Gadling infiltrates Southwest HQ for Halloween

by Grant Martin on

As I’m sitting on WN1540 headed towards Saint Louis, I’m starting to realize just how serious they take Halloween at Southwest Airlines. Sure, I know they’ve always been a little wacky – their blog is called “Nuts about Southwest” after all – but I guess at the core of that fun, outer shell I just expected to see the same old straight-laced corporate abomination.

It took me until about page 12 of “Spirit,” their in-flight magazine, to start to change my mind. On it is the normal letter that Gary Kelly, Southwest’s CEO always writes to the reader and passenger — only the topic of this note is how passionate he and his airline are about Halloween. And at the bottom is a cutout picture of Mr. Kelly dressed up as Gene Simmons from Kiss.

Alright. So maybe when I was invited out to Southwest’s headquarters to help judge the annual Halloween contest I underestimated how strange this could get. Yes, they did ask me to dress up and yes, I do have an orange pilot’s suit in my carry-on. But Gene Simmons? Are you serious?

Well, I guess we’ll see what happens. Throughout the day today I’ll be wandering around Southwest headquarters with Gary, some friends from Jaunted and The Cranky Flier, inspecting some of the decorations and skits that the various departments have prepared and declaring the most outrageous getup as winners.

You can follow along at our Twitter feed with live picture updates, or for those more patient among you, you can probably wait until I return home for the closing post. I have a feeling I’ll be sleeping on the return flights.

Tony Hillerman’s Four Corners region of the U.S. and an encounter

by Jamie Rhein on

“An author knows his landscape best; he can stand around, smell the wind, get a feel for his place.” –Tony Hillerman

Yesterday, when I read that Tony Hillerman died, I flashed back to one afternoon when I went as a guest to a writer’s group meeting at the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center in Albuquerque, New Mexico. As I introduced myself, was I surprised when I shook one man’s hand, and his warm voice said, “My name’s Tony Hillerman.” I had no idea that this was the writers’ group he attended.

What struck me about Hillerman was his unassuming aura. He was generous and thoughtful with his comments to the other writers, and not any more important than the others in the room.

Like anyone else who lives in Albuquerque, I was aware of Hillerman’s work as a mystery writer whose stories center around the Southwest. A person cannot live in that city without being aware of how he brought weight to the region. Plus, his books are everywhere. I recall racks of them.

I’m in awe of writers who are able to attach themselves to a place and dive deep into its nuances. Reading a Hillerman novel is a trip to the Four Corners region of the Southwest. His version is not the one that requires putting one foot in New Mexico, one foot in Arizona, one hand in Utah and the other in Colorado before buying a Navajo taco from one of the food vendors.

If you go to Four Corners with Hillerman’s eye, you look for the person behind the scenery. Who is the person who is selling you that turquoise bracelet? Who lives in the houses far flung at the edge of the hills? What about life matters most to them?

Although tourists may visit the various pueblos and Native American reservations across the Southwest, those experiences are merely glimpses of these cultures. Hillerman wrote about people here by getting under their skin.

As he said, “I always have one or two, sometimes more, Navajo or other tribes’ cultural elements in mind when I start a plot. In Thief of Time, I wanted to make readers aware of Navajo attitude toward the dead, respect for burial sites.” [Brainy Quotes]

Considering that Halloween is coming up this week, here’s a Hillerman title for you: Dance of the Dead. The novel is the second one in his series featuring protagonist Lt. Joe Leaphorn. It won the Edgar Award for best novel.

For an interview with Hillerman in Book Page, click here, and for yesterday’s NPR All Things Considered segment on Hillerman, click here.

Southwest and Air Tran to join forces?

by Grant Martin on

With merger and oil mania upon us, these days you can’t rule out any strange airline pairing. Just this week, Bob Fornaro, CEO of Air Tran mentioned in a conference call that they would be totally open to code-sharing and working with Southwest airlines in the future.

Does this mean that Air Tran and Southwest are up to something? As two of the largest low-cost carriers in the industry, their partnership could establish a dominant force in the domestic airline market and their complimentary routes could reinforce each other’s business. As Ray Neidl of Calyon securites is quoted in the article, “Crisis breeds strange bedfellows and the current economic malaise may be the incentive for them to do something even though they are competitive in some markets.”

Actually, from Fornaro’s verbage, it sounds like more of a cry for help than anything. I’m sure Air Tran has taken a big hit just like every other airline that has suffered in the last six months and would love a boost from Southwest’s business. Wouldn’t you want to buddy up with the only profitable carrier in the United States?

Despite Fornaro’s mewing, Southwest is being mum about the whole business and veritably shrugged off AirTran’s suggestions in this USA Today article. I suppose if you’re calling the shots you can make bedfellows with whomever you chose.

How’s that oil hedge working out?

by Grant Martin on

With airlines in their worst state since 9/11 and bankruptices posting left and right, one lone airline, Southwest, has prevailed in staying profitable for the last few years.

How have they done this? Sure, they’ve got a pretty interesting business model, friendly customer service and a comprehensive network across America, but is that what’s really keeping them on top?

Partially. It’s more got to do with the oil hedge that the airline locked in well before it spiked up to $140 a barrel. Purchasing their fuel at rock bottom prices while the competition had to pay through the nose helped give Southwest the competitive edge. They could set their fares at lower prices (thus forcing the competition to match), not instill any crazy baggage or superfluous fees and still make a profit while the others were getting crushed.

Now that oil has come down from the stratosphere though, the oil hedge can actually work against them — instead of paying the now $70/barrel of light sweet crude, they’re still pinned to their commitment. And this last quarter, Southwest finally broke and actually posted a loss. Yesterday’s Marketplace has an interesting piece to this effect.

So does this mean that the glory days of Southwest are now over? I doubt it. The airline had several consecutive quarters where they could stockpile cash above the competition, build their aviary and prepare themselves for the future. And lets face it — they’ve got a business plan that’s built around paying for jet fuel at that hedged price, so all they have to do is keep cooking.

Once oil rebounds and demand increases again, Southwest will be right back up on top.

Southwest Rescues Twin Cities from Northwest Monopoly

by Josh Lew on

The Twin Cities have enjoyed fleeting affairs with budget airlines in the past. AirTran provided dirt cheap flights between MSP and Chicago (as low as $59 one-way) for several years. When they left, fares rose considerably. For many people flying out of Minnesota, Northwest is the only game in town. A search on the major booking web sites last week turned up fares of over $500 between MSP and O’Hare. In short, Northwest has travelers trapped in a corner and seems intent on extracting as much money. Sporadic service by budget carriers like Sun Country has done little to alter the trend of high prices. But a deal between Twin Cities Int’l and Southwest Airlines will bring some significant change to the air travel market next year.

Minneapolis has been courting Southwest for some time now. The flirtation got hot and heavy earlier this year, but it took until now to iron out the details. The deal will make Minneapolis the envy of mid-sized markets across the US currently held hostage by a single major carrier.

What exactly is Southwest going to bring?Southwest will bring competition that will completely change the air travel game in the northern Midwest. Southwest is known for its cheap fares and frequent special offers. In order to compete, Northwest and others will have to drop fares. The first Southwest flights from MSP will be to Chicago-Midway (8 per day). From Midway, the airline flies non-stop to 47 cities. Perhaps the plane change will not be a turn on for convenience freaks. But for budget travel aficionados, deals like $59 from Chicago to Detroit and $127 to Vegas are hard to pass up, especially when similar routes now cost three or four times that. In addition, Southwest does not charge for extra checked baggage like Northwest currently does.

Minnesotans will have to wait until next spring for the first Southwest jet to take off. Flights will depart from the MSP’s Humphrey Terminal, a smaller terminal located behind the airport’s main Lindbergh terminal. But, it will be worth the wait for many. As Tom Parsons, owner of bestfares.com, recently told the Minneapolis Star Tribune, “Southwest saw high prices…they could come in and drop your prices like a rock.”