dr_phil_physics: (rose-airplane)
dr_phil_physics ([personal profile] dr_phil_physics) wrote2013-02-05 02:39 pm

Hooray?

GRR

860 days ago I wrote about the possibility of Southwest Airlines coming to Grand Rapids (DW). Southwest is, of course, the biggest of the discount airlines, and the hope is having Southwest here will cause ticket prices out of the Gerald R. Ford International Airport to drop.

Yesterday the airport people scheduled a big announcement for 11am and indeed, as part of the Southwest takeover of Air Tran, Southwest will officially be an airline in Grand Rapids. Also, they're going to bring in bigger aircraft than Air Tran was operating.

Years ago I flew Southwest and was amused by their positive attitude corporate culture. I'm sure today I'd be less satisfied, especially with the probability that they'd make me buy two tickets, but overall flying in and out of GRR can be rather expensive, so having Southwest here should make others happy.

One funny aspect of the announcement was that while the airport people were being coy about what the announcement actually was going to be, one of the staffers at WOOD Radio went to the Southwest website before 9am and found the newly revised map showing routes coming out of Grand Rapids. (grin) Ah, research. What a wonderful thing.

Dr. Phil