Articles tagged “southwest airlines”

Southwest has built a reputation as a safe, reliable, and customer-friendly airline over nearly five decades. That has helped Southwest recently, as it has faced one of the biggest tragedies in its history.

For a small, all-coach, low-cost startup based in New York, a Long Beach, California, focus city made sense. But times change, and Long Beach hasn't worked out as well as expected. It's no surprise JetBlue is ready to shrink there.

The Southwest accident shows how bold passengers have become in using social media. For now, the FAA isn’t taking steps to curb their activities.

The pictures from Southwest Flight 1380 are scary. But flying remains incredibly safe. Investigators will undoubtedly figure out what happened, and when they do, flying will be even safer.

Southwest added a bunch of flights earlier this year departing before 6 a.m., and passengers didn't seem to like them. But fear not. It's a short-term thing.

The conventional wisdom is that airline passengers will do anything to save a buck. That's often true, but not always. Southwest has recently added more flights that depart before 6 a.m. and arrive after 10 p.m., and its load factor has suffered.

Southwest doesn't care if you pay with points or cash. That's for good reason. Even if you pay with points, the airline often gets paid.

If you have an airline-branded credit card, you may think you're getting a free ticket. It is free — for you. But often someone is paying for it.

Southwest has posted record earnings and believes that tax reform will be a major benefit in 2018. But the airline's overall strategy going forward will remain consistent, at least for the time being.

Few travelers would say they admire airlines. But among business executives and analysts, the sentiment is different. They see a few airlines as being well-run businesses worthy of admiration.