Contributor

jheinrich

Jay Heinrichs

Editorial Director Southwest Airlines Spirit
Dallas, VA  |  Member Since 2009

Recent Activity:

Recent Activity Posts

Behind Spirit’s February Issue

By: Jay Heinrichs jheinrich

Feb 08 2011
Boy, did we have a problem at Spirit, Southwest’s award-winning inflight magazine. Southwest likes to “own the holidays,” which meant that the good people we work with at the airline really wanted to see us do something romantic and Valentine-y for February. Fair enough. But with the Super Bowl coming to Dallas, home of Love Field and the LUV airline—not to mention America’s biggest mega-stadium—... read more

Inside Spirit's December Issue

By: Jay Heinrichs jheinrich

Dec 06 2010
Because it’s the season to be jolly, we Spiritistas have made it a holiday tradition to feature cocktails in December. I mean, how could Spirit magazine not have spirits? This year we get you in the mood for the holidays with tiki drinks—you know, umbrella drinks like Zombies and Planter’s punch. According to our tippling correspondent, Sarah Murphy, tiki bars are in again. Three high-profile... read more

Inside Spirit’s September Issue

By: Jay Heinrichs jheinrich

Sep 02 2010
Depending on your philosophy of life, the guy on the cover is either one of the luckiest men in America, or the least lucky. It says a lot about Patrick Waller that he puts himself in the first category. After 16 years of wrongful imprisonment, DNA evidence set the man free. How would you feel? The theme of this issue, Second Chances, explores new leases on life. In times like these, we need... read more

Inside Spirit's August Issue

By: Jay Heinrichs jheinrich

Aug 04 2010
Warning:  Don’t even think of reading our latest issue of Southwest’s inflight magazine, Spirit, while you’re hungry. The cover alone—a floating club sandwich in which you can see every luscious ingredient—had the whole staff drooling for weeks. If you’ve already eaten, then your brain will be functioning enough to wonder how we managed to create a sandwich that looks as if it’s floating in... read more

Inside Spirit's July Issue

By: Jay Heinrichs jheinrich

Jul 01 2010
I’m more excited than ever about Southwest Airlines’ inflight magazine, Spirit. Mail is pouring in for our June issue on dogs, nearly all of it having to do with the moving story about Puppies Behind Bars, “How Mya Saved Jacob.” I’m prejudiced, but I think it’s one of the best stories ever published about veterans’ post-traumatic stress disorder. It’s hard to top dogs, but I think the July... read more

Inside Spirit's June Issue

By: Jay Heinrichs jheinrich

Jun 01 2010
An eyebrow or two may go up when you see the new issue of Spirit, Southwest’s inflight magazine. First, it’s super-big—220 pages big. Second, the image on the cover isn’t your typical cover photo. It shows a soldier lying brow to brow with a beautiful black Labrador, who’s wearing a “Service Dog” harness. The accompanying story by Kate Silver, “How Mya Saved Jacob,” will blow you away. We... read more

Inside Spirit's May Issue

By: Jay Heinrichs jheinrich

Apr 29 2010
Here at Southwest Airlines Spirit magazine, we sometimes get asked why we don’t put more big-shot types on the cover. We do put celebrities on the cover, occasionally; the first issue I worked on had the great Tony Bennett.  But just as Southwest is different from other airlines, Spirit is different from other magazines. Our motto is Simple, Useful, and Fun. Any celeb who wants to get in front... read more

Behind Spirit's April Issue

By: Jay Heinrichs jheinrich

Apr 06 2010
Whenever I interview candidates for an editorial job at Southwest’s Spirit magazine, the conversation eventually gets around to the perks: yes, you do get to travel. No, not all the time. Yes, the job is amazingly fun—if we don’t have fun, the readers won’t. Yes, you actually get paid. Case in point: For a story in this issue, Brad Cope, our executive editor, assigned himself to cover the... read more

Calling All Dog Photographers

By: Jay Heinrichs jheinrich

Mar 10 2010
Spirit, Southwest’s inflight magazine, is doing a big feature on dogs in early summer.  Send us your very best dog photo—adorable or hilarious, portrait or candid, contemplative or mid-air, with or without the owner—and we’ll publish the best. Unleash your creativity, then go to www.spiritmag.com and follow the directions. read more

Behind Spirit's March Issue

By: Jay Heinrichs jheinrich

Mar 08 2010
We have a really young staff of editors at Southwest’s Spirit magazine, which probably means they think I’m really old. When we first began discussing this issue’s cover story on “Last Tech”—yesterday’s cool, no-longer-new technology—I got all excited telling them about the Super Ball (now spelled “SuperBall”). I was ten years old in 1965 when this amazing invention first hit the stores. A... read more