We were just talking about Southwest Airlines and their plans to “evolve” their planes with new seats, and now it looks like the carrier is already prepared to go all-in. Southwest is starting to get those fresh birds, and they’re shifting around the schedule here and there to make room for the increased seats and different configurations.
They’re pretty excited about that this evolve-o-lution, but we kind of wonder how our knees will feel about all these changes. ]]>
It seems that a good number of airlines have decided to use this brand-spanking new year to freshen up their cabins and revamp service offerings. With a few recent announcements from various global carriers such as Cathay Pacific, Brussels Airlines and Virgin Australia, 2012 will be the year to make air travel look snappy and smell fresh...again. Here's who's doing what:
· AirBerlin:
As the second largest German air carrier and a member of Oneworld, Air Berlin will be upgrading the entire long-haul fleet of Airbus 330s. New business class seats that recline to just about flat and thinner, more user friendly economy seats will be aboard their planes. The new interiors will be ready for the summer travel season.
· British Airways:
With all our hoopla from recent BA flights, it seems that the airline is not only upgrading service. Starting at the front of the plane a few years ago, overhauls have finally made it to World Traveler Plus and World Traveler. That's premium economy and economy for the uninitiated. ]]>
They’re moving full speed ahead with their acquisition of AirTran, but Southwest Airlines still has plenty of time to dedicate to other changes and improvements. Their latest announcement has everything to do with seats, as they’re planning to tear out some interiors in favor of new and shiny upgrades.
The bottom line is they’re adding more seats which weigh less, boosting revenue by packing passengers and spending less airplane gas to get them to their final destination. However, Southwest says that the new seats are an upgrade for passengers as well, even though there’s technically going to be a little less room for your legs, knees, and feet.
The pitch on the new seats is dropping by an inch or so and there’s also less recline. The new seats will lean back about one inch less than they do now, but Southwest insists that you won’t even notice because of the new seat layout—we’ll have to see this for ourselves. ]]>
Sometimes it’s hard to stay on top of all the new route announcements that come our way, so we’ve complied a little bit of a rundown below. As long as you can afford the fares, this should definitely help add to your passport stamp collection.
· Virgin America:
We’ve already mentioned the big new route news of the week, but we can’t resist discussing the newest option from Virgin America once again. They’re heading to the land of cheesesteaks and rowdy sports fans, as Virgin America is planning nonstop flights to Philadelphia from both San Francisco and Los Angeles. Some of these will start doing their thing as early as April, so if you’re looking for a delayed Spring Break—either on the west coast or east coast—give this new route a little consideration.
· Southwest Airlines:
They’re continuing to move in all their belongings at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, but Southwest Airlines is already planning another new option to and from the airport. They’ve decided to a do a nonstop flight between Los Angeles and Atlanta beginning on June 10. This is in addition to the options that are already offered up by their best friends—and soon to be family—over at AirTran. The initial route boost from Southwest in Atlanta begins next month and continues through March, so we expect plenty of more comings and goings from ATL as 2012 chugs along. ]]>
Sometimes it’s hard to stay on top of all the new route announcements that come our way, so we’ve complied a little bit of a rundown below. As long as you can afford the fares, this should definitely help add to your passport stamp collection.
· Japan Airlines:
There’s new stuff to talk about when it comes to where Boeing’s 787 is headed next. Japan Airlines—they’re getting the plane too—just announced where the plane is headed, and it sounds like it’s going to Boston, Moscow, and Beijing. The super long-haul routes will depart from Tokyo-Narita, and the shorter flight over to China will depart from Tokyo-Haneda. For those in the nifty fifty looking to test out the plane, the flights to and from Beantown are scheduled to start doing their thing on April 22 of 2012.
· Turkish Airlines:
They might not need help from Kobe anymore—especially since he hasn’t been playing too much NBA basketball lately—as Turkish Airlines is busy expanding to here and over to there. Their latest new route plans to connect their home in Istanbul with Los Angeles with an additional route—guess things are going well. They’re now up to five flights per week on some pretty snazzy Boeing 777-300ERs, and if all goes well it sounds like the plan is boost things into daily service next March. ]]>
Hopefully you’re safely back in town after a weekend of holiday travels, and if you’re lucky you might have even been served a bag of peanuts by one of the best flight attendants around. Apparently she’s been hard at work—and extra friendly—aboard plenty of Southwest Airlines flights, and she’s so nice she even got the airline a customer for life.
On a recent flight, a passenger and his girlfriend were quite impressed with a flight attendant by the name of Holly. It just happened to be a WiFi-enabled flight, so the traveler logged on to Facebook to let Southwest know what a great flight it was. On a whim he suggested that someone meet them at the gate to give Holly a raise, a promotion, or even a burrito from Chipotle. He even agreed to sign a contract pledging to only fly with Southwest Airlines as long as Holly was in charge of passing out the peanuts and serving up smiles. ]]>
It’s the most wonderful time of the year for Southwest Airlines, and we’re not just talking about their plans to giveaway free holiday photos and Santa snapshots. Now the holiday spirit is moving to the Mile High City, as the airline and the city is bringing back the Rink at Skyline Park for the 2011 season.
Denver already has its own Southwest Porch—complete with pizzas and drinks—but now the rink is back to help you burn off some of those mozzarella induced calories. The skating is open to one and all, as long as you can get yourself over to 16th and Arapahoe streets. ]]>