Tag Archives: Southwest Airlines

By BA Staff U.S. scheduled passenger airlines employed 380,328 workers in August 2013, down 2.2% from a year earlier, as per the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) reports. August was the 12th consecutive month that full-time equivalent (FTE) employment for U.S. scheduled passenger carriers was below that of the same month of the previous year. Scheduled …

The United States National Transportation Safety Board has developed the following factual information on the July 22, 2013 accident in which a Southwest Airlines flight 345, a B-737-700, landed hard at New York’s LaGuardia Airport (LGA), and the nose-wheel of the aircraft collapsed. The captain has been with Southwest for almost 13 years and has been a captain for six …

by Devesh Agarwal A CGI rendition of the Southwest Boeing 737 MAX Without a doubt, an aircraft’s engines are one of the most complex parts on an aircraft. After the airframe, the engines are the most expensive item an airline buys, and normally an airline signs separate contracts for the airframe and the engines. With thousands of rotating parts, and …

by Vinay Bhaskara and Brett SnyderEarlier this month, I had a chance to do a little bit of back and forth with Brett Snyder (a.k.a Cranky Flier) about some of the biggest news stories in US aviation from last year. While the idea was that we’d do a lot of debating, it became mostly a discussion (what was that line …

In late May, the news broke that Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines would be leasing 88 Boeing 717-200s from its newly minted rival in Atlanta, Southwest Airlines. The Dallas based airline, which acquired the fleet of 717s from its merger with AirTran Airways (through which it also inherited a hub in Atlanta), had previously utilized only  a single fleet type (the …

US low cost carrier Southwest Airlines has released some of the details of the planned initial utilization of their new fleet of Boeing 737-800 aircraft. Southwest’s first two 737-800s (out of 73 that were ordered), will enter service on April 11, 2012. These aircraft will come equipped with the new Boeing Sky Interior that features larger windows, mood lighting, and …

After falling to an unprecedented pretax loss of $226 in the third quarter of 2011, Dallas based Southwest Airlines once again returned to net profitability, earning $152 million, or 20 cents per diluted share. Revenue grew 32% to $4.1 billion, while operating expenses grew 37% (with fuel and related expenses jumping 59) (All figures vs. Q4 2011. Southwest’s performance beat …

On Tuesday, Southwest Airlines announced a series of changes to its interior, including the addition of 6 seats to their 737-700 aircraft and a reduction in seat pitch offset by a decrease in recline. The new cabin also features, “recyclable carpet, a brighter color-scheme, and a more durable, eco-friendly, and comfortable low-profile seat that weighs less than the current seat.” …

The air cargo industry is quite obviously different from the passenger airline industry. Beyond both offering services that mostly focus on transportation via air the two industries share little else. Let’s get into it. For passenger airlines, the exchange of services (and in some cases, goods) is pretty much entirely contained within the airport or the aircraft. Passenger airlines offer …

There was plenty of airline action in the US this year, so when I was asked to come up with the ten biggest stories of 2011, I quickly realized that was a tough task. After much thought, here is my list of the ten biggest stories to hit the US airline industry in the last year in chronological order. Southwest …

Air travel and economic growth are widely recognized to be linked together; the industry typically grows at about double the rate of economic growth. However, despite the economic malaise in the United States, 2011 was not a bad year for the aviation industry here. As US airlines dealt with stagnating demand and appreciating fuel prices, they still managed to pull …

The 737 MAX now has another customer. Southwest Airlines, the world’s largest Boeing 737 operator has announced an order for 150 of the re-engined 737s, as well as 58 next generation 737s. The order for 208 planes, worth almost US $19 billion at list prices, represents the largest single order in Boeing history, topping previous orders from Emirates and Lion …

In its “Bags fly free” series of ads, US low fare carrier Southwest Airlines hits out at the chargeable baggage policies of “full service” carriers like American, United, Continental, Delta, US Air, and British Airways. In India we are getting ready to celebrate the five days marking the festival of Diwali, the biggest holiday of the year. Travel is high, …

Southwest Airlines is offering its passengers additional discounts with airfares starting at $59 one-way to select destinations nationwide. Fares must be purchased by Sept. 3, 2009, and are available for travel everyday except Fridays and Sundays from Sept. 9, 2009, through Jan. 7, 2010. Examples of fares include (see Additional Fare Rules below): $59 one-way between Las Vegas and Phoenix …

Today is shaping up to be a Boeing videos day. We have videos of the second Boeing 787 Dreamliner roll out, and another of a Japan Airlines Boeing 747 sucking a baggage container. Now a video of a Southwest Airlines Boeing 737 which had a gear problem causing a fiery landing at Houston airport. Great video from CNN and KTRK …

The video says it all. If you have tried the new coffee, please post your feedback via a comment.

Kingfisher Airlines recently became the first Indian airline to get on board the social nano-blogging service Twitter. Following the success of JetBlue and Southwest, quite a few airlines have joined Twitter, including British Airways, Qatar Airways, Gulf Air, and United Airlines. While I laud the bold initiatives by Kingfisher Airlines, at present it is only broadcasting adverts and updates — …