Southwest Airlines

For an airplane fuselage to be torn open ("Southwest grounds jets after hole opens midair," April 3) this particular plane could not have been thoroughly and timely inspected for a long, long time. After this horrific occurrence, now the inspections begin. It seems to me that the inspection process is certainly not what it is "cracked up" to be. Ruth Fried, Owings Mills

As you shop for airfare for your summer vacation, don't overlook the cost of fees for bags or changing a reservation that can add quite a bit to your travel bill. Airlines collected a record $6.1 billion last year in these fees, according to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics. That could be because fees are rising as well as more people are flying, said George Hobica, founder of Airfarewatchdog.com, which publishes a list of airline charges. Fees continue to rise this year, with some airlines recently increasing the cost to change a reservation from $150 to $200.

As a proud employee of Southwest Airlines, I read your article ("Is Southwest Airlines losing the luv?" Feb. 9) with dismay. Within the article you acknowledge the fact that Southwest is still the only airline allowing two bags to fly free while simultaneously berating the company for "swelling its bottom line. " While most of the reporting in this piece is technically accurate, the omission of information is unfortunate at best and could easily lead readers to believe that the opinions reflected by the few customers quoted here represent a majority.

Southwest Airlines was fined $150,000 Wednesday for failing to respond to consumer complaints in a timely fashion, the Department of Transportation announced. Federal enforcement officers found that the Dallas-based airline did not answer "a large number" of disability-related and other consumer complaints filed on its website from June 2011 through January 2012. Further, the agency said, when the airline did respond, it was late and it did not include information specifically required by transportation department regulations.

At the rate it's going, Southwest Airlines may have to change its name. Having built a reputation for offering low fares and frequent flights around the Southwest, the airline has slowly been expanding eastward.Southwest's first flights to the Northeast are scheduled for Oct. 27, when it will offer nonstop flights between Providence, R.I., and Baltimore (eight daily nonstops each way, with a $59 unrestricted one-way fare, $39 for 14-day advance purchase).It plans to start service on the same date between Providence and Chicago Midway (two nonstops, $149 one way, $89 for 14-day advance)

Jim Utick Ground operations/ramp agent Southwest Airlines, Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport Age: 44 Years in the business: 19 - the last four with Southwest Airlines Salary: $13.82 an hour How he got started: Utick went to work for an airline in Monterey, Calif., after leaving a factory job. After completing his bachelor's degree from the State University of New York at Oswego in 2001, Utick thought he would go into teaching. He instead began working for Southwest Airlines in Baltimore and decided to stay.

More than 1,500 Southwest Airlines passengers were evacuated yesterday from a pier at Baltimore-Washington International Airport because of what airline officials described as a faulty X-ray machine at a security checkpoint. Five flights were grounded during a security sweep that lasted nearly two hours, and the malfunctioning screening device was shut down. "The good news is that a [security] breach did not occur," said Steve Sisneros, district marketing manager for Southwest, BWI's largest carrier.

DALLAS - Southwest Airlines Co.'s second-quarter profit fell 7.9 percent as passenger traffic slowed with the U.S. economy and the largest low-fare carrier trimmed ticket prices even further to attract travelers. Net income declined to $175.6 million, or 22 cents a share, compared with $190.6 million, or 24 cents, a year earlier, Southwest said yesterday. Its sales rose 6.4 percent to $1.55 billion from $1.46 billion. Southwest, the largest carrier at Baltimore-Washington International Airport, joined Continental Airlines Inc. and Alaska Air Group Inc. as the only carriers among the nation's eight largest to earn money in the second quarter.

While some of its largest competitors were being hammered by rising fuel costs and canceled flights last summer, Dallas-based Southwest Airlines was busy adding seats and stealing market share on its way to posting a 45.1 percent increase in third-quarter income. The steadily growing discount air carrier yesterday reported net income of $184.3 million for the quarter that ended Sept. 30, compared with $127 million in the third quarter of 1999. Those results translate into earnings of 35 cents per share, up from 24 cents a year earlier and 3 cents higher than the average estimate.

Southwest Airlines passengers will need a boarding pass to get through airport security checkpoints starting Tuesday, making Southwest the first airline at Baltimore-Washington International Airport to require the heightened security. Passenger itineraries and ticket receipts will no longer be enough to get through security, airline officials said yesterday. Instead, Southwest passengers must pick up a boarding pass at the ticket counter, at curbside check-in or from one of 12 new electronic ticketing kiosks that the airline has installed at BWI. Southwest is the busiest airline at BWI, with 144 daily departures representing about 45 percent of the airport's business.

The future of BWI Marshall Airport can be seen in the new sweeping terminal roofline that hints of something big, the panorama of glass that gives street-side passengers a view of arriving jets and a cavernous security checkpoint with nine stations and the latest detection equipment. The first phase of a $100 million upgrade opened before dawn Tuesday and served its first bleary-eyed customers on their way to Chicago. The new Concourse C replaces a dark, funnel-like portal in the oldest part of the building, when it was known as Friendship Airport.

Higher airfares and lower fuel prices combined to give Southwest Airlines $59 million in first-quarter net profits, or 8 cents a share, beating Wall Street's predictions. The Dallas-based airline's earnings fell 40 percent from $98 million, or 13 cents a share, of a year ago. Revenue rose 2.3 percent to a record $4.1 billion. The report exceeded the First Call consensus estimate of 2 cents per share. Southwest and its subsidiary AirTran Airways are the largest carriers at BWI Marshall Airport, accounting for 71 percent of all commercial passenger traffic.

Southwest Airlines took another step in completing its integration with AirTran, announcing Monday that customers can purchase tickets to all 97 destinations served by the two carriers in a single transaction. The newly connected booking network will handle sales for all flights starting April 14. "With a connected network, we can offer customers more itineraries, more destinations, more low fares," Bob Jordan, chief commercial officer at Southwest Airlines and president of AirTran, said in a statement.

As a proud employee of Southwest Airlines, I read your article ("Is Southwest Airlines losing the luv?" Feb. 9) with dismay. Within the article you acknowledge the fact that Southwest is still the only airline allowing two bags to fly free while simultaneously berating the company for "swelling its bottom line. " While most of the reporting in this piece is technically accurate, the omission of information is unfortunate at best and could easily lead readers to believe that the opinions reflected by the few customers quoted here represent a majority.

Southwest Airlines' fliers may be starting to feel fee-bitten. The airline that prides itself on flying in the face of the baggage fee trend has come up with another way to come between you and your wallet. Southwest, the largest carrier at BWI-Marshall Airport, announced this week that it will begin offering passengers the opportunity to be among the first to board the plane – for a fee. Customers can pay $40 per flight at the gate to secure one of the earliest boarding positions in what is known as the 'A' group.

Several flights were delayed at BWI Thurgood Marshall Airport Sunday morning when a false fire alarm automatically shut down the baggage area for Southwest Airlines, one of the airport's largest carriers, officials said. While authorities ultimately determined there was no fire on the conveyor belt system that transports baggage, the delay from the alarm and investigation caused some complications for travelers during the busy year-end holiday season. "It did cause a little bit of the delay.

Southwest Airlines Co., the only big U.S. carrier that's still profitable, might expand its fleet next year as competitors shrink operations to blunt surging fuel bills. The largest low-fare airline might keep as many as 10 older planes set to be retired this year and then add 14 new jets next year, Chief Executive Officer Gary C. Kelly said in an interview. As United Airlines and others prepare to pare flying in the fourth quarter, Southwest has delayed deciding on next year's expansion, he said.

For some airline passengers, Black Friday has arrived a week early courtesy of Southwest Airlines. The airline could not contain itself, launching a one-day only Doorbuster Sale today. The dominant carrier at Baltimore-Washington Thurgood Marshall Airport is offering up to 40 percent off round-trip flights in the Wanna Get Away fare category when you use the promo code EARLYDEAL. The discount is good only for travel on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, from Dec. 11 to Feb. 12. Still, there are bargains to be had if you can work around blackout dates that include the day after Christmas and Jan. 1. However, Christmas Day is not blacked out and is included in the sale.

If you were hoping to escape the misery of Sandy's looming impact on the Mid-Atlantic, it's too late. Major air, rail and bus carriers have canceled most trips into Tuesday. Delta Airlines offered the last scheduled flights out of town Monday morning from Baltimore-Washington Thurgood Marshall International Airport, where most airlines have canceled service for the rest of today. BWI officials said late Sunday that it would offer a "very" limited number of flights on Monday. Southwest Airlines suspended service at the airport effective at 10 p.m. Sunday night.