Southwest CEO cautious, but says growth will continue

[Alex T]

DALLAS — The chief executive of Southwest Airlines said Wednesday that he is cautious about the economy and demand for air travel this fall but has no immediate plans to cut back on expansion.

Southwest and other carriers packed their planes with vacation travelers this summer, but fall is traditionally a slower time for airlines.

http://www.usatoday.com/travel/flights/ ... look_N.htm (http://www.usatoday.com/travel/flights/2007-10-11-southwest-outlook_N.htm)

Some highlites of the article..

--outfit gate areas with family areas including kid-size tables and chairs, and children's programming on television monitors.
--Southwest plans to spend $30 million to $40 million to give gate areas a facelift and allow customers to board by numbers instead of in three large groups.
--in-flight wireless Internet service. Kelly said the Dallas-based carrier expects to equip four planes with wireless service by next June.

Here is a picture of the new boarding gates for WN which are coming soon for the airports

http://www.southwest.com/images/help/makeover/gate_aerial.jpg

Alex

[T-Bird76]

Alex btw...that guy sitting on the stool at what you called a changing table...its not a changing table, its a laptop station. I do like the power outlet idea, anytime I'm in an airport I'm always looking for a power outlet to plug into.

[Mateo]

Is it just me, or does that look like a lot of physical space with not a lot of capacity? I only see 60-70 seats. Now that you don't have to spread out on the carpet in front of the A sign, the people are going to want some chairs!