Tag: Southwest Airlines

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New Planes and New Seats Making Southwest Feel So Fresh, So Clean for 2012

February 3, 2012 at 10:04 AM | by | Comments (0)

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.

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Which Airlines Will Be Getting Which Upgrades in 2012

January 24, 2012 at 1:30 PM | by | Comments (2)

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.

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Less Legroom and Recline Arriving with Southwest Airlines' New EVOLVE Interior

January 24, 2012 at 9:06 AM | by | Comment (1)

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.

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Virgin America, Porter Airlines and Southwest Star in This Week's New Route News

January 20, 2012 at 9:16 AM | by | Comments (0)

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.

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New Route News for the 787, A380, JetBlue, Southwest and More!

December 9, 2011 at 10:16 AM | by | Comments (0)


Boeing 787s Being Born...

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.

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A Warm and Fuzzy Story Featuring Cookie Cakes and Southwest Airlines

November 28, 2011 at 10:49 AM | by | Comments (0)

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.

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Lace Up Your Skates for Southwest Airlines' Downtown Denver Ice Rink

November 9, 2011 at 10:50 AM | by | Comments (0)

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.

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Bust Out the Ugly Sweater! Southwest Will Snap Holiday Photos at the Airport

November 2, 2011 at 2:58 PM | by | Comments (0)

Halloween is now officially over, so that’s means it’s time for Christmas. Sure there’s Thanksgiving—and a lot of shopping—to do first, but in the minds of retailers and marketers the holidays have more than arrived. It’s true for Southwest Airlines and Microsoft, as the two are again joining together to snap plenty of holiday photographs at an airport near you.

Beginning on December 13, the airline and Windows are teaming up to offer free holiday photos at 21 different airports around the country. That means that along with dealing with flight delays, expensive fares, and assorted fees, you’ll also have to bring along an ugly seasonal sweater to make your holiday complete.

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AirTran Adopting Southwest's Weigh More, Pay More Guidelines

October 18, 2011 at 3:37 PM | by | Comment (1)

Southwest's infamous "customers of size" policy—where if you need a seat and a half you have to purchase two seats—was the cause of one of the airline world's most notorious social media disasters. So naturally Southwest is having its recently purchased airline AirTran adopt the exact same set of guidelines, because that's one of the ways they keep down costs. Another way was described a few months ago in an Associated Press article headlined "US airlines make money again by flying less," which doesn't really have anything to do with this post but is obnoxious enough to be worth mentioning.

In any case, AirTran will implement the new policy starting March 1 of 2012. Following Southwest's lead, if a customer can't lower their armrest they have to purchase two seats. If two seats aren't available on a particular flight, other arrangements will presumably be made, almost certainly combining the usual "you need to get off this plane" humiliation and the "we'll get you on a later flight with more seats" reassurance. As with Southwest, a passenger on a below-capacity flight can request a refund for the second seat's cost.

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Row 44 Bringing Even More Content, And This Time It's TV To Your Tray Table

September 13, 2011 at 9:10 AM | by | Comments (0)

It was just last week when Row 44 was offering to take us out to the ballgame, and now it looks like the in-flight WiFi provider is adding even more content. They definitely have an uphill battle to catch up with Gogo, but we’ve got to give it to them for giving it the old college try.

What they’re planning to do is to offer live Internet Protocol television—that’s IPTV to its friends—at 35,000 feet right to your phone, laptop, or iPad. They’ve signed on channels and companies like FOX News Channel, MSNBC, and BBC World News, so news junkies will definitely be able to get their fix no matter where they are above the earth. For passengers that prefer suits to sweats there will be plenty of the business beat as well, as they’re signing on with CNBC, FOX Business Network, and Bloomberg Television.

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Play Ball! Row 44 to Bring Live Major League Baseball to Southwest Flights

September 7, 2011 at 9:34 AM | by | Comments (0)

Most of the country is ready for some football, but let’s remember that there’s still plenty of baseball to be played this fall. Southwest Airlines is sticking by America's pastime, and they’re bringing it to some of their planes. Now it’ll only be a matter of time before we’re reading about Yankees and Red Sox fans delaying flights due to in-flight arguments.

Row 44—they’re the ones that bring the in-flight magic to Southwest—has partnered with Major League Baseball to provide live streaming at 35,000 feet. That means live video and audio of the season’s best games right to the comfort of your tray table. We’re just hoping that the playoffs and World Series are an option as well, as we would love some in-flight peanuts and a cold beer along with some WiFi baseball.

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This Week Brings New Routes from ANA, Allegiant, American and More

August 26, 2011 at 9:22 AM | by | Comments (0)

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.

· All Nippon Airways:
We mentioned this earlier in the week, but when it comes to the Boeing 787 it’s worth mentioning twice. All Nippon Airways has finally decided what to do with the very first 787s, and it’s looking pretty good. The first scheduled international flights will be from Tokyo-Haneda to Beijing starting at some point this December, and then the first long-haul flight that requires a passport will begin in January 2012. That flight will also be out of Tokyo-Haneda, as ANA is looking to go nonstop to and from Frankfurt. These flights look to take place three times per week, but once February rolls around it will likely be a daily option.

· Allegiant Air:
They love connecting passengers to sunny destinations, and it looks like Allegiant Air is at it again with a few new options to a few new cities. First up is Bangor, Maine and their new nonstop option in and out of Fort Lauderdale. The flights begin on November 17, and if you act quickly you might be able to snag a one-way ticket for under $85. Other new sunny routes include options into Orlando from Saginaw, Michigan and Grand Forks, North Dakota. You know the snow is coming sooner than later, so check out Allegiant for an evacuation plan before it’s too late.

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