrassment and learning, all times three. Try to focus on the first one and know that He wanted you to have three blessings! And, if you want a daunting mental challenge, try to picture yourselves being able to commandeer 5/6ths of an entire row on a Southwest 737 in a few years! Best wishes always, Kim External Blog Boy, whose children are old enough that they no longer WANT to sit with their parents on a plane 🙂 ... View more

Joe, You have to refine it first. Speaking of refined, I wouldn't even want to START you thinking that our own Blog Master himself had anything to do with J. R.'s ventilation. By the way, if you want to see what running a blog does to someone, Brian was the body double for Patrick Duffy in that surprise shower scene where they brought Bobby Ewing back to life. Now, good ole Brian just looks like....well....good ole Brian! LOL Kim EBB, who is the on-screen stand-in for himself 🙂 ... View more

Joe -- Dontcha know that all us REAL Texans drive huge, extended cab dualie pickup trucks, loaded down with a half dozen bales of hay for when we are out drivin' through our 10,000-acre spreads and run across a few hundred extra head of cattle that our ranch hands missed feeding because they were trying to cap off the leak at one of our oil wells? Gee, I guess you just can't relate to us everyday commoners, huh? Kim External Blog Boy and distant cousin to J. R. 🙂 ... View more

Hey, I remember you! Aren't you that dude that kept sending us pictures from some exotic place while challenging us to guess where you were? Aren't you that fella that lived in a small town of 5,000 people that was constantly bobbing up and down, sometimes turning into the wind so planes could land on your little airstrip? But, maybe not. Looking at those pictures, I'm not so sure. The Francisco that I knew had really short hair and usually was wearing a light blue shirt. I guess the only way to be certain is to pass a plate of green chile enchiladas in front of you and see if you scarf 'em down. Thanks for the great update, buddy -- I'm jealous that you went on those wonderful road trips and didn't invite me. Oh well, I guess you're just one of those Blog Boys who forgets about the little people he's stepped on while on his way to the top... Best wishes from your pal, Kim The External and Still Landlocked Blog Boy Who Rarely Bobs Up and Down 🙂 ... View more

Joe, Would it help to ease your buyer's remorse if I just forged Brian's autograph onto my picture for you? I can even use a big heart over the "i" like he does! Kim The Famous Celebrity External Blog Boy :) P. S. Leah -- don't forget that as my agent, you only get to keep 5% of the picture sales, so please remit $56.95 of Joe's money to me as soon as you can. I'm needing that amount so I can halfway fill the gas tank of my car. 😞 ... View more

Brian, If you're so shy, why do you hold Brian Lusk Fan Club meetings with two-hour long autograph sessions by the famous Blog Boy yourself, TWICE a month? Besides, if you were truly shy, you wouldn't charge $15.00 per autograph or $30 for signed 8" x 10" color glossies of yourself. Of course, I'm just ticked that I didn't know about those meetings before I had already bought your color photo on eBay for $87.95... Kim External Blog Boy who does NOT have a Fan Club 🙂 ... View more

Gary, Thank you very much for choosing to add the Blog to the list of places where you are trying to explain your side of this issue. Coming here to address the people who are interested enough in the situation to be a part of the SWA Blog will hopefully read your words with an open mind and will believe what you've said. Your remarks represent just one more example of how the Southwest management is being transparent and very visible during this time of public scrutiny. My concern is that as I discussed in my post a few posts above yours, those who supported SWA before still will, but those who didn't probably won't be swayed by your remarks. I'll predict that by tomorrow, there will be lots of replies below yours that will challenge what you've said and question your truthfulness. But, it needed to be said, and I'm glad you did. You guys are still awesome in my book and for many people throughout the United States who KNOW the true Culture of Southwest. Keep up the great job, Kim External Blog Boy ... View more

To CharlieWest1219 and my fellow SWA supporters here: There is an old expression about "preaching to the choir" that may be appropriate here. Some of us try to accumulate as many facts about a situation as possible, add in our own personal observations, mix in a healthy dose of common sense, and arrive at a conclusion that is supportable. Some people take the smallest shred of information possible, fail to verify its truthfulness or question any possible hidden agendas or motives or timing in the release of that information, and then go to extraordinary lengths to make assumptions and presumptions about someone's behavior or intentions. If you read the majority of the blog posts on all of the inspection-related threads here from the last few weeks, they fall into one of two camps. The first is the name-calling, accusatory, inflammatory and threatening rhetoric, such as: "...how DARE you do this to my family...", "...murderers...", "...giant conspiracy...", "...I feel so betrayed...", etc., etc., etc. The other is from Southwest supporters who weigh the facts, review who has supplied the facts, search for facts not being reported and add in the indisuputable safety record of Southwest and conclude that this is becoming an emotionally-charged and lopsided issue for far too many people. The likelihood of you, CharlieWest, or me, or any of the others who fall into that second camp, being able to get the people in the first camp to take a deep breath and give some more thought to what they are being fed by the media is, unfortunately, fairly low. The devotees of Chicken Little are legion, and will jump at any opportunity to run around predicting the rapid descent of the upper levels of our atmosphere. If you doubt the interest in conspiracy theories and digging for the "inner secrets" of people's most inherently sinister motives, just go to the book store. I guarantee you can find dozens of books by so-called experts who can "prove" to you exactly what happened in Dallas on November 22, 1963, and why it happened. You and I know that not one single Southwest plane has fallen out of the sky and that the company is run by people who truly take their responsibilities seriously and conscientiously. But, we'll likely never convince the naysayers that Southwest is not just a collection of greedy and selfish people who take every chance to endanger their passengers and own employees just to pad the bottom line. But, I still appreciate you and Luvin SWA and Tbone and Patrick and palespring and swaluver and Ryan and Bert Stevens and Julie and John C and Tucker and JD and the other people who support Southwest Airlines trying to be the voice of reason amidst all of this feeding frenzy. In time, I am convinced that Southwest will be recognized for their leadership and commitment in the area of safety, and until then, we'll just weather the storm. Kim External Blog Boy and just one of the many people who still LUV and support SWA 🙂 ... View more

Brian, Dude!! You totally like blew it, man. Julie is just like way HOT and you just SOOOO missed your big chance. I'm completely bummed that you were so reluctant to like hook up or whatever, ya know? I used to think you were like way cool but I think you like totally broke her heart. Hey, Julie, give me a call instead, I'm like far more awesome than Brian... Kim The Totally Hot External Blog Boy 🙂 ... View more

It is amazing to me to read the vitiolic and accusatory comments above which have come complete with insults like "murderers", since to my knowledge, there has been no loss of life associated with any alleged lapses on the part of Southwest in the area of inspections. Many of the people above seem to be parroting some of the initial knee-jerk reactions that were posted on this blog a few weeks ago before all of the facts had come out. Some of you who are suddenly so indignant might want to go back and review some of the earlier comments that address many of your complaints and accusations. For those who say that Southwest is not "owning up" to their mistakes, perhaps they skipped over some key parts of the video recording of today's hearings. A few statements you may have missed: Herb Kelleher: "I apologize to this committee -- we realize those planes should not have flown." HK: "...we should not have..." HK: "..we learned our lesson..." HK: "...these planes should have been on the ground." Gary Kelly: "There was clearly a mistake with our regulatory compliance." What I heard both of these gentlemen saying was that Southwest had made mistakes, but I also heard them explain some of the "bigger picture" that keeps getting overlooked or not reported. Herb and Gary were not trying to shirk responsibility by making sure that the problems were also partly the fault of the FAA and their procedures. When people who are critical of Southwest Airlines, which is unquestionably the SAFEST airline based on its history and number of passengers carried and miles flown, start saying that Southwest and its management needs to be more forthright, let me ask you a question. Have you noticed that since the beginning of this media frenzy, frequent and regular updates have been made on this blog? Have you noticed that there has been no censoring of comments (other than a few early ones that contained profanity) and that the accusers have had equal access to posting their opinions here as anyone else? Have you noticed that in the blog post above, they've provided us a weblink so we could listen to nine hours and 35 minutes' worth of video footage so that everyone could watch and hear what was said in Washington today? This company, and its management, is NOT hiding from this controversy, but is being very open in expressing the facts AND providing a forum for people who want to attack them. Have you seen similar responses from American, Delta and American Eagle in the last two weeks while they were grounding their planes for inspections that should have been done? Kim External Blog Boy ... View more

As a smidgen of evidence that there may be a bit of a smear campaign being waged against Southwest Airlines, I'd like to offer the following tidbit for your contemplation. When questions about inspections began to surface, the "Southwest story" was FRONT PAGE news here in Dallas and a number of other cities. It made the TV news networks as well. So, out of curiosity, how many of you heard the story about American Eagle grounding 25 of their jets last week over questions about whether they had met some FAA-mandated inspection guidelines? The story seems similar to the one at SWA, except of course for the fact that the Southwest story was from last year, and the American Eagle one occurred last week. So, since it was old news, it needed to be trumpeted from the top of the front page. Recently, Southwest voluntarily grounded a portion of their fleet to insure compliance, and that, too, was front page fodder. Eagle did the same thing last week themselves, and to quote a portion of the article in the Dallas paper: "Federal Aviation Administration officials in Fort Worth raised the questions during an audit to ensure compliance with airworthiness directives, which address potential safety problems." Gee, I feel a sense of deja vu. But, I'm sure that in your town, it was as equally publicized as the situation involving Southwest Airlines, right? Let's see, where was in published in Dallas? On page 4 of the Business section. Counting the front page section, the Business portion is the fourth section. Four pages inside of the fourth section. Hmmmmm -- I guess the front page section was full... http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/bus/stories/032508dnbuseagle.378381b.html Kim External Blog Boy ... View more

To CharlieWest219 and my fellow supporters of SWA -- Thank you for your well-reasoned and intelligent comments regarding this current situation. As you have pointed out, and as many of the negative blog entries have verified by their tone, this has become an issue of emotions more than one of facts. There is no question that much of the media relies on hype and sensationalism when they feel that it will serve their agenda, and that when mistakes made are egregious enough, they will print a retraction of the incorrect front page headline back on page 37. Right here in the hometown of Southwest, now that the damage has been done, the local paper has moved on to newer and other things to rail about. How easy it is to fire up a controversy and then just move on to another issue. Responsible reporting carries an obligation to get the facts right up front and then to keep your audience informed as the story continues to unfold. As several bloggers have pointed out, Southwest Airlines, like every other company, is made up of people, and people make mistakes. It seems valid to examine whether incidents occur because of premeditated actions and shortcuts or because of unintended human errors. To make accusations of purposeful efforts to avoid costly inspections and secret agendas to knowingly put people's lives at risk is irresponsible at best and intensely paranoid at worst. Thanks to movie moguls like Oliver Stone, many folks have been encouraged to look for a conspiracy behind every incident. In addition, you and others have correctly mentioned the inherent and redundant safety of today's airframes. The planes of today's fleets, and I believe Southwest's specifically, are some of the best maintained and inspected pieces of equipment in the air. It remains a very accurate statement to say that you are at much greater risk driving to the airport than you are flying. Many people outside the aviation industry try to raise the spectre of average age of the fleet for an airline without understanding the amount of upgrades, repairs and ongoing work is done to keep those planes safe. If people maintained their cars as well as airlines maintain their airplanes, we could still be driving automobiles from 1970. In fact, during all of this hue and cry over airframe age, I don't see a similar concern for the members of our U. S. Air Force, who in some cases are flying planes that are over 40 or 50 years old. Our people in uniform are dealing with Congressional budget restraints that keep them in airframes that could be considered antiques compared to what Southwest has in the air. If you think some hairline cracks in a Boeing 737 are risky, consider the challenges of wings that are ready to fall off of some planes that entered the USAF fleet in the 1950s. All of this excitement over the Southwest situation is also being made towards a company with the best safety record around. As you said above, that is not meant to excuse or trivialize events such as the unfortunate death at MDW, but based on cycles flown, or numbers of passengers, or quantity of flight segments per day over the last 37 years, Southwest has nothing to be ashamed of. You notice that all of this criticism towards SWA is coming from emotional passengers who believe that in hindsight they might have died. There is no other airline that is willing to stand up and point any fingers at Southwest because they know that their records are worse, and that to do so would invite greater scrutiny into their own procedures, which may not have been as rigorous as Southwest's. The public has spent a lot of effort wailing and gnashing their teeth over Southwest and how something "could have happened", even though it didn't, but they fail to get equally emotional over crashes that DO happen. According to the lastest figures I can find just for the state of Texas, there were 170,190 alcohol-related car crashes in a year. That averages to 466 wrecks per day. In 2007, there were 1569 fatalities in Texas due to alcohol-related accidents. That would be equivalent to a fully-loaded Southwest 737 in the 137-pax configuration crashing with no survivors almost every month of the year (11.45 times to be precise). Where is the indignation over THAT? If all of these concerned and highly-principled travelers truly intend to boycott any airline that does not have a perfect maintenance record and that has never missed any deadlines or required work, then our interstate highways are going to become even more crowded than they already are, because they will not be able to fly again. Southwest is a great company run by excellent leaders who would not put the lives of their passengers, the lives of their employees or their public safety record at risk to save a few bucks. If you are looking around for a corporate culture of deceit, reckless disregard for safety and wanton evasion of legalities, you'd better look elsewhere. Southwest didn't become one of the most highly-desired places to work and a frequently-cited business model of success by being or doing what they are accused of by so many people. Thanks to CharlieWest219 and the others who understand that! Kim External Blog Boy ... View more

Carole, What a beautiful tribute to a beautiful young man! This is an appropriate time of year to remember that even though some folks like Noah may have more externally noticeable "problems", we ALL have shortcomings and handicaps that separate us from being perfect! The Good News of this weekend is that there is the promise of wholeness for Noah and all of us. You failed to point out one of the greatest blessings that Noah has right now. He has a wonderful, loving and caring grandmother who I am sure reminds him frequently that despite the challenges he faces, he very special in the eyes of God! Best wishes to you and your entire family, Carole! Kim EBB 🙂 ... View more

Congratulations to Harvey Jr. on his enviable flight record! Although I'm sure that he would prefer carrots to honey roasted peanuts as he "hops" about the country, by now he has hopefully flown enough segments to have earned a Companion Pass so he can bring along a good bunny friend for free on his travels. In fact, this whole episode has given me an idea of an advertising slogan that SWA might want to use as it begins to reach out to the entire rabbit community. We know that especially this time of year, it is a busy travel season for rabbits who must distribute chocolate candy and decorated eggs all across the nation after checking their lists twice for who's been naughty and who's been nice. So, in an effort to attract more the business of more bunnies across this 'continent', perhaps you could market yourselves by telling them: "We really move your tail for you." Unless that's already been used? LOL :) Kim External Blog Boy who never eats hollow rabbits ... View more

Ken, Look on the bright side -- when all of these agitated travelers "re-evaluate" their risks of traveling on Southwest and every other airline or means of public transportation, our freeways, buses, trains, planes and airports will be so much less crowded. These folks are quite correct, as the risks of personal injury or incidents of any type will be significantly reduced if they just stay at home. Now, let's tackle the issue of the safety of eating at a public restaurant, or perhaps going to the mall to do some shopping. Kim External Blog Boy ... View more

Mike, In Brian's defense, he IS a very young 55 and rarely acts his age... LOL Kim External Blog Boy, cautiously maintaining a safe aerial separation and three-year-gap from the aforementioned Mr. Lusk 🙂 ... View more

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Joe, Actually, I AM sirius. And don't call me Shirley... Kim EBB listening to FM in the AM 🙂 ... View more

Bill, Wow, I never realized that I knew a big-time TV celebrity! I just thought you were cool because you arranged the entire SWA flight schedule in your head. You know, one of the things I've never figured out about game shows is whether it is the pressure of being in front of a camera beaming your image to a few million people or the heat of the studio lights that turns people into helpless morons. We sit at home and watch "Wheel of Fortune" and can routinely guess the puzzle way before the contestants seem to be able to. I see things like M_RY H_D _ L_TTL_ L_MB and the person spins the wheel and says, "Uhhh, Pat, is there a Z?", and I'm yelling at the TV, "NOOOO, it says Mary Had a Little Lamb, can't you see that???!!" Maybe it is just the realization that if they win all that money that the IRS is going to take a huge chunk anyway, so why bother. But now that I know someone who has been under those hot lights, I'll try to be more compassionate in my assessment of their mental skills. Kim Ex_er_al Blo_ Bo_ 🙂 ... View more

Leah, Those are the two broadcast bands on your car radio. The A.M. usually has numbers from about 550 to 1600 on it and features scratchy music and programs where people argue back and forth on the telephone about sports and politics. The 88 to 108 numbers are F.M., which has music coming out of all of those speakers around you. You may think I'm teasing you, but I'm really quite sirius. Kim External Blog Boy and Listener of FM 🙂 ... View more