Southwest

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    Revamped Airtrans Jets go to Southwest to Delta

    Delta Airlines is going to lease 88 former AirTran Airways Boeing 717 jets from Southwest Airlines. SW took over AirTran Airways in 2011.

    These planes are about to undergo a $100 million face lift. Southwest plans to replace the jets with bigger ones. The changes include the outdoor livery, and revamping the interiors.

    The jets will allow Delta to retire 50-seat regional jets which are unprofitable due to fuel costs.

    In George’s Point of View


    Hope they spend some of that budget on making sure the engines and on board systems are up to speed!

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    Southwest Airlines: Smoke scented Vegas to San Jose Flight


    Click to view full size photo at Airliners.net
    Contact photographer Conor Clancy

    What: Southwest Airlines Boeing 737 en route from Las Vegas to San Jose
    Where: Mineta San Jose International Airport
    When: July 3, 2012, 10:30 am
    Who: 99 aboard, 3 crew
    Why: 25 miles east of the airport, the pilot declared emergency. There was no smoke visible but there was the smell of smoke.

    The plane taxied to the gate, where passengers disembarked.

    Twenty firefighters remained at the scene in case of escalation, as investigators went through the plane.

    In George’s Point of View

    I fly Southwest and I know enough about aircraft to say that the planes are wearing out.

    They are made to take off and land and not stop, but aging planes need extra maintenance. Most of these planes gotta go in for real hard look.

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    A Southwest Flight Halted due to threats.

    Two Southwest flights were grounded after bomb threats were made Tuesday evening.

    Southwest Flight (7:30 p.m. flight 1184) was isolated at Sky Harbor Airport. Passengers were re-screened.

    Southwest Flight (8:30 p.m. flight 811) at John Wayne Airport was also isolated after a bomb threat.

    Nothing was found when the plane was searched. No one was injured.

    The Joint Terrorism Task Force is investigating.

    See Video below:

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    Southwest Emergency Seattle-Saint Louis Diversion to Omaha


    Click to view full size photo at Airliners.net
    Contact photographer Klaus Ecker

    What: Southwest Airlines Boeing 737-300 en route from Seattle to Saint Louis
    Where: Omaha
    When: Apr 14th 2012
    Who: 11 injured
    Why: While en route, the plane lost cabin pressure, oxygen masks deployed, and pilots decided to divert to Omaha where they made a safe landing. However on arrival, eleven passengers needed medical attention. Nine of them were treated at the airport with minor injuries, but continued the flight.

    A replacement Southwest jet completed the last leg on Saturday.

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    Baltimore Bird Strike

    What: Southwest Airlines Boeing 737-300 en route from Baltimore,MD to Hartford,CT
    Where: Baltimore
    When: Mar 22nd 2012
    Who: 108 aboard
    Why: On takeoff from Baltimore, the flight encountered a bird.

    The bird strike damaged the #1 engine which began vibrating.

    Pilots returned to Baltimore and made a safe landing. Passengers disembarked on the runway, and were ported to the terminal.

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    Engine Shut Down over Texas

    What: Southwest Airlines Boeing 737-300 en route from Phoenix to Fort Lauderdale
    Where: Austin
    When: Mar 6th 2012
    Who: 134 passengers, 5 crew
    Why: While en route, the right engine developed problems. The Southwest Airlines crew shut down the right engine and diverted to Austin Texas where they made a safe landing with emergency services on standby.

    Passengers were provided alternative transportation.

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    Southwest Boeing Bowls Over Denver Concourse Light


    Twitter photo by Hilary Handtmann

    What: Southwest Airlines Boeing 737 en route from Los Angeles to Denver
    Where: Denver
    When: Jan 30, 2012, 9:45 a.m
    Who: 89 passengers and 5 crew
    Why: After landing from the LA flight, the jet knocked over an airport ramp lightpole around the C concourse.

    The plane was taxiing to the Southwest gate on Concourse C. No one was injured in SW Flight 792 and no flights were disrupted.

    Passengers disembarked on to the tarmac and were bused to the terminal. The NTSB is investigating.

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    Southwest Emergency Landing

    What: Southwest Airlines Boeing 737-300 en route from Saint Louis,MO to Dallas
    Where: Saint Louis
    When: Dec 7th 2011
    Who: 137 passengers and 5 crew
    Why: After takeoff, systems revealed unsafe gear.
    The pilot returned to Lambert and made an emergency landing. No injuries were reported, and passengers were provided alternate flight.

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    Crew Injured in Turbulent Approach to Oakland


    Click to view full size photo at Airliners.net
    Contact photographer DJ Reed – OPShots Photo Team

    What: Southwest Airlines Boeing 737-700 en route from Albuquerque,NM to Oakland,CA
    Where: Oakland
    When: Dec 1st 2011
    Who: 95 passengers and 5 crew
    Why: On approach to Oakland, the plane flew through ten seconds of turbulence that injured the cabin crew.

    The pilots made a safe landing half an hour later, after which two members of the crew were hospitalized.

    In George’s Point of View


    Given the time and place, we might be able to chalk this one up to the Santa Ana Winds.

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    Southwest Airlines Flight 871 Cockpit Fire

    What: Southwest Airlines Boeing 737 en route from Dallas to Little Rock to Baltimore
    Where: Little Rock Arkansas
    When: Sept 7 2011,
    Who: 103 aboard
    Why: While en route, an overhead light fixture in the Flight 871 cockpit caught on fire.

    The crew put out the fire and informed Little Rock Airport ATC to assemble emergency teams as they made an emergency landing in Little Rock.

    The plane made a safe landing with no injuries.

    An alternative flight was arranged for the next leg of flight to Baltimore.

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    Atlantic Southwest Wing Collapse After Failed Left Landing Gear


    What: Atlantic/Southwest Airlines Bombardier CRJ-200 en route from Atlanta to Baton Rouge
    Where: Baton Rouge Metro Airport
    When: September 1 2011, 4:35 pm
    Who: 50 passengers, 3 crew
    Why: Outside of Baton Rouge, the crew notified ATC of problems with the left wheel assembly, and circled over Baton Rouge. Fifteen minutes from the airport, the crew announced the emergency to passengers.

    Passengers were warned to exit immediately on landing.

    The pilot made an emergency landing in Baton Rouge with emergency services from metro Baton Rouge and Airport on standby.

    On touchdown, the left wing collapsed. Passengers exited promptly as the plane filled up with smoke. Airport spokesman Jim Caldwell said that there were no injuries.

    This was not the first problem the passengers encountered. They had boarded this plane in Atlanta after leaving another plane that encountered mechanical problems.

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    Southwest In the News

    Click to see video
    Southwest just reported that El Paso-Phoenix jet that landed at 9:30 p.m. in Phoenix with one engine did so because of an engine exhaust problem. Good for them for catching it.

    This was certainly less of an issue that the April 1 2011 surprise, the fuselage rupture in the roof of the Southwest Phoenex-Sacramento flight. That fifteen year old plane lost pressure (kind of a given, one would think, with a huge hole in the roof) and had to make an emergency landing in Yuma, 150 miles southwest of Phoenix. There were no injuries except to Southwest’s reputation.

    On April 4, the FAA sent out a letter mandating operators of specific early Boeing 737 models to conduct initial and repetitive electromagnetic inspections for fatigue damage.

    The NTSB is investigating. And all of the onus is not on Southwest–it’s also on Boeing, as they examine that

    Southwest is a busy airline operator. The stats of take offs and landing every 24 hours must be staggering. Their 737s are renowned workhorses that don’t tire, but they have to be taking a beating.

    Let’s not wait for something terrible to happen. Let’s double on maintenance. Let’s do the footwork to prevent another metal fatigue occurrence to happen again, busting a hole in the fuselage at 36,000 feet.

    Audio, Documents Detailing Southwest Emergency Released: MyFoxPHOENIX.com

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    Southwest Emergency Landing in Phoenix

    What: Southwest Airlines Boeing 737 en route from El Paso to Phoenix
    Where: Phoenix
    When: Jun 30th 2011, 9:33 pm
    Who: 139 aboard
    Why: On approach to Phoenix, the pilot declared emergency and shut down an engine when one of the engines failed. Some of the systems operating were backup systems. Details about the engine issues were not released but Southwest said there was an “issue with engine exhaust.”

    The plane made a safe landing at 9:33 with emergency services on standby, but taxied to the gate, and did not need towing.

    Maintenance is examining the plane.

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    Southwest Boeing Diverts to Oklahoma City

    What: Southwest Airlines Boeing 737-300 en route from Kansas City, Mo., to Dallas
    Where: east of Oklahoma City
    When: May 10th 2011
    Who: 44 passengers, 5 crew
    Why: While en route, east of Oklahoma City, the plane developed smoke in the cockpit.

    The pilot made an emergency landing diverting to Oklahoma city for a safe landing. A replacement jet was provided within two hours.

    The smoke was attributed to a malfunctioning windshield heating element.

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    Southwest Electric Emergency, Diversion to El Paso


    Click to view full size photo at Airliners.net
    Contact photographer Ron Carter

    What: Southwest Airlines Boeing 737-500 en route from Houston to Phoenix
    Where: El Paso Texas
    When: May 4, 2011, 5 pm
    Who: 138 aboard
    Why: While en route, an electrical smell was detected. Oxygen masks were deployed.

    The flight diverted to El Paso and made a safe landing. Passengers did not have to use emergency slides. They were provided an alternate flight to Phoenix while the plane was ferried for inspections.

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    NTSB Directive Contradicts Boeing Statement

    On April 25, the NTSB released information about the April 1 Southwest Airlines Boeing 737-300 fuselage incident where the rupture in the fuselage caused depressurization and forced pilots to make an emergency landing in Yuma.

    From the release

    The NTSB Materials Laboratory work is actively conducting additional inspections and examinations in the following areas:

    1. Removal of rivets and examination of rivet hole dimensions, rivet dimensions, and rivet hole alignment between upper and lower skins.
    2. Detailed fractographic analysis of the skin fractures emanating from the rivet holes using optical and scanning electron microscopes.
    3. Fatigue striation analysis using a scanning electron microscope of specific skin fractures to determine the rate of crack propagation.
    4. Additional portions of the lap joints from the accident aircraft.

    Of 136 airplanes inspected worldwide four had crack indications at a single rivet and one plane was found to have crack indications at two rivets.

    In spite of these findings, Boeing Chief Executive Jim McNerney told Reuters“I think the initial data that I think we’re all seeing is suggesting a possible workmanship issue on an airplane, rather than a design issue across a fleet of airplanes.”

    If Boeing believes that the problem was workmanship on a single plane, then how did other planes reveal conditions precursing the same type of rupture incident as was incurred on Southwest Airlines Flight 812?

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    Slat Problem in Boeing 737

    What: Southwest Airlines Boeing 737-700 en route from Oakland,CA to Denver,CO
    Where: Oakland
    When: Apr 5th 2011
    Who: 103 passengers
    Why: After take-off, the plane indicated a slat problem. The crew returned to Oakland and made a safe landing. It was replaced by another 737, which flew passengers to Denver.

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    Southwest Holey Terror Just the Beginning

    What: Southwest Airlines Boeing 737-3H4 en route from Phoenix to Sacramento
    Where: Yuma International Airport, AZ
    When: 01 APR 2011
    Who: 118 aboard
    Why: A hole burst through the top of this Boeing while en route. The plane suffered decompression, descended to a safe level (when an attendant was injured) and made an emergency landing in Yuma.

    The hole has opened a witch hunt on aging Boeings in search of the kind of metal fatigue that would result in a hole during operations now that the aluminum skin has been known to separate at the lap joints, where panels are spliced together. Although the incident did not result in death, it is being taken as a “warning.” 175 Boeing 737 are slated for examination, and maintenance programs (Southwest, FAA, Boeing) are being re-evaluated to take this into account.

    Discussion of lap joint and the 3 rows of rivets. The skin separated at the lower rivet line. Pre-existing fatigue existed on the fracture surface. (Multi site damage.) The decompression happened 18.5 minutes after take-off, and no pre-indications. The flight crew immediately declared emergency.

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    Boeing Fuselage Fails

    What: Southwest Airlines Boeing en route from Phoenix to Sacramento
    Where: Yuma Marine Corps Air Station, Arizona
    When: April 1, 2011
    Who: 118 passengers
    Why: While en route, after what sounded like an explosion, a three foot hole opened up in the roof, straight through the fuselage. After rapid decompression, the pilots diverted to Yuma Marine Corps air Station. There were no injuries among the passengers but one fight attendant was hurt. Some passengers passed out when their oxygen wasn’t working.

    Subsequent to the initial event, more planes were found with similar issues. (More to come)

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    Controller Suspended by FAA

    The single-engine, four-seat Cirrus SR22 was on course for Kissimmee, Fla., and maintaining altitude at 11,000 feet, but had not responded to repeated contact attempts from controllers; at the same time, ten miles behind the Cirrus at 12,000 feet was Southwest Flight 821, a Boeing 737. Rather than following the protocol for unresponsive aircraft, the supervisor asked the Boeing to visually check the Cirrus cockpit. The Boeing did so, reporting 2 people in the cockpit. Both planes landed safely.

    But the planes violated proximity guidelines. The Boeing could have caused air turbulence upsetting the Cirrus. They flew too close. As a consequence, the FAA suspending the FAA controller, and they are reviewing procedures, and training practices.

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    Southwest Flight Diverts to Louisville

    What: Southwest Airlines Boeing 737-300, en route from Orlando to Chicago
    Where: Louisville Kentucky
    When: Mar 28 2011 3:00 pm
    Who: 101 passengers 5 crew
    Why: While en route, the cockpit began to fill with smoke. A pilot saw a problem with the windshield defroster wiring, and turned off the defroster.

    The pilots diverted the flight to Louisville where they made a safe landing. Passengers were provided an alternative Boeing flight to Chicago arriving two and a half hours later.

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    Southwest Airlines Announces New AirTran Transition Agreement With Its Pilots’ Union

    Southwest Airlines (NYSE: LUV) announced today that it has reached an agreement with its Pilots, represented by the Southwest Airlines Pilots’ Association (SWAPA), on an initial Transition Agreement that establishes a procedural framework for eventually integrating the Pilots of Orlando-based AirTran Airways into Southwest.The integration addressed by the agreement would follow the official legal closing of Southwest’s acquisition of AirTran’s parent company, AirTran Holdings, Inc., which is currently anticipated to occur during the second quarter of 2011. Closing is subject to the approval of AirTran stockholders, receipt of certain regulatory clearances, and fulfillment of customary closing conditions.

    With this initial transition agreement, Southwest and SWAPA establish a framework to begin an orderly transition from operating Southwest and AirTran as separate carriers, to a single carrier under one Single Operating Certificate (SOC). This transition agreement is an integral first step in that process.

    “This transition agreement, which was unanimously agreed to by our SWAPA Board of Directors, is an important step in the AirTran acquisition and integration process,” said Chuck Magill, Southwest Airlines Vice President of Flight Operations. “Our hard-working Pilots are now poised to begin the important and challenging work of integrating their AirTran colleagues into Southwest Airlines.”

    In its 40th year of service, Southwest Airlines continues to differentiate itself from other low-fare carriers–offering a reliable product with exemplary Customer Service. Southwest Airlines is the nation’s largest carrier in terms of originating domestic passengers boarded; now serving 69 cities in 35 states. Beginning March 13, 2011, Southwest will initiate service to Charleston and Greenville/Spartanburg, South Carolina, and on March 27, 2011, service will begin to Newark Liberty International Airport. Southwest also is one of the most honored airlines in the world known for its commitment to the triple bottom line of Performance, People, and Planet. To read more about how Southwest is doing its part to be a good citizen, visit southwest.com/cares to read the Southwest Airlines One Report(TM). Based in Dallas, Southwest currently operates more than 3,200 flights a day and has nearly 35,000 Employees systemwide.

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    Southwest Airlines Confirms FAA Acceptance of Transition Plan for AirTran Airways Acquisition

    Plan Outlines How the Two Operations Will Combine, Following Financial Close
    DALLAS, Feb. 24, 2011 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ —
    The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) informed Southwest Airlines that it has accepted the carrier’s transition plan to combine the operations of Dallas-based Southwest Airlines and Orlando-based AirTran Airways, following the financial close of its transaction to acquire AirTran. On Sept. 27, 2010, Southwest (NYSE: LUV) announced an agreement to acquire all outstanding shares of common stock of AirTran Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: AAI), the parent company of AirTran Airways (AirTran), for a combination of cash and Southwest Airlines’ common stock. Closing is subject to the approval of AirTran shareholders, receipt of certain regulatory clearances, and fulfillment of customary closing conditions.

    “It’s been a great team effort by a lot of people to reach this initial milestone, but we still have a lot of work to do to ultimately bring our two carriers together. We appreciate the collaborative approach of all parties, including the FAA Joint Transition Team (JTT),” said Brian Hirshman, Southwest’s Vice President Maintenance and Engineering, and Executive Sponsor of the carrier’s Single Operating Certificate (SOC) team. “We consider this acceptance by the FAA as the first major milestone on the journey towards SOC. There are too many people to recognize individually, but we are hopeful the team’s hard work will allow us to achieve our SOC goal in the first quarter 2012.”
    Southwest and AirTran currently have separate operating certificates. The transition plan accepted by the FAA outlines the methodology, processes, tools, and timing to be employed to maintain the safety of their day-to-day operations during the transition period and to ultimately achieve a Single Operating Certificate. The SOC is issued by the FAA once all of the steps outlined in the transition plan have been completed. The carriers’ processes, and procedures may not be fully integrated when the SOC is issued, however; they will operate under a single FAA certificate at that time.

    Relevant to its submitted plan, Southwest clarified that after the transaction close, which is currently anticipated to occur during the second quarter of 2011, all certificated and flight-related AirTran Employees (Pilots, Dispatchers, Flight Attendants, Mechanics, Schedulers, etc.) will maintain their AirTran employment status at least until the SOC is issued by the FAA for the combined carriers. The logistics of how and when this group of certificated employees will then be transitioned to Southwest employment status has yet to be determined.

    In its 40th year of service, Southwest Airlines continues to differentiate itself from other low-fare carriers–offering a reliable product with exemplary Customer Service. Southwest Airlines is the nation’s largest carrier in terms of originating domestic passengers boarded, now serving 69 cities in 35 states. Beginning March 13, 2011, Southwest will initiate service to Charleston and Greenville/Spartanburg, South Carolina, and on March 27, 2011, service will begin to Newark Liberty International Airport. Southwest also is one of the most honored airlines in the world known for its commitment to the triple bottom line of Performance, People, and Planet. To read more about how Southwest is doing its part to be a good citizen, visit southwest.com/cares to read the Southwest Airlines One Report(TM). Based in Dallas, Southwest currently operates more than 3,200 flights a day and has nearly 35,000 Employees systemwide.