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Who Put This Stupid Light Pole In The Way Of My Southwest Flight?
By Chris Morran on January 30, 2012 2:15 PM
41 Comments
Earlier this morning, a Southwest Airlines flight made it all the way from Los Angeles to Denver without any apparent incident. That is, until the huge Boeing 737 managed to clip a light pole. More »
Southwest Passenger Uses Craigslist To Track Down Stolen Laptop
By Chris Morran on November 3, 2011 12:30 PM
77 Comments
This story is useful in two ways. First, as an example of how you can utilize freely available online tools to help yourself when others won't. And second, as yet another example of why you should never, ever check your laptop on a flight. More »
Pushing Your Way Onto A Plane Without A Ticket Is A Good Way To Get Arrested
By Chris Morran on October 27, 2011 10:15 AM
75 Comments
Usually when we write about the cops being called to an airplane, it involves a ticketed passenger being forcibly removed from the jet. But in a nice change of pace, here's the story of a man who allegedly thought he could just push his way onto a Southwest flight sans ticket. More »
Southwest Deletes Entire $140 Credit Because $10 Of It Was Too Old
By Chris Morran on September 9, 2011 3:15 PM
32 Comments
Southwest Airlines has a policy where "unused, fully refundable tickets that do not carry restrictions may be applied toward future travel or refunded within one year from the date of issue." Unfortunately, something this policy doesn't state is that you apparently lose that entire credit if even a small portion of that original ticket was purchased using an old credit. More »
Southwest Flight Attendants May Sue Over Pilot's "Gays, Grannies & Grandes" Rant
By Chris Morran on June 23, 2011 5:15 PM
151 Comments
Yesterday, an unnamed Southwest Airlines pilot made headlines when it was discovered he'd accidentally broadcast his complaints about the lack of straight, slender, young hotties working as flight attendants for the airline to Houston air traffic control and anyone else listening in. Not surprisingly, the attendants — regardless of age, gender, sexual orientation or bangability — are not pleased. More »
Get A Refund After An Airfare Pricedrop
By Ben Popken on June 3, 2011 4:00 PM
15 Comments
It is possible to get a refund for the difference if the airfare drops after you buy your ticket, but you'll usually have to fly one of these three airlines to make it worth your while. More »
An Airline Actually Reduced A Fee
By Ben Popken on April 28, 2011 5:00 PM
26 Comments
Airlines have tacked on more and more fees over the years as a way to recoup costs without having to raise their base fares as much, but Frontier has broke with these seemingly relentless upward tradition and actually reduced some fees this week. Thunderclap! More »
Check Out Your Airline's Safety Records Online Before You Fly
By Mary Beth Quirk on April 6, 2011 12:30 PM
20 Comments
Are you tired of waiting for those scary headlines to hit detailing safety failures to find out about an airline's safety records? For those spooked by Southwest Airlines Boeing 737-300 forced to make an emergency landing when a hole torn open in its fuselage mid-flight, there are a few things you can do to check things out before booking and boarding. More »
FAA Calls For Mandatory Inspection Of Older Boeing 737s
By Chris Morran on April 5, 2011 3:19 AM
19 Comments
Following this past weekend's incident in which a Southwest Airlines jet suddenly got a sunroof when a hole opened up in the plane's fuselage and the subsequent finding of problematic cracking on at least three other Southwest jets, the FAA is set to require inspections of around 175 older Boeing 737s. More »
Cracks Found In Three More Southwest Jets
By Chris Morran on April 4, 2011 5:03 AM
31 Comments
It has not been a good weekend for Southwest Airlines. The carrier grounded dozens of planes and canceled hundreds of flights after a hole opened up in the fuselage of a plane in mid-flight on Friday. Investigators subsequently found widespread cracking in that plane. And now comes news that cracks have been found in at least three more Southwest jets. More »
Southwest Pilot Holds Plane For Murdered Child's Family
By Ben Popken on January 12, 2011 1:00 PM
198 Comments
Elliott.org has the incredible story of a grandfather who was trying to race through the airport to get to the hospital to say goodbye to his 3-year old grandson who being taken off life support after being body-slammed by his daughter's live-in boyfriend. Despite getting to the airport early, long lines were going to make him late for the plane and all the TSA drones couldn't give a damn. Finally through security, he ran through the airport in his socks, clutching his shoes, before arriving, gasping at the Southwest gate—12 minutes late. More »
Southwest's New Frequent Flier Program Rewards Biz Travelers Over Hoi Polloi
By Ben Popken on January 10, 2011 1:00 PM
31 Comments
If air travel was a multi-player video-game, you would call Southwest's new "Rapid Rewards" frequent flier program "adjusting the game balance." In this case, the "Pinstripe" class is getting favorably tweaked at "Joe Sixpack" class's expense. More »
Southwest Overhauls Frequent Flyer Mile Program
By Ben Popken on January 6, 2011 4:00 PM
47 Comments
Southwest today announced a major revamp of its frequent flyer mile program. Under the new system, travelers will get points based on their airfare amount. There will also be no blackout dates or seat restrictions (existing members will get grandfathered in). The airline also introduced three new fare buckets, "wanna get away," "anytime," and "business select" with increasing points per dollar to redeem and total points required for a free flight. So not only are you getting from point A to point B, you're also polishing valuable math skills. Southwest came out with 3 videos to explain it all: More »
Southwest, JetBlue Fly High In Zagat Airline Survey
By Chris Morran on November 30, 2010 1:40 PM
17 Comments
For the 20th year in a row, the people at Zagat have done a survey of passengers on the major domestic and international airlines. And by the looks of it, travelers are much more pleased with the likes of Southwest, JetBlue and Virgin than they are the old-timers like United, Delta and American. More »
Some Airlines Jettisoning First Class Seats
By Ben Popken on October 20, 2010 10:00 AM
57 Comments
Global austerity has lead some airlines to chuck first class seats out the air lock. More »
Southwest Finishes Dead Last In On-Time Arrivals
By Ben Popken on October 13, 2010 2:00 PM
61 Comments
Among the biggest domestic carriers, Southwest finished at the bottom of the heap in on-time arrivals for September, according to Flightstats. This is surprising as the carrier usually performs well. Here are the overall rankings for the big birds: More »
What Does Southwest Buying Air-Tran Mean For Consumers?
By Ben Popken on September 27, 2010 11:00 AM
61 Comments
So, what are the consumer repercussions of the surprise acquisition of AirTran by fellow low-fare airline Southwest? Airfarewatchdog's George Hobica is worried that fewer competitors, especially at this price point, will mean that Southwest and other airlines will have less pressure to keep fares low. He also expects more mergers on the horizon. More »
(Jay Adan)
Southwest Buys Air-Tran
By Ben Popken on September 27, 2010 8:56 AM
43 Comments
Overweight people wearing rude tshirts or skimpy clothes will soon have fewer flying options, now that Southwest Airlines is buying Air-Tran. The deal was announced this morning and comes a week after Continental and United Airlines merged. Southwest will get more access to places like New York, Boston, Baltimore, Washington, and expand into places like Atlanta for the first time. More »
Strip Club Nearly Blinds Southwest Pilots At Love Field
By Chris Walters on September 6, 2010 9:00 AM
32 Comments
Strip clubs and cockpits don't mix, at least not when there's a spinning search light involved, says the FAA. The agency has asked Bombshells, a club near Love Field Airport in Dallas, TX, to keep its newly installed rooftop light turned off after the pilot for a Southwest flight reported his cockpit was flooded with light while trying to land the plane. The pilot feared that it was a laser strike, which can cause temporary blindness. More »
American Airlines: Passengers Are Happier When We Apologize For Screw-Ups Than When Things Go As Planned
By Chris Morran on August 25, 2010 2:15 PM
46 Comments
Think about the all the flights you've taken in your life. Which ones are most memorable — The ones where you took off on time and landed as scheduled, or the ones where you slept at the gate while waiting 10 hours before having to make an unscheduled pit stop in Ireland for refueling? And according to an executive at American Airlines, customers are happier when a bad situation ends well than they are when things go as planned. More »
