LoneStarMike From United States of America, joined Jul 2000, 3103 posts, RR: 49 Posted (3 months 2 weeks 2 days 19 hours ago) and read 7803 times:
Here's something I don't think has ever been successfully posted before on a.net (although we've tried and come very close in the past.)
It's the complete list of WN's history of opening new stations, including closure dates at airports that Southwest has exited.. Most of the info I got from swamedia.com
A few cities like BPT, SFO 1.0 and DEN 1.0 weren't listed, but I was able to find/figure out those opening (and closing) dates elswhere. (BPT was the hardest one to find a start date for, not to mention trying to figure out exactly when it closed.)
Cities grouped in bold were instances where WN opened 2 or more cities on the same day.
Airport - Date Service Began - comments
DAL - 06-18-1971
IAH - 06-18-1971 - (closed 11/14/71 - flights were shifted to HOU) SAT - 06-18-1971
HOU - 11-14-1971
HRL - 02-11-1975
CRP - 03-01-1977
LBB - 05-20-1977
MAF - 05-20-1977
ELP - 06-30-1977
AUS - 09-15-1977
AMA - 12-12-1978 - (AMA is the only WN city ever opened in the month of December)
MSY - 01-25-1979 - (WN's first interstate route)
BPT - 03-05-1979 - (Closed 09/07/80 coinciding with the re-opening of IAH)
BPT only had 6 rountrips to DAL. IAH was reopened the next day (09/08/80) with 6 roundtrips to DAL.
OKC - 04-01-1980
TUL - 04-02-1980
ABQ - 04-03-1980
(Note: I could have sworn when I tried to research this a couple of years ago, that TUL opened on 04-20-1980 and ABQ on 04-30-1980, but WN is showing on their link that OKC, TUL and ABQ were opened on three consecutive days - April 1, 2, and 3 of 1980. Maybe one of the WN old-timers here can confirm.)
IAH - 09-08-1980 - (coincides with WN's exit from BPT - IAH closed a second time on 04/02/05 and has the distinction of being the only airport WN has left twice.)
LAS - 01-31-1982
PHX - 01-31-1982
SAN - 01-31-1982
MCI - 02-18-1982
LAX - 09-18-1982
SFO - 10-31-82 - (closed 03-04-2001)
DEN - 05-26-1993 - (closed 10-26-1986)
LIT - 02-27-1984 - (Last city in the original Wright Amendment Perimeter to be opened.) The original WA perimeter was Texas and the four surrounding states - New Mexico, Oklahoma, Louisiana and Arkansas.
MDW - 03-17-1985
STL - 03-17-1985
ONT - 05-15-1985
BNA - 013-18-1986
BHM - 03-10-1987
DTW - 06-04-1987
DET - 07-06-1988 - (Closed 09-14-1993 coinciding with the opening of BWI)
IND - 04-03-1989
OAK - 05-15-1989
BUR - 04-16-1990
RNO - 11-15-1990
SMF - 06-18-1991 (opened on WN's 20th anniversary)
CLE - 02-13-1992
CMH - 06-02-1992
SDF - 05-24-1993
SJC - 06-01-1993
BWI - 09-15-1993 - (coincides with WN's exit from DET -
At the end of 1993, WN announced plans to merge with/acquire Morris Air)
SNA - 05-26-1994
PDX - 06-06-1994 *Morris Air city SEA - 06-06-1994 *Morris Air city GEG - 06-06-1994 *Morris Air city
BOI - 10-04-1994 *Morris Air city SLC - 10-04-1994 *Morris Air city TUS - 10-04-1994 *Morris Air city
OMA - 03-04-1995
TPA - 01-22-1996
FLL - 01-22-1996
MCO - 04-07-1996
PVD - 10-27-1996
JAX - 01-15-1997
JAN - 08-09-1997 - (some think JAN was a political favor because the Wright Amendment perimeter had just been expanded to include AL, MS & KS. To this day, though JAN doesn't have nonstop service to DAL.)
OPNLguy From , joined Dec 1969, posts, RR: Reply 1, posted (3 months 2 weeks 2 days 19 hours ago) and read 7786 times:
Quoting LoneStarMike (Thread starter): (Note: I could have sworn when I tried to research this a couple of years ago, that TUL opened on 04-20-1980 and ABQ on 04-30-1980, but WN is showing on their link that OKC, TUL and ABQ were opened on three consecutive days - April 1, 2, and 3 of 1980. Maybe one of the WN old-timers here can confirm.)
I can confirm that it was April 1st, 2nd, and 3rd. It was also the first time we'd ever taken delivery of three aircraft on the same day. A bunch of us non-reved up to SEA a couple of days before, saw the sights, and then all three aircraft departed BFI. Two aircraft went BFI-DAL and the third went BFI-ABQ (so the folks there could get some pushback practice) before continuing ABQ-DAL a couple of hours later.
LoneStarMike From United States of America, joined Jul 2000, 3103 posts, RR: 49 Reply 2, posted (3 months 2 weeks 2 days 19 hours ago) and read 7754 times:
Thanks for the insight & the trivia about WN getting three planes on the same day. Re: TUL & ABQ opening dates - . I must have had dyslexia the first time I tried to research all this.
IgneousRocks From , joined Dec 1969, posts, RR: Reply 3, posted (3 months 2 weeks 2 days 17 hours ago) and read 7642 times:
Wow, thanks LoneStar for all of the great, information-filled posts you have been making in several threads this weekend. Always enjoy trivia, O&D stats and the like.
LoneStarMike From United States of America, joined Jul 2000, 3103 posts, RR: 49 Reply 4, posted (3 months 2 weeks 2 days 17 hours ago) and read 7577 times:
Quoting IgneousRocks (Reply 3): Wow, thanks LoneStar for all of the great, information-filled posts you have been making in several threads this weekend. Always enjoy trivia, O&D stats and the like.
You're welcome. I was bored this weekend. But speaking of trivia, here's a few more little fun facts.
Southwest's avg. one-way fare was $113.97 and the avg. passenger trip length was 855 miles.
Kinda neat to do a 10-year comparison.
BTW, the correct open date for BNA was 03-18-1986. (I accidentally put 013-18-86 and a.net wouldn't let me correct it.) Hopefully I haven't made any other typos.
Lexy From United States of America, joined Jun 2006, 2333 posts, RR: 8 Reply 5, posted (3 months 2 weeks 2 days 17 hours ago) and read 7560 times:
WOW! This is a pretty amazing list LoneStarMike! I commend you for your effort in getting this all together to post. You are THA MAN!
Pretty amazing to see the times when, and even where, WN started and stopped service in certain cities.
I have family that live just outside Beaumont, TX on the Port Arthur side and close to Orange, TX. The service they once had to BPT would be really nice today when going to visit the family! HAHA! Still, Houston isn't that far as it is and the drive isn't all that bad either if you head east on I-10. Or even if you go down to Galveston and take the scenic route onto the Bolivar Peninsula, via the ferries, and go through Port Arthur along Sabine Lake.
LoneStarMike From United States of America, joined Jul 2000, 3103 posts, RR: 49 Reply 6, posted (3 months 2 weeks 2 days 16 hours ago) and read 7508 times:
LOL! BPT took some detective work. I finally found the start date doing a search at books.google.com I saw two entries and both said March 5, 1979. I knew from a long time ago that TxAgKuwait had mentioned that WN was in BPT for about 18 months. I knew WN had re-opened IAH on 09/08/80 and since BWI was opened the after DET closed, I just figured that's what they did in Texas. Close BPT to re-open IAH. Plus I remember IAH had the same schedule as BPT did. 6xDAL. That's all they ever had at IAH until it closed again in 2005.
Here's another article - not so much about Southwest, but about aviation in the DFW. It's an artilce with lots of photos just before DFW opened. It does mention Southwest, though and talks about their fight to stay at Love Field
There's at least one mistake, though. The article implies that DFW opened in the Fall of 1973, but it didn't. That's when the dedication ceremonies were held, but DFW didn't open for operations until Jan. 13, 1974
JBAirwaysFan From United States of America, joined May 2009, 366 posts, RR: 0 Reply 7, posted (3 months 2 weeks 2 days 15 hours ago) and read 7370 times:
Quoting LoneStarMike (Reply 6): The article implies that DFW opened in the Fall of 1973, but it didn't. That's when the dedication ceremonies were held, but DFW didn't open for operations until Jan. 13, 1974
If you continue reading the article, it mentions that it was supposed to open in the Fall of 1973, but it continues on to say that it wasn't going to actually open until January of 1974.
LoneStarMike From United States of America, joined Jul 2000, 3103 posts, RR: 49 Reply 8, posted (3 months 2 weeks 2 days 15 hours ago) and read 7287 times:
Thanks JBAirwaysFan. I didn't catch that.
Here's more from the archives: nother brief article from Texas Monthly how Southwest celebrated its third birthday in 1974
Apparently, some folks from Texas Monthly flew to Houston and back to help WN celebrate. On the flight to HOU, the hostess (not flight attendant, not even stewardess - but "hostess" - I love it.) got on the intercom.
Quote: "OK yawl try to color me the prettiest birthday cake you can because if you win, it will be good for a nice little prize. You never know what it might be, maybe a kiss from the hostess or a bottle of booze. So you must try your hardest to color me a real pretty birthday cake."
Two-thirds of the passengers began scribbling furiously on the white cardboard handout with lipsticks, eyebrow pencils, map colors, ball point pens and pencils. Eventually Larry Price's entry won, not for artistic excellence, but for his slogan: "First in the air, first in hearts, and first in female parts.
Ah, the good ole days when the sexual revolution was in full swing.
GentFromAlaska From United States of America, joined Feb 2005, 736 posts, RR: 1 Reply 9, posted (3 months 2 weeks 2 days 15 hours ago) and read 7267 times:
There appears to be a typo in the opening month for BNA opening. "013" I suspect it should either Jan or Mar 1986
Man can be taken from Alaska. Alaska can never be taken from the man
USPIT10L From United States of America, joined Mar 2006, 2791 posts, RR: 8 Reply 10, posted (3 months 2 weeks 2 days 14 hours ago) and read 7200 times:
28L28L From Ireland, joined Nov 2005, 302 posts, RR: 0 Reply 11, posted (3 months 2 weeks 2 days 13 hours ago) and read 7015 times:
Thanks so much for your work LoneStarMike! I too was curious about WN's history at BPT. I appreciate reading your detailed work, that did not appear on WN's website.
This entire post is awesome! Just freakin' awesome LoneStarMike. I really admire your dedication and your work in putting all of this out there. Great work again!
LoneStarMike From United States of America, joined Jul 2000, 3103 posts, RR: 49 Reply 13, posted (3 months 2 weeks 2 days 10 hours ago) and read 6801 times:
Thanks everyone. I'm trying to go through the archives year by year and find old ads & articles out there and post links to them in order by date. I'm hoping to turn this this into a kind of WN History/Nostalgia thread
Important Note: I think the stuff in Texas Monthly Magazine from books.google.com that I already posted upthread was linked incorrectly. Apparently I need to provide a link to the search results page, instead of to the actual page in the magazine, so I'll be doing that from now on. So you guys will have to click on the links in this thread, which will bring up the google search results page, and click on the link on google's search results page to go the actual page in the magazine. Then, if you want to view the full page without all that stuff in the sidebar, click on the "full page" icon just to the left of the hyperlink that says "contents." It'll involve two extra clicks, but that's the best I can do.
(hope all that made sense}
Back to the subject, I found a couple of old ads for Texas International I thought were interesting. You can tell they were really trying to compete with Southwest. Their slogan back in 1974 was "Texas International - "We Know The Territory." One ad emphasized leg-room
The legroom ad also emphasized their 3-2 seating, the ability of the middle seat to fold down to creat a table between the aisle and wondow seats when the middle was unoccupied, and friendly Texas-Style Service.
Another Texas International ad sounds like it may have been a response to WN's We're Not Going To Be Shot Out Of The Sky For A Lousy $13" ads.
Jetskipper From United States of America, joined Jun 2001, 236 posts, RR: 0 Reply 14, posted (3 months 2 weeks 2 days 10 hours ago) and read 6754 times:
It's interesting to wonder if BOI and GEG would have ever became WN cities if it weren't for the Morris merger.
USPIT10L From United States of America, joined Mar 2006, 2791 posts, RR: 8 Reply 15, posted (3 months 2 weeks 2 days 10 hours ago) and read 6711 times:
Quoting Jetskipper (Reply 14): It's interesting to wonder if BOI and GEG would have ever became WN cities if it weren't for the Morris merger.
According to the business book "NUTS!," which was a great profile of WN pre-9/11, and was originally published in 1996, WN was looking to compete with UA's Shuttle by United, introduced in late 1994. The only way for WN to get into the northwest without adding a ton of cost was to buy another airline. So they talked with June Morris and agreed to purchase Morris Air.
Golly, remember how big a deal it was when WN opened PHL?? That was their first station in about 3 years. I specifically remember how everybody was wondering what would happen to US.
Anywho, this is great stuff! Thanks for posting it!
WNTex
"The chief cause of failure and unhappiness is trading what you want most for what you want now." -Zig Ziglar
LoneStarMike From United States of America, joined Jul 2000, 3103 posts, RR: 49 Reply 17, posted (3 months 2 weeks 2 days 7 hours ago) and read 5886 times:
Two months after WN began service to HRL, Texas Monthly published an article about the most dangerous airports in Texas. Up until that time there had been much debate about whether or not Love Field should be closed to commercial trraffic, and Southwest had long-ago abandoned IAH for Hobby, so this was a much-talked about topic in Texas at the time.
It was the cover story that month, with a drawing of passenger plane falling into a giant hole on the runway and you can see a city skyline nearby. It was quite an extensive article and if nothing else, it provides historical perspective for Texas airports 34 years ago in 1975.
Of the four airports WN was flying into at the time, three were rated high-risk. HOU, DAL, and HRL. SAT was rated medium-risk . Although WN wasn't serving AUS yet, AUS was also rated high-risk. (In all honesty, it was.)
Fast-forward to June 1975. Texas Monthly's page where they publish reader comments is called "Roar of the Crowd" And oh how they roared! Apparently Lamar Muse and many managers at airports throughout Texas were none too happy about the article and they all wrote in.
Everyone was defending their airport with scathing comments and Lamar Muse even gave them a piece of his mind.
Quote: The article on airports in Texas was extremely unfair, unbelievable biased, highly inaccurate and represented sensationalism of the very worst type. It was not worthy of inclusion in your normally objective magazine, representing only the employee union views of ALPA and PATCO.
Y'all should read some of the other comments. They're hilarious. It was like this big Texas brawl.
The Manager of the Brownsville Int'l Airport wrote
Quote: If the article "The Most Dangerous Airports In Texas" and the illustration on the cover of the April 1975 issue was designed to cast a bad reflection on several cities, I trust you've been successful
And the Chairman of the Harlingen Airport Board got in a real zinger.
Quote: Your article quotes a Braniff Airlines captain extensively regarding airport safety. Could this be the same Braniff captain who, a couple of years ago landed at our airport, mistaking it for Brownsville?
AVLAirlineFreq From United States of America, joined Jun 2008, 199 posts, RR: 0 Reply 18, posted (3 months 2 weeks 2 days 5 hours ago) and read 5396 times:
LoneStarMike, this is fabulous work. Great stuff.
Just to clarify one thing for the audience at home:
Quoting LoneStarMike (Reply 17): Of the four airports WN was flying into at the time, three were rated high-risk. HOU, DAL, and HRL. SAT was rated medium-risk . Although WN wasn't serving AUS yet, AUS was also rated high-risk. (In all honesty, it was.)
That was when AUS was located at the old Mueller airport, not the current Bergstrom.
LoneStarMike From United States of America, joined Jul 2000, 3103 posts, RR: 49 Reply 19, posted (3 months 2 weeks 2 days 5 hours ago) and read 5283 times:
Thanks, and you're right. Bergstrom didn't open until May of 1999.
Meanwhile, back at the LUV Shack (Love Field) the City of Dallas tried to come up with ways to generate additional revenue for the airport, to make up for the revenue lost when the other airlines moved to DFW. Since there was now plenty of parking in Love's garages and they had that great big lobby, they decided to turn it into a big entertainment complex named LLove.
Way back in 2003, I wrote to the City of Dallas Aviation Department and asked about it''s dates of operation and received a reply.
Quote: The Love Field ice rink was built as a part of the Llove Entertainment Center project. Llove was a corporation founded by Mr. Goyer to convert the Love Field terminal into a commercial recreation establishment. This conversion came after the commercial airline traffic moved to Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, leaving the existing airport terminal vacant. The Llove Entertainment Center consisted of a roller skating rink, dancing area, snack bar, exercise area and ice rink.
Chronology
April 1973 - Initial discussions and proposal for Amusement Center.
April 1974- Council approves Amusement Center proposal of C.W. Goyer, Jr.
March 1975 - Woodlawn Corp. installs Ice Rink.
April 1975 - Walnut Construction Co. - alterations to the Love Field Terminal for Llove project.
May 1975 - Terminal alterations begin.
November 1975 - Llove opens.
May 10, 1978 - Llove closed by City Council.
From George Cearley''s book, "A Pictorial History of Airline Service at Dallas Love Field" (1989), p. 172:
Quote: In 1975 the Llove Entertainment Center opened in the main lobby, east ticket wing, and upstairs lobby (mezzanine, lounge, and indoor observation balcony). The entire floor of the main lobby was converted into an ice rink. The present Southwest ticket counter area and former Dobbs House Restaurant was used as a multi-cinema.
It was touted as Dallas' totally new entertainment experience at Love Field.
Quote: Just $2.95 and you're in LLove - a nonextravagent extravaganza of: Unlimited skating (skates included) in a dazzling ice arena or futuristic Roller Roundabout. Three plush theaters. New Rainbow Room Review plus live music for multiple dance floors. Parades, games, prizes and surprises. All you need is LLove.
$2.95? Now that's a cheap date. (I think there was a charge for parking, though.)
The ad gave a number to call to "Find out what LLove is all about."
The complex was scheduled to open November 17, 1975.
Someone on an urban development forum has an album with some photos he snapped back in the day. They're mostly of people, but in at least one of them it looks like it was taken on the old mezzanine level, and another looks to be taken near the main doors of the Grand Lobby.
A poster on another website remembered going there and loving it.
Quote: i was 18 years old. some one told me about it. i went out to the old airport. llove entertainment center was one of the best times i ever had in dallas. i was a reguler there, i went every friday night saturday and sunday. i never had a better time in my life. iceskating, roller skating, games, movies, dancing at the rainbow room on the second floor. and the grill, good hamburgers and fries. a regular group of young men and women hung out there they were the best bunch of young people (kids) i ever hung out w/. They use to call me the big E. i dressed in platforms, bellbottoms, a gangster hat, white w/ a black band on it.
NoMoreRJs From United States of America, joined Sep 2004, 154 posts, RR: 0 Reply 20, posted (3 months 2 weeks 2 days 4 hours ago) and read 5071 times:
Great job! This must have taken a tremendous amout of effort!
I think MDW will pass LAS for most departures in 2010. It will be a stretch on number of nonstop cities, but I expect MDW - TUL/OKC/PFN to name a few next year.
I also expect CVG to be a WN city next year with flights to BWI and MDW, just to name a few.
LoneStarMike From United States of America, joined Jul 2000, 3103 posts, RR: 49 Reply 21, posted (3 months 2 weeks 2 days 3 hours ago) and read 4849 times:
In December 1975, Texas Monthly published what is probably one of the most remembered articles for airline geeks in Texas. It was a cover story, and oh what a cover it was. It depicted three "hostesses" - one from each airline - in a hair-pullin' fist-punchin' clothes-rippin' brawl.
The link is to the cover. The actual article begins on page 76.
The two-page spread at the beginning of the article had drawings of three fighter planes with each of the three tails representing one of the three airlines, and asked the questions - "Will TI's Whizz Kids Fizzle? Will Sexy Southwest Conquer All? Will Braniff Lose It's Routes?"
(Note: For those new to google books - like me - whenever there's a two-page ad or a two-page intro with photos, you can always click on the "two-page" icon to the left of the "contents" hyperlink and it will show both pages side by side.
The full-length feature article was written from extensive interviews with Harding Lawrence of Braniff, Frank Lorenzo of Texas International, and Lamar Muse of Southwest. It contained Muse's quote that pretty much explained Southwest's philosophy.
Quote: "There's a story I love to tell about a man who ran a hamburger stand, whose children wanted to open up a fancy restaurant. He took them aside and told them, 'Boys, remember this: feed the rich and grow poor; feed the poor and grow rich.' That's really what we've done."
There's a photo of him being kissed by two hostesses.
Although extremely long, it's a great article about each of three airlines, their business plans, and what they thought of each other. It also provides a good history starting from the beginning of what was known as "The Great Airline War," and the legal proceedings that had gone up through December 1975. It briefly touches on some of the dirty tricks TI and Braniff played on Southwest and recounts the "We're Not Going To Be Shot Out Of The Sky For A Lousy $13" ad.
You know, I always thought the TV show "Dallas" (with J. R. & Bobby Ewing & Cliff Barnes) should have been centered on three men in the airline business rather than the oil business. It would have been a lot more interesting.
N200WN From United States of America, joined Feb 2005, 728 posts, RR: 9 Reply 22, posted (3 months 2 weeks 2 days 2 hours ago) and read 4484 times:
Quoting LoneStarMike (Thread starter): JAN - 08-09-1997 - (some think JAN was a political favor because the Wright Amendment perimeter had just been expanded to include AL, MS & KS. To this day, though JAN doesn't have nonstop service to DAL.)
And something to do with the "segment tax" as well if I recall.
MASTYC From United States of America, joined Mar 2009, 86 posts, RR: 0 Reply 24, posted (3 months 2 weeks 1 day 22 hours ago) and read 4134 times:
Quoting LoneStarMike (Thread starter): JAN - 08-09-1997 - (some think JAN was a political favor because the Wright Amendment perimeter had just been expanded to include AL, MS & KS. To this day, though JAN doesn't have nonstop service to DAL.)
They did have service to DAL at one time though right? Could have sworn my brother in law flew the route about 2003.
25 LoneStarMike: OMA was a good way to grow PHX, LAS and MDW. When OMA opened they had 4xMDW, 2xPHX and 2xLAS. OMA was just an intermediate stop on a longer MDW-PHX o
26 LoneStarMike: It seemed like Lamar Muse liked that December 1975 article a lot better than he liked the one about Texas' most dangerous airports. He was back with a
27 UALWN: Actually, most people were not wondering anything: they were supremely confident that WN would just kill US in no time. It hasn't happened so far.
28 SANFan: I'm just seeing this thread for the first time Mike; wonderful job! I join the many others with thanks for a great effort on a very interesting subjec
29 LoneStarMike: Well is it any wonder? Southwest Airlines Pondering a Bigger Start in Philadelphia LoneStarMike
30 LoneStarMike: After opening CRP, LBB, MAF, ELP and AUS, Southwest began it's "We're Spreading Love All Over Texas" Campaign. We're Spreading Love All Over Texas - O
31 MtnWest1979: LOL, I remember when JAN started it, it seemed between BWI-HOU there were 120 thrus and 17 locals lol. Easy and fast turns then.....
32 TxAgKuwait: Good stuff, Mike. I'm not sure if you ran across it or remembered it, but at the height of the "Airplane Girl" ad campaign a couple of pretty funny th
33 UALWN: Apparently Siegel's tactics worked, at least at some level. BTW, thank you for the excellent thread.
34 LoneStarMike: Ha! I knew about the part about the Airplane Girl that was a plane from the wings forward and a "hoochie-mama" from the wings back, but I didn't know
35 LoneStarMike: By 1979, Southwest had a new slogan - No Better Airline for Love or Money No Better For Love Or Money - May 1979 This ad featured a winking George Was
36 LV: On a similar note.... where does WN have MX at. I know there are a couple of hangers at MDW. I assume something at DAL... what else?
37 LoneStarMike: A press release I read last year mentioned four MX bases - DAL, HOU, MDW & PHX. LoneStarMike
38 LoneStarMike: Continuing now into 1980. Southwest's slogan in 1980 was "That's Love Southwest Style." Some people say we serve the best airline food - June 1980 Thi
39 LoneStarMike: Continuing now into 1981 Love with no strings attached - March 1981 I loved this ad, but I only saw it once in Texas Monthly. It's a flight attendant
40 LoneStarMike: Before I finish up with 1981, I just wanted to let you all know what happened yesterday. I'm sitting on the couch around lunchtime and all of a sudden
41 PITops: That's some good stuff there. I saved a printed schedule too but mine's not signed. LUCKY!
42 Mrcoffee: I was just talking about WN @ SFO with my Dad the other day, who used to work for TWA @ SFO. TWA used to handle their flights originally. (I believe i
43 28L28L: LoneStarMike: It's good to see hard work and dedication rewarded! Enjoy the treats!
44 LoneStarMike: Thanks! Here's what I could find from the last part of 1981. In March of 1978, Lamar Muse had left Southwest. By August 1981 he was starting a new air
45 TxAgKuwait: Mike: Where are you geographically? One of these days You, me, Opnl_Guy, and perhaps SCCutler need to get together for a meal or something. (I tend to
46 N200WN: LoneStarMike, thanks for all you done with this thread. Lots of interesting info here. Cool that you were recognized by someone for your efforts. Also
47 LoneStarMike: Thanks. I'm finding all kinds of cool stuff that I'll be posting later. Aanyway, back to 1982. The January 1982 issue of Texas Monthly featured their
48 LoneStarMike: This is a short post, because it's a link to a long article. It mentions Southwest very little, but it's still a great read. It's called "The Man Who
49 LoneStarMike: Southwest opened the LAX station on September 18, 1982 - the fifth new city opened that year. Meanwhile, Muse Air was touting it's reserved seating po
51 LoneStarMike: By the beginning of 1983, Southwest was serving 20 cities (21 airports) with 10 being in the State of Texas and the other 10 outside the state. Januar
52 LoneStarMike: Two months later, Texas Monthly had an entry in their State Secrets page about WN fare hikes in Texas, while at the same time WN was offering $25 fare
53 Floorrunner: Keep up the great work on this thread Lone Star Mike. My interest in aviation is primarily an historical aspect and I feel I have hit the jackpot with
54 LoneStarMike: Thanks! January 4, 1984 Route Map (from departedflights.com) 1984 started off with a bang. On January 31, Muse Air announced they'd begin flying from
55 Txagkuwait: Mike, do you recall in some of my other posts where I mentioned that most of the movers-and-shakers at WN were ex-TTa people? In fact, I think I once
56 LoneStarMike: I don't know how I missed it, but no - I didn't realize there was a lot of TTa blood over at WN. I did know about Continental really being Texas Inte
57 LoneStarMike: January 6, 1985 Route Map (from departedflights.com) March 1985 was a very busy month for Southwest. First, they ran an ad in Texas monthly featuring
58 LoneStarMike: BTW, I wanted to add that this thread made the news section over on the Nuts About Southwest blog. Airliners.net: The complete list of Southwest's his
60 LoneStarMike: Continuing with 1985 - A different ad from Texas Monthly: Your Schedule Is Our Schedule - August 1985 This ad featured a flight departure monitor with
61 LoneStarMike: The first plane in TranStar's livery went into passenger service right on schedule - January 13, 1986. A 30-projector slide show combined with 16mm fi
63 LoneStarMike: On the Southwest side of things, In January 1986, Texas Monthly had a cute article written by Paula Phillips, one of Southwest's original flight atten
64 LoneStarMike: In June, Southwest's introduced its newest slogan - The Company Plane - and coupled that with the "Just Say When" tagline. The Company Plane - June 19
65 LoneStarMike: On January 7, 1987, Rio Airways began flying Beech 1900 aircraft under a codeshare agreement with TranStar. The feeder service, called TranStar Skylin
66 LoneStarMike: Meanwhile, this is what was happening on the Southwest Airlines side in 1987 First ad of the year in Texas Monthly Winter White Sale - January 1987 Th
67 LoneStarMike: On June 22, 1987 Southwest introduced its frequent flyer program - called The Company Club. Introducing The Shortest Routes To Free Trips - August 198
68 LoneStarMike: 1988: In January, Southwest announced a strategic partnership with SeaWorld. One of the reasons the two companies decided to work together was because
69 LoneStarMike: In June, Texas Monthly ran a story wondering why Continental Airlines - who had made a big deal about wanting to fly from Love Field - wasn't there ye
70 LoneStarMike: 1989: The first ad of the year was for Fun Fares. $19 Fun Fares Ad - January 1989 Also in the January issue was a story about a woman from Austin who,
71 Unmlobo: Great stuff Mike, have really enjoyed reading all of this history.
72 LoneStarMike: Thanks! Continuing 1989: In July - a new convenience for passengers: Southwest Airlines Tickets Are Now Available In Thousands Of Convenient New Locat
73 LoneStarMike: Texas Monthly ran a story in its November issue about Conquest Airlines - a small commuter airline based in Austin and serving several small (and some
74 LoneStarMike: 1990: Southwest becomes a major airline with revenues of over $1 billion. They ran an ad in the April issue of Texas Monthly to celebrate this achieve
75 LoneStarMike: In November, Texas Monthly ran another story about Southwest Airlines - this time involving two advertising agencies competing for the Southwest Airli
76 SWABrian: Mike, I am glad you enjoyed the Southwest goodies. What you found on swamedia is just the tip of the archives. We have been working to get a much more
77 LoneStarMike: I can't wait to see. How about a 40th Anniversary commemorative "coffee table" book in June, 2011. (Think ancillary revenue - I'd buy one) I've alrea
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