Despite the operational interruption at the fourth-busiest airport in our network, Southwest canceled fewer than one percent of scheduled flights during the 19-day extended holiday travel period that stretched through the entire first week of January 2024. With more than 4,000 daily flights across the same period, Southwest moved more than 9.7 million passengers.

With weather and air traffic control initiatives slowing travel, Southwest had one of its best December operational performances in recent years. The momentum continued in 2024 as we rung in the new year with our best Jan. 1 on-time performance since 2004.

Throughout 2023, including Thanksgiving, Southwest delivered strong operational performances on Memorial Day, Fourth of July, and Labor Day holiday weekends as we continue to enhance reliability for our Customers and Employees.

We thank our loyal Customers for choosing Southwest for their travel this holiday season and look forward to welcoming them onboard again soon. Our more than 74,000 dedicated Employees continue to serve Southwest Hospitality on the ground and in the air, and look forward to another year of providing friendly, reliable, low-cost air travel to help connect our Customers with important moments in their lives.

The post Southwest’s Operational Performance During Winter Holidays first appeared on Southwest Flight Status.

The Dallas-based company canceled thousands of flights in December last year after a massive winter storm crippled operations.

At an investor conference on Thursday, Southwest CEO Robert Jordan said the company has new technology that helps it better understand weather conditions.

Read more ….

The post Southwest Airlines ‘very prepared’ for winter, CEO says first appeared on Southwest Flight Status.

Hello, everyone. Bob Jordan here, with an update from Southwest Airlines.

Restoring the trust of our Customers and Employees is everything to us.

We disrupted holiday travel for millions when some of our systems and processes became stressed by Winter Storm Elliott, bringing disruptions that were far reaching. We are taking immediate steps to address the massive inconvenience as well as the issues that contributed to it.

I’ve said it before, but I can’t say it enough how sorry I am for the impact these challenges have had on our Employees and our Customers. We have a long and proud record of delivering on expectations, and when we fall short, we aim to do the right thing.

In addition to our heartfelt apologies, we immediately began an all hands on deck effort to take care of our Customers. We are making great progress by processing tens of thousands of refunds and reimbursements a day and will not let up until we have responded to every impacted Customer. We also sent a goodwill gesture of 25,000 Rapid Rewards Points this week to all Customers significantly disrupted. That goodwill gesture is above and beyond the refunds and reimbursements work that continues around the clock.

Since the moment our recovery started, we’ve had large teams of Employees reuniting disrupted passengers with their belongings. I’m pleased to share that as of today, we have the vast majority of these bags either reunited or on their way to our Customers.

Our Employees came together as they always do. It’s humbling to see the Southwest spirit at work under such adverse conditions.

Our Leadership team is focused on a thorough review of the disruption with all the needed resources involved, and I expect that work to be completed swiftly. We’ve already taken immediate actions to mitigate the risk of this ever happening again, and the review work will inform additional actions and investment as well.  We’ve asked our unions to participate in this review effort as well, and likewise we are in regular communication with our Board of Directors.

As a company we spend about $1B a year on technology. And we’ll will continue to upgrade the tools and processes our Employees use to serve you, our valued Customers, and make sure those items deliver on our mission: to connect People to what’s important in their lives through friendly, reliable, and low-cost air travel. We have a proud 51-year history of doing just that, and I’m confident we’ll continue to deliver on this all-important Promise.

Read more ….

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Passengers on their way to Hawaii from Long Beach, California, on Friday, Sept. 16, were surprised with an in-flight ukulele lesson and jam session.

Those aboard the flight — a six-hour trip on Southwest Airlines — got a new Mitchell MU40 Soprano ukulele from Guitar Center and a free class, taught at about 30,000 feet above the ocean below.

According to a release provided to TODAY, it was the first recorded in-flight group ukulele lesson.

Alexandra Windsor, the educational affairs specialist for Guitar Center Lessons, and Ryan Miyashiro and Ryan Imata — both Guitar Center instructors at the company’s store in Pearl City, Hawaii — taught passengers to play “Hello, Aloha. How are you?” from start to finish.

Read more By Samantha Kubota

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Computershare Trust Company, N.A., as successor trustee to Wells Fargo Bank, National Association, is the trustee for the Notes and is serving as the paying agent for this transaction. Copies of the Notice of Redemption and additional information relating to the redemption of the Notes may be obtained from Computershare Trust Company, N.A., Attn: Corporate Trust Operations, MAC N9300‑070, 600 South Fourth Street, 7th Floor, Minneapolis, MN 55415 or 800 344-5128.

The post Southwest Airlines Announces Redemption Of 4.750% Notes Due 2023 first appeared on Southwest Flight Status.

Multiple eastern routes have been significant frequency cuts versus last year. For example, Albany, Cincinnati, Fort Lauderdale, Grand Rapids, Hartford, Jacksonville, Miami, Norfolk, Panama City, and Pensacola have all reduced from 1x to 2x daily to Saturday-only. Staff shortages probably play a role.

Read more ….

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Southwest Airlines is turning 51 on Saturday (June 18th), and it’s inviting travel lovers to get in on the festivities by giving us the chance to win the best gift of all: travel.

In the lead-up to Wanna Get Away Day, officially a national holiday as of last year, the Dallas-based airline is offering customers the opportunity to win daily prizes, including round-trip tickets for two and Rapid Rewards bonus points. On Wanna Get Away Day, June 18, would-be travelers can try for the grand prize, Southwest’s highly sought-after Companion Pass, which lets you bring a friend every time you fly.

To enter, would-be travelers can play daily sweepstakes games designed to highlight all the perks that come with Southwest’s new Wanna Get Away Plus fare class. Those who purchase a Wanna Get Away Plus ticket will enjoy benefits including transferable flight credits, eight Rapid Rewards points earned for each dollar spent, free same-day flight changes, and no change or cancellation fees.

Read more by Elizabeth Preske

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San Jose grows with additional California service and more flights to the Pacific Northwest

Southwest also brings more interisland flights within the State of Hawaii

DALLAS — Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE: LUV) added additional service to its flight schedule beginning in early June, including more options for California travel; new service for Hawaii, the Pacific Northwest, and the Caribbean also announced. New routes, additional flights, and the carrier’s flight schedule through Nov. 5, 2022, are now available on Southwest.com.

“For a gamut of travelers seeking business opportunity, faraway fun, or family time, these new routes and additional flights put the Hospitality and value of Southwest Airlines in front of more of our Customers,” said Andrew Watterson, Executive Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer. “We recently extended our flight schedule to early November, and we’re making available new service sooner for planning early summertime journeys.”

Committed to California

Building on a 20-year legacy as the largest carrier of California air travelers, Southwest is setting forth a summer flight schedule that offers more flights in key markets up and down the Golden State, including these weekday schedules beginning June 5:

      San Diego and Sacramento – up to 20 times each way
      San Diego and San Jose – up to 20 times each way
      San Diego and Oakland – up to 14 times each way

Also on June 5, new nonstop service begins once daily between Sacramento and Santa Barbara.

The Way to San Jose

“For the summer and fall, we’ve given San Jose Customers more flights on California short-haul business routes, and into Las Vegas,” said Adam Decaire, Vice President Network Planning. “Based on currently published schedules, Southwest offers more service between Silicon Valley and the Northwest than any other carrier.”

Throughout the summer, Southwest will increase service on these routes between:

      San Jose, Calif. and Las Vegas – weekday service up to 13 times a day each way
      San Jose, Calif. and Long Beach, Calif. – weekday service up to four times each way
      San Jose, Calif. and Orange County/Santa Ana, Calif. – weekday service up to 10 times each way

Northwest by Southwest

Additional access between the Pacific Northwest and the Peninsula/Silicon Valley grows with new Southwest service between San Jose, Calif. and Eugene, Ore., once daily beginning June 5, and with additional flights on existing routes between:

      San Jose and Boise – weekday service twice a day each way
      San Jose and Spokane – weekday service up to twice a day each way
      San Jose and Portland, Ore. – weekday service six times a day each way
      San Jose and Seattle/Tacoma – weekday service six times a day each way

Read more …..

The post Southwest Airlines Bolsters Schedule in Key Business and Leisure Markets in the West: Customers in San Diego and San Jose Gain Big first appeared on Southwest Flight Status.

The carrier’s $68 million fourth-quarter profit was its first in two years without government aid.

Southwest Airlines on Thursday reported a $68 million profit for the final three months of last year as it struggled to shake off setbacks caused by the Omicron variant of the coronavirus, which has delayed the travel recovery and is expected to drag the airline to a loss in the first three months of this year.

Now, with cases falling, “the worst appears to be behind us,” Bob Jordan, Southwest’s executive vice president, who will take over as chief executive next week, said in a statement.

The company had reported quarterly profits earlier last year, but the fourth quarter was the first in two years in which Southwest achieved a profit without the support of government aid. The airline received $2.7 billion in federal grants to help pay workers in 2021, helping to lift it to a full-year profit of $977 million.

Read more By Niraj Chokshi

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It’s about to get a little less complicated to get back home from abroad if you’re flying on Southwest Airlines. The airline is partnering with CityHealth, a Bay Area healthcare company, to provide discounted COVID-19 test kits for passengers traveling back to the U.S. from international destinations, Southwest announced recently. Appropriately named “RapidReturn,” the test kits don’t require travelers to download any additional apps or use a specific operating system to obtain test results. Instead, all that’s needed is WiFi and a video-enabled device, like a cell phone, laptop, or tablet.

Each kit comes with a CDC-approved rapid antigen test and a virtual appointment with a CityHealth testing specialist. Specialists are available around the clock, and for anyone testing negative for COVID-19, the company promises a secure link to a health certificate in around three minutes.

“Since it was launched, the RapidReturn kit has been one of our most popular COVID testing options,” Sean Parkin, CEO of CityHealth, said in a statement.

The kits have a retail sales price of $75, but Southwest customers traveling on international routes can purchase them for $50 each before or after they purchase airline tickets. Travelers not flying on Southwest can purchase kits at full price and forget about having to spend the last day of their vacation tracking down COVID-19 tests to return home.

Read more By Meena Thiruvengadam ……

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