The world today will be full of blog posts, interviews and articles about Mr Kelleher, co-founder, CEO, and Chairman Emeritus of Southwest Airlines. I wanted to pay my own quick tribute. Born March 12, 1931 Mr Kelleher died on January 3, 2019. He was a lawyer and reportedly created the Southwest concept on a serviette with one of his law clients. Southwest became known as an airline that was fun, friendly, low fares and operated direct low fare flights in opposition to its competitors of the “hub-and-spoke” scheduling systems. This successful airline stemmed from Mr…
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World’s Most Popular Plane but I am not a fan
The 737 concept first hit the drawing boards back in 1964 and is now the world’s most popular aircraft having carried more than 22 billion people since that time. Right now, there is a 737 taking off or landing every one and a half seconds. Boeing handed over the 10,000th Boeing 737 ever made to US Carrier Southwest Airlines (the world’s biggest 737 operator) this week. The event cemented their Guinness World record for the most produced commercial jet, a distinction it has had since 2006: Boeing says there are now about 4,645 of the Boeing…
I love these Southwest ads with Lipsyncing Employees
I am a sucker for airline commercials. I like the new Southwest ones which feature their staff lip syncing. I do wish they were really singing! The one above shows the employees (Customer Service Agent Michelle and Ramp Agent Matt) seeing the ad they performed in for the first time! In this one, the podium dancers are Alphonso, Las Vegas-based Flight Attendant, and Melissa, Orlando-based Flight Attendant. Dallas-based, Southwest Airlines has been flying for 45 years. It now has 715 Boeing 737s flying to 98 destinations across the USA, Mexico and the Carribean. I have…
After 299 times, I still don’t like the B737!
There are many reasons to like the Boeing 737. It is reliable. It is prolific (over 8,500 built). It has been around for almost 50 years. It has a fantastic safety record. It is fuel efficient. It is not an unattractive plane to look at. I have never liked it. This week I reached a milestone with my 299th flight on a 73. There is no other plane I have been on as many times. The 737 has taken me 340,000km (212,000) to 91 airports on five continents. I have disembarked as far south as Queenstown,…
The airlines that failed in 2014
Overall, fewer carriers seemed to fail in 2014. For many airlines, it was a much more profitable year. Of concern was how many of the carriers that collapsed were only flying for months. I am tempted to call 2014 “the Year of the shortlived airline”. Air One Italy: 23 November, 1995 to 30 October, 2014 Fleet: 10 Alitalia’s low cost subsidiary never quite made sense. Following the takeover of Alitalia by Etihad, Air One was shut down. AirTran USA: 26 October, 1993 to 28 December, 2014 Fleet: 138 Destinations: 72 (at peak) On 28…
Non allocated Seating Dead?
In the early days of Low Cost Carriers, non allocated seating was the norm. With Ryanair’s announcement of allocated seating from February, 2014, there are few airlines that continue to offer it. Easyjet made the transition to alllocated seating last year. Jetstar did it in 2011. Air Asia followed on 2012. Southwest continue to offer it but their boarding system is now so complicated it may as well be a form of allocation! Now airlines (Low cost and full service) almost universally offer seat allocation on line. Some carriers charge a fee for advance seat…
Crazy Week
Two things about this week: The first is I have a crazy schedule: five US cities in five days with flights from Auckland, New Zealand to Melbourne, Australia. Will be flying Qantas, United, Delta, JetBlue and Southwest. The second is that I will fly the 900th flight of my life! Sadly, not a very exciting flight on a Delta connection to Richmond, Virginia. Check out my flight memory which tracks where I have flown. I have now flown over two million kilometres (1.2 million miles). That is almost 53 times around the world! Related Posts Two Million…
2011 Flying Highlights
I am Wild about Flying and thanks to my friend Tony (see separate story), I have a very accurate record of my travel. This means I know for a certainty, that as at today’s date I have flown 812 times in my life- 111 times in 2011. Question: Do I need to fly 112 times next year? 111 times in a year is about twice per week. In total a scary 412 hours of my year was spent in aeroplanes- two and a half weeks!! Distance Flown I travelled 304 560 km (189 245 miles). That number is…
My 737th flight ever on a Southwest B737
Woke up Saturday morning feeling some excitement. My flight from Portland, Oregon to Spokane, Washington was essentially a fairly routine one. While I have never flown that sector before, I have been to both airports and both cities a few times now. Yet Southwest Airlines flight 3218 was no ordinary flight for me. It was the 737th flight in my life. Yup, I have left the ground 737 times -and returned 737 times. I have fastened my seatbelt 737 times. Thanks to Southwest airlines being an airline who (currently) only fly Boeing 737s, my 737th flight…
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