Southwest Airlines Community

From its humble beginnings in 2009, the annual Travel Blog Exchange, or “TBEX” Conference has grown to become the world’s largest travel blog conference, and now draws attendees from far-away places including Great Britain and New Zealand. Originally hosted in Chicago, the conference has also been held in New York City, Copenhagen and Vancouver. This year’s North American conference was held in Keystone, Colorado, and Southwest sponsored the conference for the second time. TBEX is a diverse network of travel bloggers and authors. Some attendees write casually for their personal blog, sharing what they encounter as they travel with close family or friends. Others write columns for online travel sites like Gadling or Huffington Post. A few TBEX members have even gone on to be sponsored by National Geographic or are starring on television shows. Within travel blogging, the list of topics is as equally diverse as the group of writers. Some are specialists who write about a particular destination. Others focus on experiencing the variety of local food & drinks. You will also meet some who write on fashion and luxury travel. One particularly interesting niche includes the travelers who go to help a worthy cause, such as Passports With Purpose.  In 2010, PwP collected nearly $65,000 to build 25 homes in a small village in Southern India. In 2011, $90,000 was raised to build two libraries in Zambia. For this year, the goal is to raise $100,000 to build 5 wells for two earthquake-ravaged communities in Haiti. Donations can be made on their website. Apart from the snowy mountain slopes during the winter, Keystone has much to offer those who are visiting for adventure or purely to relax.  Mountain bikers can take their bikes to the top of the mountain via ski lift and cruise down dusty trails. Fly fishermen can cast their line for Rainbow Trout, and food lovers can enjoy fine dining with locally-produced beers and wines. Keystone, Colorado is less than two hours from the Denver International Airport – and once you get used to the high altitude, you’ll want to stay a while.  ... View more

Outside of the Ground Operations department, there probably aren’t too many people who know about a tradition that has been around for about the past four years. It began at our old training center in the now-demolished North Concourse at Love Field. On the morning of the first day of any initial training class for Customer Service, Ops, and Ramp Agents, a group of Employees from Ground Ops Training and Safety, Standards, and Regulatory Compliance gather to introduce ourselves to the “New Hires.” We share a bit of our career background, such as how long we have been with Southwest, our first position with the Company, and what our current role is. They are usually astonished to learn that several Members of our Team have been with Southwest 25 years or longer! Our Director, Bobby Loeb, says we do this “To show how much we (Safety, Standards, and Training) care about them. I feel it’s all part of Living the Southwest Way. And, it gives us the opportunity to tell them who we are and what we do. Hopefully it gives them a better understanding of what Southwest is all about and who to contact if they have a question or need assistance.” We were all New Hires at some point. As our Company continues to grow, it is of the utmost importance that these new Employees are not lost in the chaos of everyday life at the airport. We hope to serve as an example of the persistent hard work and loyalty that has made Southwest what it is today. ... View more

After 13 hours and four flights including a mechanical delay and an unplanned diversion to Austin, I’m finally home. Home from where? The Travel Blog Exchange, otherwise known as TBEX.   TBEX 2010 was a convention for over 250 travel writers, held at NYU’s Cantor Film Center in New York City. Southwest was a sponsor for the event, and I was asked to attend as our representative. I must admit this was an honor I relished greatly! As an airline insider, I was excited to meet many of our Customers as well as others who also work in the travel industry. Including Southwest, there were Employees from five different airlines at TBEX. I was also eager to learn more about travel writing, which has always been a “dream job” of mine. But who am I kidding, wouldn’t everyone like to travel for a living? Even as a grade-school student, I would hammer out vacation stories on the family typewriter (yes, an actual typewriter!) when we returned from places like England, Scotland, and the Bahamas. Thanks to my father, who worked for SWA in my youth, it was at an early age that my love for travel was cultivated--and it became the air I breathe. During the two-day conference, I learned that travel writing is about so much more than going somewhere and reporting what you did. Your writing should tell a story, complete with an arc and characters. The best travel stories are from when things don’t go according to plan. The story should be verbose. For example rather than saying “It was a sunny day at the beach” you should say “I napped beneath a towering palm tree with a salty breeze cooling my skin, listening to gentle waves  lick the sugary sand.” It involves all of the senses and gives your reader the feeling of being there. Photography is an integral tool in conveying a place to your readers. I learned about different types of travel bloggers. Some are the type who are invited by hotels, resorts and restaurants to review their product. Others blog about their jobs within the travel industry, and the travelers they meet, offering tips on how to make your travel experience better. Finally, there is the type who call themselves nomads. Nomads are independent travelers who roam the world, immersing themselves in a place and its culture. Some nomads live life one day at a time in hostels, hitchhiking or “couch surfing.”  Other nomads live in a city or region for weeks or months at a time. I chatted with a fascinating woman who left her job as a lawyer in New York, and she has been traveling since 2008! Her experiences have been incredible to read. Travel like this takes a huge leap of faith, and extreme personal confidence. It is not for everyone, but I find it so appealing. Above all else I learned at TBEX, I learned a more personal lesson of self realization: I want to write about travel too. ... View more

Since late August, teams of Southwest Airlines Employees have been competing in dozens of athletic events for the City of Richardson Corporate Challenge as part of our “Share the Spirit” mission. These events include a wide range of activities, from hobby sports like horseshoes and darts, to schoolyard games like kickball and dodgeball. Field sports include soccer, flag football, and softball. There was also cycling, golf, billiards, and even bass fishing! Southwest is one of 40 Dallas-area companies competing in this year’s Challenge. Companies were placed in divisions based on company size, and we went up against some big names including FedEx, Pepsi, Rockwell Collins, and Texas Instruments. The goal of the Corporate Challenge is not only to demonstrate your company’s athletic skills, but to also boost teamwork, morale, personal health, and fitness--as well as camaraderie with local businesses and neighbors. The biggest benefit, however, is that all of the money collected from team entry fees goes to Special Olympics Texas. Last year’s Corporate Challenge raised $120,000 for the charity. A unique thing about these events is that Southwest’s teams consist of Employees from many different departments throughout the Company. I had the pleasure of playing on our softball team with Employees from Ground Operations, Maintenance, Customer Support & Service, Customer Relations, and Technology. Many of us met for the first time when we practiced together, or in some cases, on the day of the competition. Whether it’s at work or at play, Southwest’s people are always able to team together and move toward a common goal. This year’s event in Richardson is about to wrap up, but Corporate Challenge events are held in many of the cities Southwest serves. Be on the lookout for information in your own city so you too can "Share the Spirit." Grab your bats, cleats, racquets and clubs--It’s On! photos by Myke Puente from Facilities Maintenance ... View more

Did you know that of Southwest’s 544 Boeing 737s, 31 of those aircraft are specially dedicated to marketing partnerships such as SeaWorld, charitable organizations like the Ronald McDonald House, our Founders and the States to which we fly? So that means that if you fly Southwest on any given day, your odds are just over five percent that you’ll be boarding one of these special aircraft. I enjoy a hobby called “Plane spotting.” Plane spotting allows me and thousands of others to combine two things we love: photography and being around airplanes. Plane spotters can often be found along an airport perimeter, or at the end of runways with cameras in hand, equipped with long telephoto lenses. Some of us are happy getting photos of whatever happens to come along. Others travel all over the world, capturing every possible aircraft type from tiny Cessnas to giant wide-body jets. The ultimate score for a plane spotter is to get a “scoop” of a brand new airline paint scheme such as Southwest’s most recent “Illinois One” and be the first to post it online. By capturing one of the first photos of a new specialty aircraft, it ensures great exposure for your photography work. You never know who might like your photos! Our Cargo division scours web sites like flickr for photos to publish in an annual calendar which is given to thousands of Customers. I’ve been fortunate enough to have some of my photos published by Cargo over the past few years. Maybe you have an action shot of one of our special themed planes or nice sunset photo that you took during your flight. Perhaps you saw some of our Fun-LUVing Employees in a parade, or an airport gate decorated for a holiday. We welcome you to share your Southwest-themed photos with us and the nearly 600 members of the Southwest Airlines flickr Group! ... View more