Travel Blog

It was a sentimental day over in Dallas yesterday when Herb Kelleher officially stepped down as Chairman of the Board of Southwest Airlines. It won’t, however, be the end of his involvement with the airline. He’s still going to be around for at least 5 years. Apparently he’ll be focusing on getting a more fuel efficient replacement for the airline’s 737s. Rumor has it that the new plane will be powered by Wild Turkey.

Delta Air Lines says no. United Airlines is seriously studying it (is there an exam coming up?). Other airlines are staying quiet after American Airlines’ controversial announcement that it will start charging $15 for the first checked bag.

Paul Dervan has an interesting post about Southwest Airlines use of Twitter. For those unfamiliar with Twitter, it’s a bit of a mix between an Internet forum and Instant Messaging (watch this video for a better example.) Paul, the interested marketeer, points out that:

Seattle hotel developer Hotel Concepts has posted a new drawing for its proposed Holiday Inn Express hotel on the site of the former Heidelberg Brewery.

Oh boy, the media had a field day with this one. CNN put out an article entitled, “Records: Southwest Airlines flew ‘unsafe’ planes” and Rep Oberstar was quoted as saying that “The result of inspection failures, and enforcement failure, has meant that aircraft have flown unsafe, unairworthy, and at risk of lives.”

Logic #2 - OK since Amtrak can’t make money anywhere, no one else seems to think it’s profitable either.

The T.W.A. terminal at JFK airport is getting some serious cash. $19 million to be exact. The Port Authority of NY and NJ plan to renovate the famous Eero Saarinen designed terminal. It will reopen as the Jet Blue Portal for the enormous new JetBlue Airways terminal that wraps around the T.W.A. building in a crescent shape.