Southwest Airlines Community

Holy Cow! That's some serious pruning of short haul!! Some of it I haven't worked in forever, but I know some other airline employees will be scrambling!! Really shocking, but with jet fuel prices..... ... View more

Hope your injury recovery is a smooth one!! In the meantime, will you be typing responses with one hand, or is there a new intern position opening up in Planning?? 😉 ... View more

Aw you just got a little singed ;-) I haven't checked, but is there another schedule update date listed?? I was waiting for today, based on your post and others' replies, and I'm a good news addict. Ready for the growth. Are you dreaming of a 717 fleet schedule yet?? 😉 ... View more

Some interesting additions, Bill. Glad we're hitting holiday capacity additions better!! I'm not surprised folks are having a hard time getting through. It is a little like folks are surprised when Friday and Sunday flights are full. (um, everyone else is off, too). Just heard from a friend who can't get through to Apple to order his iPhone 4. Not a good day for the "Internets". 😉 ... View more

I want to know why every time Bill Owen posts, the Chicken Little's come out?? ;-) The two non-stop markets TEMPORARILY ended are still served with direct and connecting service. The addition of TWO flights at Logan = the demise of MHT......REALLY?!?!?!? But clearly the favorite is: "there is no way it will continue to fly out of all 3 airports" Uh, Bob, we already do it in both the LA Basin and San Francisco Bay areas, as well as South East Florida.......because passenger traffic supports it. ;-) Really people, Bill could not have been clearer about the reasons and time frame of the changes. Take a breath already!! /soapbox ... View more

If anyone had any doubt that this is an open forum, they'd only need to read the last few posts to know. I've stopped participating in some Yahoo forums because I got tired of people posting rude, inaccurate, flaming comments from the anonymity of their keyboards. NOTHING in anything that's currently out, from the press release, to the press conference, to Paula's attempts to deal with the screaming hordes here IN ANY WAY backs up a "General Sherman/Atlanta" type burning down of Frontier. Spending over $100M to just "get rid of the competition" is the stupid financial planning, and if true, would be reflected in our stock price on Wall Street. Oh yeah, our stock's up since the announcement. And if you think a commuter carrier is going to support wage rates and benefits that a currently in place..........REALLY?? All airlines are businesses!!! Frankly, I wish there were some filters on this site, because I'm tired of reading the screaming tripe posted by people with their hair on fire. Just my opinion. ... View more

Hey all, This is a whole lot of "the sky is falling" without any REAL information to base it on. A lot of people who seem convinced of actions to happen, when the auction isn't even completed. Lets take a deep breath and focus on what could happen, positively, if this news was to come to pass. Personally, I'm excited to get another try at near-International, that was lost when ATA shut down. I looked forward to the ATA partnership, and I'm hoping for the best, should we get an opportunity to integrate with Frontier. Frontier is a Great Airline. I love the animals on the tails. I'm going to be sad to see them go. But Frontier is also a business. Looking at it's route map, it is closing markets soon, and some are seasonal, something SWA doesn't have experience in. I'd point out that SWA didn't have any real internet experience before Morris, and look where we are now. All the best to the employees at Frontier. As Paula said, there are people here thinking positively of you, in this time of change. ... View more

Brian, I know you said you ran out of room, but a mention of the aviation museum, at North Field, is worth the space. http://www.oaklandaviationmuseum.org/ Talk about your older planes, and just a nice collection of aviation related materials. There used to be a small snack bar, across the street at the park, that's nice on a sunny day. Another great place to plane watch was the El Torito in San Leandro. It's all the way down Marina Drive, off 880, right on the bay. I enjoyed my nine years in the Bay, and am glad to enjoy Bay Area overnights, now that I'm Chicago based. Great Story!! Will Browne MDW F/A ... View more

Bill, I accuse you of putting "cool leaf changes" into the optimizer and that was the basis of the schedule. I offer as evidence the additional OAK -GEG. Defense?? ;-) Seriously, thanks for keeping us flying, and even increasing our offerings to new cities. Will ... View more

You might want to warn those of us who get teary at Extreme Makeover that we'll need Kleenix for this video. Sheesh!!! ... View more

So, not only has that place officially frozen over 😉 ........ .......but the schedule also allows for crew overnights!?!?!?!? Holy Wonderful Unintended Consequences, Batman!!!!!! Seriously, I have a friend, who's flown someone else enough for special status, who's really ready for Southwest Service and Smiles. Will ... View more

Thanks for the history lesson, Bill (and the PSA reference). Speaking only for my own addiction, I love, I mean LUV, newly connected dots, allowing me more opportunities to fly to different places. I'm looking forward, if it all comes together, to LGA and there used to be a hint of another place, this fall. I know, I heard Gary's comments, but Change happens. 😉 ... View more

Bill, Our stated intent with MSP is to only offer service to MDW, with connection opportunities to everywhere else. One may posit that LGA service, if all the dominos fall as expected, would be to MDW, with connection opportunities everywhere else. Don't you think it's time to put maps of our bigger stations in the back of Spirit Magazine?? 😉 I know we're primarily "point to point", but I'm also answering a LOT of connection questions on the plane, graciously, per usual. I'm also pretty good at map drawing. ;-) I brought this up at two Internal Roundtables, and I know I'm not the only one. I'm just taking the opportunity to try another communication channel. Thanks, and Kim's right. Take a nap, already!!! ... View more

So when I heard another city was possible, I thought Cincinnati. Just goes to show I'm a little locked into "old" Southwest thinking. ;-) I'm sure I'm not the only one who sent out an announcement email, to friends and family, with the title, "Holy S&%$" and have received lots of comments with, "YAY!!!" in the response. Wow! ... View more

We LUV that New City Smell!!!!!!! Congrats Bill, and all of Schedule Planning, for all you do to keep us profitable, and the choice for Customer travel. Every time you talk about the balancing act of scheduling over 500 aircraft to our 60+ cities, I remember the guy on the Ed Sullivan show, spinning plates on the top of wooden dowels. WHEW!! ... View more

I just want to complain that this wasn't even high on the Internal "rumor list"! ;-) Whatever happened to seeing so-and-so in such-in-such, so we all knew in advance!?!?! ;-) I personally can't wait to see how this initial announcement grows, which is something we seem to do at ole SWA. Thanks for the post, Bill. P.S. Does MSP really have worse weather than MDW and BUF??? I think I've seen some snow on Canyon Blue planes. ... View more

Bill, Are the other bloggers jealous of the response level you always generate, or glad they aren't taking this much heat for decisions you don't control??? Seriously folks, if you have a concern unrelated to the post, I'd encourage you to write SWA with your concern. Our Writing Team is EXCELLENT, you get an actual response, and save Bill from unnecessary wrinkles (He really is a nice guy, I swear!!) As usual, nice surprises in the changes, and glad to see markets I care about are undergoing only "seasonal" changes. Will Browne MDW F/A ... View more

Actually, here's the latest REAL stuff from our CEO, Gary. Rumors are great, especially since many of ours seem to stay positive, but the current wisdom from HQ is that mergers are NOT a good idea in an era of $130-140 oil. http://www.suntimes.com/business/lazare/1015690,CST-FIN-Southweb20.article. Enjoy the article!! Will Browne MDW F/A ... View more