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JetBlue Retaliates To Southwest's Latest Boston Escalation

November 4, 2009 at 10:29 AM | by Omri | 0 Comments

Now this is just getting silly. The dustup at Logan was already the most interesting battle in the airline industry, with Southwest turning the turf war into a bloodbath and pushing out major carriers like US Airways. JetBlue—which considers Boston home turf—isn't going to be shoved aside as easily. They're retaliating by increasing their Boston flights by a full 30 percent.

Southwest recently broadsided JetBlue and AirTran by adding two daily roundtrips, for a total of seven, between Boston and Baltimore. That bumped up the total number of BOS-BWI dailies to 20. Given that 20 is probably way more than necessary, an outside observer might guess that Southwest was just trying to spite their rivals.

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FAA Launches Campaign Of Penalties And Fines Against US Airlines

October 19, 2009 at 2:18 PM | by Omri | 0 Comments

The Federal Aviation Administration has reached back to the beginning of 2008, contemplated the record, and decided to fine United and US Airways over $9 million dollars for safety lapses. The government agency is letting it be known that these penalties are just the beginning and that the entire industry is now on notice. Larger fines and penalties against American Airlines and Southwest Airlines are probably pending:

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Southwest Intensifies Boston Turf War With JetBlue And AirTran

Where: Boston-Logan Airport [map], Boston , MA, United States
October 15, 2009 at 5:33 PM | by Omri | 0 Comments

The outlook for the 2010 airline industry is unremittingly bleak, but you wouldn't know it from the way that Southwest is acting. The low cost carrier is adding 104 flights to its spring schedule. In the process they're turning the Boston turf war they started with JetBlue and AirTran into a full-blown bloodbath:

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Southwest Triggers Turf War And Lower Prices By Landing In Boston

August 24, 2009 at 8:59 AM | by Omri | 0 Comments

Southwest began flying out of Boston-Logan last Sunday, a move that their CEO once declared would never ever happen. Nonetheless, we weren't particularly surprised: we flagged the expansion back in April when they announced their routes, and again a few weeks ago when AirTran gave them a "welcome to Boston" by announcing free WiFi for Boston flights.

What is much more interesting is what the move means for the LCC niche and the airline industry as a whole, two different markets that are increasingly difficult to untangle.

The Wall Street Journal just published a must-read article on the industry, taking Southwest's expansion as the centerpiece and moving on from there:

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The FCC Is Cool With Row 44's In-Flight WiFi Satellite System

August 7, 2009 at 8:37 AM | by kjb | 0 Comments

Most of our in-flight WiFi coverage has been focused on Aircell and their Gogo Internet service. However, there is another kid on the block, and Row 44 has been trying their best to gain some market share.

It's too bad Row 44 has had a slower start than their competition; after all, they have been teasing us with their goods for some time. At least they have partners like Alaska Airlines and Southwest, so they definitely have attracted some big business.

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Take That Southwest: AirTran To Offer Free WiFi From Boston in August

July 20, 2009 at 9:14 AM | by kjb | 0 Comments

For those who haven’t been taking notes, Southwest Airlines is set to take off from Logan Airport in Boston starting halfway through August. Hopefully their low cost model will help lower flight prices out of Beantown; it has already brought some freebies to flyers thanks to a little friendly competition.

AirTran knows the stakes are high, so they are offering free WiFi aboard all their flights that travel between BOS and BWI—one of Southwest’s main routes. The free in-flight WiFi will be available for the whole month of August, in hopes that travelers will choose their WiFi planes over the other guys.

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'Mobile-Optimized' Means Business For Southwest Airlines

June 1, 2009 at 11:57 AM | by JetSetCD | 1 Comment

Who remembers the days of booking flights through travel agents with cruise ship models perched on their desks and drawers full of Disney World pamphlets? It's crazy to think that we used to intern at one such office, in the time just before travel websites took over the world and made everyone freak out the security of booking online.

Finally we seemed to have reached the future, what with the proliferation of mobile websites where passengers can not only check on their flight's status but also book another leg. Southwest Airlines is only the latest carrier to boost the options on the mobile-optimized site, adding the ability to purchase flights, view schedules, peruse their SWA frequent flyer points account and of course, monitor their flight's status.

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Text-Crazy Woman Files Suit Against Southwest

May 19, 2009 at 9:01 AM | by kjb | 2 Comments

We’ve all been there. The flight attendant kindly asks everyone to turn off their electronic devices, but one person is just to cool for school and continues to text and tweet away. One woman did exactly this, but she obviously took it a little too far and wound up going to the big house for a couple hours.

It all started on a Southwest Airlines flight in Nashville last summer. The passenger was returning from Florida and wanted to let her kids know that she was safe and on her way home. Apparently a flight attendant asked her to turn off the phone, but then returned several times to reinforce his message, including two visits as the plane headed toward the runway. Maybe if it was the rapping flight attendant, she would have paid attention.

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A-listers Not Above Eating Southwest's Peanuts

April 27, 2009 at 2:26 PM | by JetSetCD | 2 Comments

Stars! They're just like us! While we have already seen first-hand that Southwest is the airline of choice for Sports Illustrated swimsuit models, who would believe that some A-listers are occasionally to be found way back in seat 44D? Thanks to the tireless work of the paparazzi behind TMZ, however, we now have a damning list of celebs who've slummed it in the skies. Hey, maybe their Gulfstreams were in the shop?

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Southwest Starts Their Own One-Day Sale, Today From Philly

April 24, 2009 at 9:31 AM | by kjb | 0 Comments

Not to be outdone by JetBlue with their one-day sale, Southwest Airlines started their own promotion today. Over the next four days they’ll be offering fifty percent off their Wanna Get Away fares from a different destination each day. Initially, there were a few clues to help you identify the secret locations, but now that they’ve revealed the first one we just have to wait and see—bummer.

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Southwest Announces Its Boston Flight Schedule

April 14, 2009 at 9:48 AM | by kjb | 0 Comments

Like all good airline nerds, we've been eagerly anticipating Southwest's flight schedule out of Boston and today we're happy not only to know where SW is flying from Beantown but also when.

Starting on August 16 the airline that LUVs its customers will be departing from Logan Airport ten times per day. They're going to head to Chicago's Midway Airport five times daily, while another another five planes fly down to Baltimore-Washington Airport each day as well. Since these are both major hubs for the airline, you'll pretty much be able to get anywhere you'd like.

Fares for these new routes will start at $89 each-way from Chicago, and $49 each-way from Baltimore. To take advantage of these opening day rates you need to book them by April 20, and finish your trip before October 29. Of course taxes, fees, and other stuff is extra—Fridays and Sundays are excluded from the deal.

Now, let's just hope they have some new in-flight WiFi news up their sleeves soon, we're dying to know more over here.

Related Stories:
·Southwest Airlines Announces Fares and Flights To/From Boston Logan [Official Site]
·Southwest To Begin Service to Boston [Chicago Sun-Times]
·Southwest coverage [Jaunted]

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Southwest Gives Out Free Money In April Fool's Day Un-Joke

April 1, 2009 at 12:26 PM | by egw | 0 Comments

Google will write your e-mails for you, Zappos wants you to think vertically and ThinkGeek will sell you a unicorn in a can. Man, do we love April Fool's Day! But Southwest just had to go and be different by doing something that sounded like a prank, but wasn't.

Southwest is all about bringing the funny, but the $10,000 prizes they handed out to 21 employees were real as far as we can tell. The lucky recipients were chosen at random from a stack of in-house commendations, guaranteeing that at some point someone noticed these people doing a great job. Employees found out through "Deal or No Deal"-style suitcase messages, fake boarding passes and causing tears, jaw-dropping and a little jumping.

This was too cool to be mocked. Stay tuned for the Jaunted version of "Pennies from Heaven," in which oh, we're just kidding, sorry.

Related Stories:
· No Foolin' - Pennies from Heaven [BlogSouthwest]
· Last Year: A Sneak Preview of Tomorrow's Foolishness [Jaunted]

[Photo: kimberlyfaye]