Archive

Archive for October 2012

Inside Southwest: The Weather Disruption Task Force (WDTF)

By: Christi McNeill cday

Oct 30 2012
As Hurricane Sandy began to take shape over the weekend, so did the Weather Disruption Task Force at Southwest Airlines. This is a team of our Operational Leaders that meet to discuss the impact that the storm could have on our Operation, our Customers, and our Employees. The Team meets several times a day to review current status and forecast (with our team of in-house meteorologists) what... read more

Growth of a Social Media Team

By: Gabe Briones gbriones

Oct 29 2012
Last year, our Customer Relations/Rapid Rewards Department partnered with our Communications Department to form a brand new Team who would listen and respond to Customer inquiries through our social media channels. Our Customers are very active in the social media space and they expect their favorite brands to be social media savvy as well.  Some of the channels the Customer Relations Social... read more

Flashback Fridays: A Few Thoughts about Original Employees

By: Brian Lusk blusk

Oct 26 2012
Maybe you’ve worked or flown on 737-700, N418WN, and you saw the words The Winning Spirit proudly displayed on the aircraft’s nose.  The reasons behind the names some of our aircraft carry are self-evident, but what about N418WN?  It is actually the latest of several aircraft to wear this title, and it and its predecessors are dedicated to our Original Employees.  This week, we... read more

SOUTHWEST.COM/VAMONOS IS THE NEW OPTION TO BOOK TRAVEL IN ESPAÑOL

By: Isaac Munoz imunoz

Oct 25 2012
The big questions in life:  There are many questions that tend to go unanswered such as, how big is the universe? Is there life on Mars? What was first, the chicken or the egg? Or as of lately, can I book a flight in Spanish on southwest.com?  Well, we still do not have the answers to the first three, but we do for the last one, and it is YES, now you can!  First things first,... read more

Going Green for Halloween

By: Victoria Petersen vpetersen

Oct 23 2012
Before I dive into some green Halloween costume ideas, I wanted to share some exciting news!  Yesterday, Newsweek announced its 2012 Green Rankings, which is the fourth annual evaluation of America’s 500 largest publicly traded companies and 500 largest companies internationally.  Southwest Airlines ranked 129 out of 500 and ranked sixth in our sector of Transportation & Logistics!... read more

Meteorology Monday: October 22 - October 28

By: Brian Collins bcollins

Oct 22 2012
It’s looking to be quite an active weather week ahead as the first significant fall/winter storm of the season moves across the western states early in the week, bringing substantial snow to the mountains and even potentially some light snow to places like RNO and GEG.Then by late week, some of the energy from that system will merge with a cold front to form another storm over the middle of the... read more

FOUR... MORE... CITIES?

By: Bill Owen bowen

Oct 22 2012
Today, we opened our April/May 2013 Schedules, and effective April 14, we will convert AirTran Airways service at Charlotte, North Carolina; Flint, Mich..; Portland, Maine; and Rochester, New York, to Southwest service. We’ll also open sales out through May 31, 2013, giving us 221 days of bookable inventory. Lots of changes to discuss … so read on!At Charlotte, Southwest will transfer AirTran’s... read more

Flashback Fridays: The Origins of Southwest Reservations Department

By: Brian Lusk blusk

Oct 19 2012
In the beginning, there were flights.  Those Southwest Airlines flights served Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio.  Flight Attendants and Ticket Agents in hot pants and big smiles served our Customers, but American Airlines served as the initial point of contact for most of those Customers.  For the first year and a half (up until March 1973) of Southwest’s existence, American’s... read more

The Gift of Peace of Mind.

By: Lilly Duran, Guest Blogger lduran

Oct 19 2012
I am the first person in my family to graduate from high school and go to college. Growing up in the Rio Grand Valley of Texas the majority of my life; my family lived below the poverty line for a substantial part of my childhood.The day I got accepted into Brown University was one of the happiest days of my life. The happiness only multiplied as I discovered that I was also accepted into Brown’s... read more

Who taught you to have fun?

By: David E Weck dweck

Oct 18 2012
At Southwest, we honor three basic tenants: to have a Servant’s Heart, a Warrior Spirit, and a Fun-LUVing Attitude.  When I started working for the company almost three years ago, I was happy to know that I was already living those standards thanks to the qualities instilled within me by my family, teachers, and friends.  I was honored to know a very special person who helped me realize... read more