Tag Archives: Boeing 737-700

Southwest to partner with Placemaking for its “Project for Public Spaces”, WSJ takes a look at “aging” Southwest

Southwest Airlines (Dallas) announced on April 3 a multi-year commitment to Placemaking – a movement that reimagines public spaces as the heart of every community. Through the Southwest Airlines Heart of the Community program, the airline will revitalize and activate public spaces in the hearts of American cities in partnership with the pioneering nonprofit organization behind Placemaking, Project for Public Spaces (PPS).

Building upon successful pilot projects in Detroit, Michigan, and Providence, Rhode Island, in 2013, Southwest and PPS will help transform multiple public spaces in 2014 with the intent to expand the Heart of the Community program and support dozens of public spaces through Placemaking projects in the years to come.

For more than 30 years, Placemaking has sparked social, economic, and environmental benefits in communities around the world. Rooted in community-based participation, Placemaking involves the planning, design, management and programming of public spaces and capitalizes on a community’s assets and potential to create vibrant destinations—such as neighborhood parks, community markets and downtown squares.

In late 2013, Southwest provided a gift to support the MIT Department of Urban Studies and Planning’s research white paper, Places in the Making, which demonstrated the power of Placemaking to create connected, sustainable, healthy, and economically viable communities. The research emphasized Placemaking’s positive impact on community building and empowerment and cited the need for public/private partnerships to advance the practice of Placemaking.

Through the Heart of the Community program, Southwest and PPS will collaborate with local community partners in cities across the country to bring new life to their public spaces. Earlier this week, Southwest and PPS unveiled their most recent project in San Antonio, Texas, where they partnered with the Center City Development Office to activate historic Travis Park through new physical amenities, including games, umbrellas, tables and chairs and ongoing programming, such as fitness classes and live music. In 2013, Southwest and PPS worked with the Downtown Detroit Partnership to transform an underutilized lawn in downtown’s Campus Martius Park into a seasonal beach with a deck and seating that serves as a fun and relaxing community gathering place for workers, families and children. Additionally, they worked with the Downtown Providence Parks Conservancy to create the Imagination Center, a new place for family activities in Burnside Park, located in the heart of downtown Providence, R.I.

Heart of the Community is part of Southwest’s broader efforts to connect people and strengthen local communities through its core business, charitable giving, community outreach, and environmental initiatives. To read more, go to Nuts About Southwest.

Meanwhile the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) has published an article on Southwest that claims the airline is showing its age and becoming a higher cost airline.

Read the article: CLICK HERE

Southwest Airlines:

SAS to connect the oil region of Norway with Houston, Texas

Scandinavian Airlines-SAS (Stockholm) is launching services between Stavanger, Norway and Houston (Bush Intercontinental) on August 20. This fulfils the wishes of leading players in the oil industry for better connections between Norway, and the rest of Scandinavia, and Houston, Texas.

The route will be operated by a business version of the Boeing 737-700 and will have an SAS Long Haul Business Class concept on board, with just 44 comfortable business seats, along with a modern inflight entertainment system and full-service meals and service.

SAS has entered into a wet lease agreement with PrivatAir (Geneva) , which has this special version of the Boeing 737-700. The aircraft will carry SAS’s distinctive colors and logo.

The route will launch on August 20, just ahead of the major oil exhibition in Stavanger, Offshore Northern Seas (ONS). Tickets for route, which will operate daily except Saturdays, go on sale on April 29.

Read the article by Bloomberg Businessweek: CLICK HERE

Top Copyright Photo: Ariel Shocron/AirlinersGallery.com. SAS’ Boeing 737-783 LN-RRB (msn 32276) approaches the runway at Madrid (Barajas).

Scandinavian Airlines-SAS:

PrivatAir:

Bottom Copyright Photo: Keith Burton/AirlinersGallery.com. PrivatAir’s Boeing 737-7AK HB-JJA (34303) arrives in Amsterdam.

AeroMexico adds a fourth daily seasonal flight from Mexico City to Miami

AeroMexico (Mexico City) has announced the launch of its fourth daily seasonal flight between Miami and Mexico City as of April 11.

Below are the carrier’s schedules for this city pair:

Miami – Mexico City*				Mexico City – Miami*

AM 433**	2:30 a.m.	5:06 a.m.	Daily	AM 432**	1:00 a.m.	4:57 a.m.	Daily
AM 429	7:00 a.m.	9:49 a.m.	Daily	AM 412	9:36 a.m.	1:38 p.m.	Daily
AM 423	3:00 p.m.	5:49 p.m.	Daily	AM 422	12:44 p.m.	4:54 p.m.	Daily
AM 413	6:08 p.m.	8:57 p.m.	Daily	AM 428	7:45 p.m.	11:44 p.m.	Daily

* Times published are local to each country and are subject to change without notice.

**New seasonal flight.

All four daily flights will be operated with Boeing 737-700 aircraft configured with 124 seats, including 12 seats in AeroMexico’s Clase Premier front cabin, and will depart from Terminal H at the Miami International Airport. The terminal features benefits such as electronic check-in terminals and restaurants located close to the boarding gates.

Copyright Photo: Bruce Drum/AirlinersGallery.com. Boeing 737-752 XA-GMV (msn 35118) arrives at Miami International Airport (MIA) with a special promotional Los Cabos logo.

AeroMexico:

Southwest moves to protect its Dallas Love Field home with 12 proposed new routes if it gets two new gates

Southwest Airlines (Dallas) plans to add 20 flights to 12 new nonstop destinations if the airline is able to acquire two additional gates at Dallas Love Field. Southwest would add nonstop service to:

Charlotte, North Carolina
Charleston, South Carolina
Detroit, Michigan
Indianapolis, Indiana
Memphis, Tennessee
Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota
Newark, New Jersey
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Raleigh/Durham, North Carolina
Sacramento, California
San Francisco, California
Seattle/Tacoma, Washington

These 12 new nonstop destinations would be added to Southwest’s schedule if the airline is able to obtain the rights to two Love Field gates that American Airlines must relinquish under the terms of a settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice. These destinations would be in addition to the 15 cities that Southwest previously announced it would serve from Love Field beginning later this year, and five new nonstop destinations currently planned for service in 2015 that Southwest has announced:

Boston, Massachusetts (Boston Logan)
Oakland, California
Panama City Beach, Florida
Portland, Oregon
San Jose, California

With the upcoming sunset of the Wright Amendment restrictions on long-haul flights from Love Field, demand for Southwest nonstop service from the airport far exceeds the Company’s current gate capacity. Access to two additional gates would allow Southwest to provide North Texas residents and visitors with the benefits of new nonstop flights to 12 additional destinations that would not otherwise be possible – a BIG win for consumers, businesses and the Dallas-Ft. Worth area.

The Dallas-Fort Worth area is a single aviation market that is served by two airports, DFW International Airport and Dallas Love Field. In total, these airports have 175 gates (155 at DFW and 20 at Love Field). If Southwest were to acquire the two additional Love Field gates, its percentage of gates in the Dallas-Ft. Worth market would remain very small, around 10 percent. Importantly, other carriers, such as Virgin America and Delta Air Lines, already have a presence at DFW International Airport and can easily expand at DFW’s ample gate facilities. In contrast, Southwest’s growth in North Texas can occur only at Love Field under the terms of the five-party agreement that resulted in the end of the Wright Amendment.

Copyright Photo: Arnd Wolf/AirlinersGallery.com. Boeing 737-7H4 N714CB (msn 27848) is retained in the gold “Southwest Classic” classic livery. It is pictured arriving at Las Vegas.

Southwest Airlines:

WestJet to start Toronto-Phoenix flights

WestJet (Calgary) will start a new route linking the Toronto (Pearson) hub with Phoenix, Arizona starting on October 26. The new route will be operated with Boeing 737-700 aircraft on a daily basis per Airline Route.

Copyright Photo: Jay Selman/AirlinersGallery.com. WestJet Airlines Boeing 737-7CT WL C-FWSO (msn 32759) plans to land in Las Vegas.

WestJet:

Southwest to serve Cancun and Los Cabos starting on August 10

Southwest Airlines (Dallas) has announced the next phase of its international service by offering Customers new Southwest Airlines flights to both the Pacific and Caribbean coasts of Mexico, as well as other new domestic and international flying, as the carrier extended flight schedules through October 31, 2014.

Beginning August 10, 2014, Southwest Airlines will operate daily, nonstop flights between:

Cancun, Mexico, and Atlanta, Baltimore/Washington, and (Saturdays only) Milwaukee
San Jose del Cabo/Los Cabos, Mexico, and Santa Ana/Orange County
Nassau, Bahamas, and (Saturdays only) Atlanta

As the planned conversion of wholly owned subsidiary AirTran Airways’ destinations continues, Southwest intends to serve five countries previously served by AirTran by the end of this year. Southwest previously announced service to Aruba, Nassau, and Montego Bay, beginning on July 1, 2014, and throughout this booking window is adding domestic connectivity through international gateway cities to many of the more than 80 cities served by Southwest Airlines across the United States.

Southwest’s phased rollout of international nonstop with domestic connecting service also brings new options for Denver customers who have made Southwest Airlines the largest air carrier in Colorado.

Beginning in October 2014, Southwest Airlines will offer nonstop service between Denver and:

Cancun, with daily roundtrip flights beginning on October 7, 2014; and
San Jose del Cabo/Los Cabos, with Saturday-only service beginning on October 11, 2014

Some flights will be operated by AirTran Airways which is being slowly integrated into Southwest Airlines.

Copyright Photo: Brian McDonough/AirlinersGallery.com. Boeing 737-7H4 N730SW (msn 27862) completes its final bank on the river approach into downtown Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA).

Southwest Airlines:

Southwest to use PASSUR surface management for quicker taxi times at 35 U.S. airports

Southwest Airlines (Dallas) has signed a contract with PASSUR Aerospace to use the surface management module of the PASSUR Integrated Traffic Management system for operation at 35 U.S. airports for quicker taxi times.

PASSUR Aerospace issued this statement:

PASSUR Aerospace, Inc (OTC: PSSR), an aviation business intelligence, Big Data, software and solutions company, today announced that Southwest Airlines has contracted for the surface management module of PASSUR Integrated Traffic Management for 35 US airports across its network to streamline turn times, reduce fuel burn, and enhance on time performance.

The PASSUR Surface Management solution assists Southwest in achieving shorter taxi-in and taxi-out times, and a quicker transition from arrival to departure for an aircraft, resulting in lower costs and emissions from engine fuel burn, less time for passengers spent on the ground in the aircraft, and greater “aircraft utilization” (hours an airplane spends in the air flying passengers). The surface solution is part of an integrated, gate-to-gate traffic management platform that optimizes the entire lifecycle of a flight.

The PASSUR Surface Management solution:

Enables real time and replayed view into how the movement of aircraft is affecting performance, including gates and taxiways
Provides analytical tools to understand where the operation can be optimized
Includes high resolution graphical surface flight tracking on a single, integrated display to enable seamless tracking of the surface, terminal airspace, and en route environments, for gate-to-gate tracking and management of flights. It is part of an integrated traffic management platform with multiple modules that optimize each of the key segments of a flight, gate-to-gate.

Copyright Photo: Michael B. Ing/AirlinersGallery.com. Southwest Airlines’ Boeing 737-7H4 WL N240WN (msn 32503) taxies to the departure runway at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA).

Southwest Airlines:

AeroMexico introduces Concierge service

AeroMexico (Mexico City) has announced its new and exclusive Concierge service.

Passengers can purchase the service when booking their flights, for just $15 USD, to enhance their travel experience both in Mexico and abroad. The AeroMexico Concierge Service provides entertainment schedules, reservations, recommendations, locations, purchases, and other topics of interest related to

Services	Entertainment
Airline tickets Business and meeting logistics Courier services Cruises Flowers Gifts Government offices International Financial Indicators Lodging Luxury transportation Personal safety Procedures and requirements (visas, passports, etc.) Temporary Assistants Tours Train tickets Translations Vaccines Weather	Cinemas Galleries Golf courses Museums Night clubs Shows Sports events
	Establishments
	Airports Beauty salons Bus stations Computer and telephone locations Hospitals and Emergency Rooms Restaurants Shops Spas

The AeroMexico Concierge service is available 48 hours prior to departure and three months thereafter.

To get this service from within Mexico call 01 800 000 4759, from the U.S. call 1 855 208 6726 from Mexico City and the rest of the world * +52 (55) 5809 4759.

In other news, AeroMexico reported a 18.8 percent increase in passengers for the month of January compared to the previous January.

Copyright Photo: Jay Selman/AirlinersGallery.com. Boeing 737-752 EI-DRE (msn 35787) with a special logo promoting the Banamex VISA card arrives in Las Vegas.

AeroMexico:

Southwest Airlines announces new routes from Dallas’ Love Field

Southwest Airlines (Dallas) today announced the airline will offer new nonstop service to domestic destinations from its Dallas Love Field base following the repeal of flight restrictions imposed in 1979 limiting the reach of Dallas’ most convenient airport.

Southwest will begin serving five new nonstop destinations on October 13, 2014 followed by ten additional new nonstop destinations on November 2, 2014. The addition of these 15 new nonstop destinations will bring Southwest to a total of 31 nonstop destinations from Love Field.

“The official repeal of Wright Amendment federal flight restrictions signifies a turning point for the Southwest brand not just in Dallas, but from coast-to-coast,” said Gary Kelly, Southwest Airlines Chairman, President, and CEO. “We are pleased to offer this new service to the Customers of our home airport, who have waited 34 long years, and we thank the many, many folks who made this opportunity a reality. Goodbye, Wright Amendment. Hello, America!”

Beginning October 13, 2014, Southwest Airlines will launch nonstop service from Dallas Love Field to:

Baltimore/Washington (BWI)
Denver
Las Vegas
Orlando
Chicago Midway

Beginning November 2, 2014, Southwest Airlines will launch nonstop service from Dallas Love Field to:

Atlanta
Nashville
Washington, D.C. (Reagan National)
Ft. Lauderdale/Hollywood
Los Angeles (LAX)
New York (LaGuardia)
Phoenix
San Diego
Orange County/Santa Ana
Tampa

Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings and former U.S. Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison today joined Kelly and Southwest Employees at a news conference to celebrate the momentous occasion.

The Wright Amendment, and its subsequent revisions, limit Southwest Airlines’ current nonstop all jet service from Dallas Love Field to nine states including Texas. The repeal of the federal law rewrites the map by allowing Southwest to potentially serve an additional 41 states and the District of Columbia(Reagan National airport) from Love Field.

In May, the airline will announce the specific flight schedules and fares for the sale of the new service.

Copyright Photo: Jay Selman/AirlinersGallery.com. Boeing 737-7H4 N715SW (msn 27849) dressed in the Shamu design of SeaWorld Adventure Parks, arrives in Las Vegas.

Southwest Airlines:

Southwest Airlines to add 27 daily flights at Washington’s Reagan National Airport

Southwest Airlines (Dallas) has confirmed it has been notified of its winning bid in an auction for 54 slots–allowing 27 additional daily flights–that will bring more competition to Reagan National Airport, three miles from downtown Washington, D.C. Details of the carrier’s bid to acquire divested slots remain confidential under terms of the deal and are subject to final approval of the Department of Justice (DOJ) and completion of customary written agreements. The additional slots will translate to an increase in Southwest’s service at Reagan National from 17 daily departures to 44 daily departures. The carrier plans to announce destinations, schedules, and fares for the additional flights later this quarter and anticipates it will begin flying in the third quarter of 2014.

The slots that Southwest will purchase at Reagan National became available as a result of a settlement of litigation last Autumn by the U.S. Department of Justice against the merger of American Airlines and US Airways. In a separate development, Southwest recently announced new service between Reagan National and Kansas City International Airport beginning Feb. 1, 2014.

In addition to Southwest’s presence at Washington Reagan National Airport (DCA) and Washington Dulles International Airport (IAD), Southwest offers the greater Baltimore/Washington region more than 200 daily departures from Baltimore/Washington Thurgood Marshall International Airport (BWI) to nearly 60 cities and, beginning on July 1, 2014, will offer new daily service on Southwest between BWI and Aruba, The Bahamas, and Jamaica, launching a new international chapter for both the carrier and Maryland’s largest airport.

Copyright Photo: Brian McDonough/AirlinersGallery.com. Boeing 737-7H4 N486WN (msn 33852) of Southwest Airlines with the “Free Bags Fly Here” sticker arrives at Washington’s Ronald Reagan National Airport on the River Approach.

Southwest Airlines: