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Nuts About Southwest Gate Game

jmalone
Adventurer A
Well, we had so much fun with the first blogging gate game, I thought we would go ahead and try it again.  So, for this installment, let's see if you can list (in order) the Top Ten Southwest Cities based on number of daily departures (as of April 19, 2007).  The first three folks who answer correctly, will once again, win some inexpensive SWA swag, provided by our very own Brian Lusk. Hint: The highest number of daily departures is 231, with the lowest being 95. Good Luck!
26 Comments
jim
Adventurer C
1 - Depends entirely on if Kim Seale is busy or bored. 2 - The quantity of calls is completely irrelevant; what is important is that each and every call answered is handled politely, by an intelligent human being. 3 - The good ones last long enough for the agent to eat 1/2 bag of candy corn. 4 - Enough to where I've never been on hold for more than a minute or so. 5 - Albuquerque, Chicago, Houston, Oklahoma City, Phoenix, and San Antonio. You left out an important and educational question James - "How many buttons do you have to press before you can talk to a real live human being?"
Nicole10
Adventurer C
1) Ummmm -just guessing, but given that there are 6 call centers and the lines are open 24/7, I'd say, a billion. No really, 7,000? Just a guess. 2) 2 million calls! (another guess) Good point Kim! I couldn't agree more. ;-) 3) I haven't made a reservation over the phone in a long time, but as I recall, about 18 minutes. (15 seems too short, 20 seems too long). 4) Oh boy, 300? ( there is a little logic behind that guess, but not much!) 5) Albuquerque, Chicago, Houston, Oklahoma City, Phoenix, and San Antonio. There's an awesome graduate case study from MIT Sloan School of Management on SWA's journey through IT growth and building business agility. Very cool. http://dspace.mit.edu/bitstream/1721.1/39646/1/4664-07.pdf Here's a statistic: "Southwest received 284,827 resumes and hired 3,363 new Employees in 2006." Sigh. About 100 of those were my resume. Oh well - maybe in '09! C'est la vie. Everyone have a great day! ;-) Nikki
Patrick10
Explorer C
Originally, it was the lines at the gate; first come, first boarded. Then, they established groups for better organization. Next, boarding became a game online of first online, first in the first boarding group.....still allowed first come, first boarded...within their group. Now, you are proposing a price for first boarded. SWA has ALWAYS been able to make light of the worse elements of commercial passenger flying, even when FAA required the "Safety Briefing," then later, the TSA requirements. In my business CEO view, making the SWA flight experience fun is the #1 reason for SWA's success that falls to the bottom line. Of course, other smart planning and operations have their place, and for passengers, I agree that "open seating" gives passengers the most choice and control. We all know you pay a penalty for being late. Above all, keep the flying experience FUN and LUV your passengers!
blusk
Aviator C
Thanks for the support, Patrick, but didn't you want to play the game? Brian
Tim_Cook
Explorer C
Oh goody! I love trivia quizzes! Oh no! This quiz is haaarrd! Well, here go my ridiculous guesses: 1) 150,000 2) 55 million 3) 4 minutes 4) 3,500 5) Albuquerque, Chicago, Houston, Oklahoma City, Phoenix, and San Antonio (this is the only one I know with any certainty). And here's to all the great SWA Reservations Agents. Their customer service ROCKS!!!
Kent_Snyder
Explorer C
Why do I luv Souithwest? I had a flight booked from Salt Lake City to Boise on Southwest. I had another flight booked from Salt Lake City to Bozeman on Delta (Southwest doestn' fly to Bozeman. 3 1/2 weeks before my Bozeman flight I tried to change the return date on Delta. They wanted an additional $1,230 for the one hour return trip. This was on a flight that was only about half full. 4 weeks before my Boise flight I changed the return date on Southwest and I got a $10 credit. I fly about 40 times a year. If Southwest goes where I go, I always fly Southwest. My flight plan change frequently and Southwest never tries to take advantage of me like EVERY other airline I fly does. Thank you Southwest.
Anonymous4063
Explorer A
1 - On average, how many calls does Reservations take on a given day? 90 2 - How many calls do you think Reservations will take by the end of 2007? three million 3 - How long do you think each telephone call lasts? 3-4 minutes 4 - How many Reservation Sales Agents do we have? 1500 5 - We have six Reservation Centers. What cities are they located in? Albuquerque, Chicago, Houston, Oklahoma City, Phoenix, and San Antonio.
Matthew_Skok
Explorer A
1 - On average, how many calls does Reservations take on a given day? 193,750 2 - How many calls do you think Reservations will take by the end of 2007? 4.5 million 3 - How long do you think each telephone call lasts? 6 minutes 4 - How many Reservation Sales Agents do we have? 2600 5 - We have six Reservation Centers. What cities are they located in? ABQ, Chicago area, HOU, OKC, PHX, and SAT
R_Kahn
Explorer C
It is a shame you had to "fix something that wasn't broke". If you are going to change why not take a look at AirTran and copy their boarding policy. We "luved" Southwest, but no more. With all the stress in life today who needs the stress of your new boarding policy? Southwest will not be our first choice now, probably our last.
Sam_Farmer
Explorer C
The new boarding process is much improved and I like it much more than the previous one.
FriendofBlogBoy
Frequent Flyer B
I have used the extensive array of resources at my disposal to carefully research your questions, James, and I am confident that I alone will be able to provide the winning answers. Stand back, you amateurs... 1. Seven 2. 188 3. 14.78 seconds 4. Twenty-two 5. International Falls, MN; Winslow, AZ (on the corner); Alcatraz, CA; Lake Wobegon, WI; Zephyrhills, FL OK, James, now what do I win? Kim External Blog Boy and Trivia Master Extraordinaire 🙂
blusk
Aviator C
Kim, Could it be that you were standing on a corner while you were in Winslow, AZ and exclaimed such a fine sight to see? By chance did you see a flatbed Ford with a girl slowing down to look at you? More likely, you have International Falls confused with Frostbite Falls. Blog Boy
drew
Adventurer B
1. 110000 2. 4 million 3. 8 minutes 4. 3000 5. Albuquerque, Chicago, Houston, Oklahoma City, Phoenix, San Antonio
Another_Mark
Explorer A
Brian, Kim must have had to many Chrstmas "peanuts" at his company party. He's probably thinking that "yesterday, all my troubles seemed so far away/Now I need a place to hide away" after his superb answers to the quiz. Isn't it nice to see positive, friendly comments on the blog.
blusk
Aviator C
Mark, I'm not sure "superb" is the approriate adjective here. Blog Boy
joe-mdw-plane-d
Frequent Flyer C
Kim, You win a deluxe edition candy corn tin full of popcorn! Please fill completely Ding! boy Joe!
Anonymous4395
Explorer B
I do not no
FriendofBlogBoy
Frequent Flyer B
Brian, Wow! Is that like deja vu all over again, or what? How is it that you've heard the same words in your head as I have? Do the voices speak to you, too? It is rather eerie -- they always seem to be in my car, but I can't see any people in there but me. Hmmmm?!? Joe, If I ate an entire tin full of popcorn, I WOULD fill completely... Hold the molten fake butter, please, Kim External Blog Boy and Resident Trivia Master 🙂
S_L_Merrow
Explorer C
Tried the new procedure. One way, I actually paid the higher price. (Actually, I had a family emergency and had to travel on short notice) However, I did not get to board first nor did I receive a drink ticket. Departed from FLL and it was not very organized. When I returned (from BWI) it was much more organized. Preferred the other system. Will be doing more comparison shopping since the change.
Dena_Fetters
Explorer C
OK, I want to take a shot at this - I'm James' sister and I assure you he hasn't even told me he posted this blog yet! 1 - On average, how many calls does Reservations take on a given day? answered next to last because I had to figure out how many agents I thought there were, now... how busy do I think they are? If 150 people take a call every 5 minutes at 6 places - I'm guessing 75,000 across 6 call centers, I'm probably over on this one - more like 50k probably - DO I GET 2 Guesses??? 2 - How many calls do you think Reservations will take by the end of 2007? Based on my answer above, I'd have to guess around 18,250,000 - so instead I will guess 15 million 3 - How long do you think each telephone call lasts? 8 minutes - They have to look up the flight, make the reservation, take the money, give the confirmation or maybe a little less! 4 - How many Reservation Sales Agents do we have? I'm thinking 150 atleast on the phones at a time, then we have to count shifts, then we have to count by 6 locations - I'm guessing 2000 + 5 - We have six Reservation Centers. What cities are they located in? Albuquerque, Chicago, Houston, Oklahoma City, Phoenix, and San Antonio (OK - I CHEATED ON THIS ONE but only from previous answers). If I win - ALL I WANT IS A FREE PLANE TICKET FOR ME, my husband, and 3 kids - Sounds easy enough to me (That;s all I want for Xmas too 😉 - ;) DENA
jmalone
Adventurer A
I'll post the answers sometime this week....keep the guesses coming! No one is close.... :-) James MDW FA
drew
Adventurer B
You say no one is close, but may I ask who is closest? 😉
jmalone
Adventurer A
Okay....Here are the answers...I'll put you out of your misery Drew!! ;-) 1 - Reservations handles an average of 127,000 calls a day! 2 - Reservations will handle over 46 million calls by the end of 2007! 3 - Each calls lasts approximately 3 minutes and 52 seconds! ***The total amount of time our Reservations Agents will spend on the phone in 2007 is the equivalent of a single phone call lasting over 340 years. 4 - We have 2,693 Reservations Agents. 5 - We have 6 Reservations Centers and they are located in: Albuquerque, Chicago, Houston, Oklahoma City, Phoenix, and San Antonio. And now for the winners: Tim Cook and Matthew Skok. Honorable mention to Jim for his creativity!! If you all will email me your addresses to james.malone@wnco.com I'll see what Brian can round up in the SWAg closet!! Thanks for playing!!
Robert_Carner
Explorer C
1) 36,000 (6,000 per call center) "average day" not counting bad weather days like the past 2 days of ice storms in the Midwest. 2) 13.5 million calls by years end. 3) 7.37 minutes (hey it's my favorite 3 digit number) 4) 1,050 (175 per call center) 5) SRC / San Antonio ~ HRC / Houston ~ PRC / Phoenix ~ ORC / Oklahoma City ~ ARC / Albuquerque ~ CRC / Chicago BONUS! Fomer call centers now closed, thanks to the do it yourself internet DRC / Dallas ~ LTR / Little Rock and SLR / Salt Lake City Now tell me know's Nuts about Southwest !
FriendofBlogBoy
Frequent Flyer B
OK, James, I've done some further research over at www.SecretSouthwestTriviaAnswers.com and have come up with the following guesses. Let's see how close I can get: 1.) about 127,000 calls per day 2.) over 46,000,000 calls for FY 2007 3.) approximately 3 minutes and 52 seconds 4.) 2,693 Res Agents 5.) 6 Res Centers: San Antonio, Phoenix, Oklahoma City, Houston, Chicago and Albuquerque (for extra credit, I listed them in reverse alphabetical order) So, how did I do, James? Kim External Blog Boy Trying To Win Swag in Time for Christmas 🙂
jmalone
Adventurer A
Kim - you cheated!! lol....Happy HoliDAZE ya'll! James MDW FA