Southwest Unveils Perks for Biz Flyers

Meanwhile, airline grounds 79 planes, cancels hundreds of flights

(NEWSER) - Fatigue cracking has been found along the entire 5-foot section of a Southwest Airlines jet that ripped open on Friday, forcing an emergency landing in Arizona. The NTSB says that mechanics will cut a 9-foot by 3-foot section of the plane and send it to Washington, DC, for testing. Southwest has responded by grounding at least 79 planes, reports the AP; at least 300 flights were canceled yesterday. More»

Will help it compete with Delta in Atlanta

(AP) - Southwest Airlines will buy AirTran for about $1.42 billion, the companies announced today. The move will put Southwest in head-to-head competition with Delta in Delta's home base of Atlanta. The buyout, funded mostly with debt, will also give Southwest a bigger slice of the market in cities like Boston and New York, where it has been expanding. More»

Continental, Alaska, JetBlue and Southwest earn top marks

(NEWSER) - After three straight years of losing altitude, airline customer satisfaction ratings are on the rise, according to a study released today by JD Power and Associates. Overall satisfaction with North American carriers rose 15 points on a 1,000-point scale, the Chicago Tribune reports, with 10 of 12 airlines improving their scores. Alaska and Continental airlines were the top-rated major carriers, with JetBlue and Southwest taking home the low-cost honors. More»

Study shows big carriers turn down most requests

(NEWSER) - If you're hoping to redeem some of your frequent flier miles on US Airways or Delta, good luck. Those two airlines could fulfill just 10.7% and 12.9% of standard mileage award requests in a recent study, and while best-in-class Southwest could fulfill 99.3%, other US carriers didn't fare a whole lot better, the Wall Street Journal reports. The numbers demonstrate what many fliers already suspected: that airlines give away miles willy-nilly, but make it nearly impossible to use them. More»

From the smug first-class traveler to loud babies

(NEWSER) - There are lots of reasons to dislike getting on an airplane; herewith, Guyism points out the most annoying types of people you’ll run into as you fly the friendly skies:

• The first-class flier: Sorry, Jeff Wysaski writes to “this smug assembly of businessmen, trust fund kids and trophy wives … a little extra legroom and a warm chocolate chip cookie does not make you more important than me.”