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.

Read more: Southwest Ends an Era While American Begins a New One

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.

Read more: The day after: is the era of free luggage really over?

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:

Read more: Are offline thoughts not as interesting as online thoughts?

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.

Read more: New design for Brewery District hotel

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.”

Read more: Be Careful Before Deciding Southwest Was Unsafe

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

Read more: 3-C Passenger Rail

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.

Read more: Saarinen's TWA Terminal Restoration

According to the Wall Street Journal, both United and American airlines are reviewing their procedures to ensure that fuel contaminated with water isn't loaded onto their aircraft.

Read more: Fuel contamination the answer to London crash?

I’m still battling a $50 charge ransom fee by American Airlines for overweight luggage on my return from Europe last October. I’ve written the AA CEO, with no response (just sent him a second copy in snail mail) and then decided to take another run at Am Ex re my dispute.

Read more: “We’re just a credit card company.” Whimper

W00t! The sun is out! Praise be to the weather. Let's face it: kind words and genuine praise just feel good. It is all too common when talented people take on a type of snobbery, as if they have earned some form of superiority.

Read more: Beach Walk 586 - Friendliness & Praise

The Italian government did finally decide to pick the Air France/KLM deal as their favorite, so the two airlines entered into talks. Then, the Italian government collapsed. Oh boy. There’s lots of speculation that the collapse of the government means that this deal is in trouble, but we really don’t know. The players all deny that this will hurt anything.

Read more: Things Get Worse for Alitalia, If You Can Believe It

This all came about because Darwin and I were in the early stages of planning a trip to Europe later in the spring, and I noticed with a sick feeling how drastically cheaper airline tickets and hotels are in February. I was complaining about this over dinner with Kristen when one of us - I can’t remember who - suggested we should take advantage of those cheap prices and go on an off-season “mini-break” to some as-yet-undetermined city in Europe.

Read more: Kristein Goes to Germany

Delta, and most of the other network airlines, tends to look the other way when someone unusually tall or wide boards its aircraft. At least one carrier, Southwest Airlines, doesn’t. It requires that plus-sized passengers buy an extra seat (they get their money back if there are empty seats). I could find no policy regarding these oversized travelers on Delta’s Web site, which says to me that your seatmate wasn’t out of line in booking only one seat.

Read more: Hey, where’s my airline seat?

Not that its a bad plan. Pretty smart, actually. Its good for passengers, because you don't have to stand in line to get a good seat. You are called up in groups, and the lower your number, the closer to the front of the line you will be. And they're strict about it. Try jumping in line, and you will get to know those gate attendants really well. And it is good for the airline, because if a person wants to pay more, they can buy their way to a good number. If you purchase a business class ticket, you will pay more, but you will be guaranteed a good number. Its no wonder Southwest Airlines turns a profit. They're actually really smart.

Read more: My Observations From Air Travel

In the early 1970's, flight attendants (then referred to as "stewardesses") who worked for Southwest Airlines dressed like this:

Read more: Just Plane Confused