Test Your Knowledge of Southwest Airlines on Their 40th Birthday Which is Today
Jun 18, 2011, 4:59 am
#1
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Test Your Knowledge of Southwest Airlines on Their 40th Birthday Which is Today
Jun 18, 2011, 5:53 am
#2
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question 1 was exciting
then:
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Jun 18, 2011, 7:07 am
#4
In memoriam
Original Poster
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Posts: 1,697
1. Which of these airports was not served on Southwest Airlines’ first day of service June 18, 1971?
A. Dallas Love Field
B. Houston Hobby
C. Houston Intercontinental
D. San Antonio
2. What was the name of the 1979 law that restricted flights out of Dallas Love Field, and for whom was it named?
3. Name the four airlines that Southwest has acquired.
4. Which was the first destination served by Southwest beyond the original cities of Dallas, Houston and San Antonio?
A. Austin
B. El Paso
C. Harlingen
D. Midland
5. What was the first non-Texas destination for Southwest?
A. Albuquerque
B. Little Rock
C. Oklahoma City
D. New Orleans
6. True or False: Southwest Airlines has never had a labor strike.
7. Name the airport where Southwest has started service twice, ended service twice and currently has no service.
8. Southwest started service to two other cities, abandoned those cities, and now serves them again. Name them.
9. Southwest began service to one Texas city and then halted service, never to return. What city was that?
10. Can you name all of Southwest’s chief executives since the airline began flying, in order? (Hint: There have been five.)
11. Herb Kelleher, at just over 20 years, served longest as CEO. Which CEO since the 1971 launch served the shortest amount of time?
12. Name the only Southwest president since the 1971 launch who didn’t also serve as CEO.
13. Only two people since 1971 have held all three titles at Southwest: chairman, president and CEO. Name them.
14. The 1979 federal law that restricted flights out of Love Field said that airlines could fly nonstop from Dallas Love Field to airports in only five states. Name those states.
15. The Shelby amendment to that federal law in 1997 expanded the Love Field boundaries by adding three states. Name the states.
16. In late 2005, Congress put one more state inside the Love Field flight boundaries. Name that state.
17. A 2006 compromise said that airlines would eventually be allowed to fly nonstop from Dallas Love Field to any U.S. destination. What year will the limits come off?
18. Southwest has flights — nonstop, direct or connecting — to all the states inside the Love Field flight boundaries, except one. Name that state.
19. Southwest was the focus of what cable TV show?
20. What was Southwest Airlines’ name before it was Southwest Airlines?
21. Which of Southwest’s CEOs had been a CEO at another airline before joining Southwest?
22. The biggest city not currently served by Southwest is Atlanta. But as it absorbs AirTran, it will add that city and a number of others. What is the largest U.S. city not served by either Southwest or AirTran?
23. What type of airplane originally was to be Southwest’s launch aircraft?
24. Southwest started with three airplanes. How many years did it take Southwest to reach 100 airplanes in its fleet?
A. 9
B. 14
C. 19
D. 24
25. About how many airplanes does Southwest have in its fleet now?
A. 330
B. 440
C. 550
D. 737
26. Did Southwest serve more bags of peanuts or pretzels in 2010?
27. Two Southwest CEOs are graduates of the same university. Name that university.
28. Herb Kelleher was a co-founder of Southwest, but the idea was thought up by a San Antonio businessman who proposed it to him. Who was that other co-founder?
29. How did Kelleher and Kurt Herwald, chairman of Stevens Aviation, settle their 1992 dispute over who had the rights to the slogan “Just Plane Smart”?
30. From what airport does Southwest have the most daily departures? (Hint: It isn’t in Texas.)
31. From which airport does Southwest serve the most destinations? (Same hint.)
32. From which airport does Southwest have the fewest flights? (Hint: It’s in Texas.)
33. One share of Southwest Airlines stock on Jan. 1, 1977, has been split into how many shares today:
A. 1.25
B. 8.56
C. 19.77
D. 300.34
34. How many versions of the Boeing 737 has Southwest operated?
35. Southwest had a marketing agreement with an international carrier back in the 1990s, with Southwest feeding passengers to the other carrier in Baltimore. Can you name that airline?
A. Aer Lingus
B. Icelandair
C. LOT Polish Airlines
D. Sabena
36. Why are Kyla Ebbert and Bar Refaeli special in the annals of Southwest history?
37. In December 1976, Southwest applied to start another airline outside Texas. Where was that airline to be based, and what happened to it?
38. What are the two primary contributions that Southwest Airlines pilots have made to Herb Kelleher’s ground transportation?
39. Which pop culture character has Kelleher not dressed up as?
A. Lady Gaga
B. Elvis
C. Biker dude
D. Gomez Adams
40. Southwest’s original route map was drawn out on a:
A. Cocktail napkin
B. Texaco road map
C. Dusty pickup hood
D. None of the above
ANSWERS:
1. B — Houston Hobby. Southwest originally flew to Houston Intercontinental but began Houston Hobby flights Nov. 14, 1971, nearly five months after it launched service.
2. The Wright amendment , named after its sponsor, U.S. Rep. Jim Wright , D-Fort Worth.
3. Muse Air , bought in 1985, renamed TranStar Airlines in 1986 and grounded in 1987; Morris Air, bought in 1993 and assimilated; ATA Airlines, bought in 2008 so Southwest could get its takeoff and landing slots at New York LaGuardia; and AirTran Airways, bought in 2010, with the deal closed on May 2.
4. C — Harlingen, on Feb. 11, 1975.
5. D — New Orleans, Jan. 25, 1979. Southwest picked this route for its first interstate expansion after Congress deregulated the airline industry. Its expansion to New Orleans prompted the political debate that resulted in limits on nonstop service from Love Field, the Wright amendment.
6. False: The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers walked off the job on Jan. 13, 1980. The union later accepted the company’s offer from Jan. 10 and returned to work.
7. Houston Intercontinental, started June 18, 1971, ended in May 1972; and started Sept. 8, 1980, ended April 2, 2005.
8. Denver, started in 1983, left in 1986, returned in 2006; and San Francisco, launched in 1982, stopped in 2001, launched anew in 2007.
9. Beaumont, started March 5, 1979, ended Sept. 5, 1980.
10. Lamar Muse , Howard Putnam, Herb Kelleher, Jim Parker and Gary Kelly.
11. Jim Parker, by six days. Parker sat in the CEO’s chair for three years and 26 days. Howard Putnam sat there for three years and 32 days.
12. Colleen Barrett. When Herb Kelleher relinquished two of his three positions in 2001, Barrett took the president’s position and Parker took the CEO’s job. She stepped down July 15, 2008, with the title president emeritus.
13. Herb Kelleher and Gary Kelly.
14. Texas , New Mexico, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Louisiana.
15. Mississippi , Alabama and Kansas.
16. Missouri. Southwest quickly began flights to St. Louis and Kansas City.
17. 2014. To be precise, Oct. 16, 2014.
18. Kansas. Oddly enough, Kansas politicians have fought the hardest through the years to change the Wright amendment in hopes that Southwest Airlines would serve Wichita. Since 1997, Southwest is legally allowed to fly nonstop but hasn’t put Wichita on its route map.
19. Airline, a reality show that aired on the A&E Network in 2004 and 2005, with reruns on A&E and other cable channels. It showed real Southwest employees dealing with real Southwest passengers. (That must be why they called it a reality show.)
20. Air Southwest . Lamar Muse described the original name as sounding like “some Mickey Mouse, third-level carrier.”
21. Lamar Muse. He had served as CEO at Central Airlines and Universal Air before coming to Southwest.
22. Fresno, Calif.
23. Lockheed Electras , to be acquired from American Airlines.
24. C — It was 19 years, in 1990, before Southwest reached 100 airplanes. It took another seven years, to 1997, to reach 250 airplanes.
25. C — About 550 (548 as of March 31).
26. Peanuts handily beat pretzels, 87.6 million bags to 19 million bags. The airline reports that it also served 63.5 million cans of soda, juices or water; 13.6 million alcoholic beverages; 18.4 million Select-A-Snacks; and 29 million other snacks.
27. The University of Texas, the school attended by both Jim Parker and Gary Kelly.
28. Rollin King.
29. They arm-wrestled for it in the “Malice in Dallas” match at the old Dallas Sportatorium. Kurt Herwald won but let Kelleher and Southwest keep using the slogan.
30. Chicago Midway, with 243 departures as of June 5. Next are Las Vegas, 227; Phoenix and Baltimore, 195; and Denver, 153.
31. Chicago and Las Vegas, with flights to 54 airports each.
32. Corpus Christi, with five daily departures. It also has the fewest destinations — one, Houston Hobby.
33. D — 300.34, following 14 splits from 1977 to 2001. It hasn’t split since early 2001, and that was when Southwest’s share prices peaked. But one share worth $4.125 on Jan. 1, 1975, would be worth more than $3,300 at current prices with annual dividends of $5.41.
34. Four: the original Boeing 737-200s; the “Classic” Boeing 737-300s and 500s; and the “Next Generation” Boeing 737-700. Southwest will begin operating a fifth version, the 737-800, in 2012.
35. B — Icelandair. It was a short-lived arrangement.
36. Ebbert was the San Diego woman who made a splash after a Southwest employee ordered her to either get off a July 2007 flight or adjust her clothing. Southwest later apologized.
“We searched for the naked truth, got down to the bare facts, and she kind of caught us with our pants down,” Southwest chief executive Gary Kelly said. “So we’re apologizing, and we’re going to move on and hope we keep her as a good and valued customer.”
Ebbert later appeared in Playboy magazine.
Bar Refaeli was the Israeli model whose swimsuited body was displayed on the side of a Southwest Airlines jet in early 2009. She joined killer whales as among the living things that have been displayed on a Southwest airplane’s exterior.
37. Midway (Southwest) Airway Co., an air carrier to be based at Chicago’s Midway Airport. The proposal died for two reasons: Its primary proponent, Lamar Muse, resigned in late March 1978, less than two months after the Civil Aeronautics Board began hearings; and the 1978 airline deregulation act gave Southwest the freedom to fly interstate routes beyond Texas.
38. A. They bought him a customized Harley-Davidson motorcycle; B. They swiped his luxury car while he was eating at the Palm restaurant and had purple neon lights installed on its underside.
39. A — Lady Gaga, so far.
40. D — None of the above. The cocktail napkin was just a myth created by the airline early in the company’s history.
SOURCES: Southwest Airlines; Brian Lusk; Dallas Morning News research
A. Dallas Love Field
B. Houston Hobby
C. Houston Intercontinental
D. San Antonio
2. What was the name of the 1979 law that restricted flights out of Dallas Love Field, and for whom was it named?
3. Name the four airlines that Southwest has acquired.
4. Which was the first destination served by Southwest beyond the original cities of Dallas, Houston and San Antonio?
A. Austin
B. El Paso
C. Harlingen
D. Midland
5. What was the first non-Texas destination for Southwest?
A. Albuquerque
B. Little Rock
C. Oklahoma City
D. New Orleans
6. True or False: Southwest Airlines has never had a labor strike.
7. Name the airport where Southwest has started service twice, ended service twice and currently has no service.
8. Southwest started service to two other cities, abandoned those cities, and now serves them again. Name them.
9. Southwest began service to one Texas city and then halted service, never to return. What city was that?
10. Can you name all of Southwest’s chief executives since the airline began flying, in order? (Hint: There have been five.)
11. Herb Kelleher, at just over 20 years, served longest as CEO. Which CEO since the 1971 launch served the shortest amount of time?
12. Name the only Southwest president since the 1971 launch who didn’t also serve as CEO.
13. Only two people since 1971 have held all three titles at Southwest: chairman, president and CEO. Name them.
14. The 1979 federal law that restricted flights out of Love Field said that airlines could fly nonstop from Dallas Love Field to airports in only five states. Name those states.
15. The Shelby amendment to that federal law in 1997 expanded the Love Field boundaries by adding three states. Name the states.
16. In late 2005, Congress put one more state inside the Love Field flight boundaries. Name that state.
17. A 2006 compromise said that airlines would eventually be allowed to fly nonstop from Dallas Love Field to any U.S. destination. What year will the limits come off?
18. Southwest has flights — nonstop, direct or connecting — to all the states inside the Love Field flight boundaries, except one. Name that state.
19. Southwest was the focus of what cable TV show?
20. What was Southwest Airlines’ name before it was Southwest Airlines?
21. Which of Southwest’s CEOs had been a CEO at another airline before joining Southwest?
22. The biggest city not currently served by Southwest is Atlanta. But as it absorbs AirTran, it will add that city and a number of others. What is the largest U.S. city not served by either Southwest or AirTran?
23. What type of airplane originally was to be Southwest’s launch aircraft?
24. Southwest started with three airplanes. How many years did it take Southwest to reach 100 airplanes in its fleet?
A. 9
B. 14
C. 19
D. 24
25. About how many airplanes does Southwest have in its fleet now?
A. 330
B. 440
C. 550
D. 737
26. Did Southwest serve more bags of peanuts or pretzels in 2010?
27. Two Southwest CEOs are graduates of the same university. Name that university.
28. Herb Kelleher was a co-founder of Southwest, but the idea was thought up by a San Antonio businessman who proposed it to him. Who was that other co-founder?
29. How did Kelleher and Kurt Herwald, chairman of Stevens Aviation, settle their 1992 dispute over who had the rights to the slogan “Just Plane Smart”?
30. From what airport does Southwest have the most daily departures? (Hint: It isn’t in Texas.)
31. From which airport does Southwest serve the most destinations? (Same hint.)
32. From which airport does Southwest have the fewest flights? (Hint: It’s in Texas.)
33. One share of Southwest Airlines stock on Jan. 1, 1977, has been split into how many shares today:
A. 1.25
B. 8.56
C. 19.77
D. 300.34
34. How many versions of the Boeing 737 has Southwest operated?
35. Southwest had a marketing agreement with an international carrier back in the 1990s, with Southwest feeding passengers to the other carrier in Baltimore. Can you name that airline?
A. Aer Lingus
B. Icelandair
C. LOT Polish Airlines
D. Sabena
36. Why are Kyla Ebbert and Bar Refaeli special in the annals of Southwest history?
37. In December 1976, Southwest applied to start another airline outside Texas. Where was that airline to be based, and what happened to it?
38. What are the two primary contributions that Southwest Airlines pilots have made to Herb Kelleher’s ground transportation?
39. Which pop culture character has Kelleher not dressed up as?
A. Lady Gaga
B. Elvis
C. Biker dude
D. Gomez Adams
40. Southwest’s original route map was drawn out on a:
A. Cocktail napkin
B. Texaco road map
C. Dusty pickup hood
D. None of the above
ANSWERS:
1. B — Houston Hobby. Southwest originally flew to Houston Intercontinental but began Houston Hobby flights Nov. 14, 1971, nearly five months after it launched service.
2. The Wright amendment , named after its sponsor, U.S. Rep. Jim Wright , D-Fort Worth.
3. Muse Air , bought in 1985, renamed TranStar Airlines in 1986 and grounded in 1987; Morris Air, bought in 1993 and assimilated; ATA Airlines, bought in 2008 so Southwest could get its takeoff and landing slots at New York LaGuardia; and AirTran Airways, bought in 2010, with the deal closed on May 2.
4. C — Harlingen, on Feb. 11, 1975.
5. D — New Orleans, Jan. 25, 1979. Southwest picked this route for its first interstate expansion after Congress deregulated the airline industry. Its expansion to New Orleans prompted the political debate that resulted in limits on nonstop service from Love Field, the Wright amendment.
6. False: The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers walked off the job on Jan. 13, 1980. The union later accepted the company’s offer from Jan. 10 and returned to work.
7. Houston Intercontinental, started June 18, 1971, ended in May 1972; and started Sept. 8, 1980, ended April 2, 2005.
8. Denver, started in 1983, left in 1986, returned in 2006; and San Francisco, launched in 1982, stopped in 2001, launched anew in 2007.
9. Beaumont, started March 5, 1979, ended Sept. 5, 1980.
10. Lamar Muse , Howard Putnam, Herb Kelleher, Jim Parker and Gary Kelly.
11. Jim Parker, by six days. Parker sat in the CEO’s chair for three years and 26 days. Howard Putnam sat there for three years and 32 days.
12. Colleen Barrett. When Herb Kelleher relinquished two of his three positions in 2001, Barrett took the president’s position and Parker took the CEO’s job. She stepped down July 15, 2008, with the title president emeritus.
13. Herb Kelleher and Gary Kelly.
14. Texas , New Mexico, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Louisiana.
15. Mississippi , Alabama and Kansas.
16. Missouri. Southwest quickly began flights to St. Louis and Kansas City.
17. 2014. To be precise, Oct. 16, 2014.
18. Kansas. Oddly enough, Kansas politicians have fought the hardest through the years to change the Wright amendment in hopes that Southwest Airlines would serve Wichita. Since 1997, Southwest is legally allowed to fly nonstop but hasn’t put Wichita on its route map.
19. Airline, a reality show that aired on the A&E Network in 2004 and 2005, with reruns on A&E and other cable channels. It showed real Southwest employees dealing with real Southwest passengers. (That must be why they called it a reality show.)
20. Air Southwest . Lamar Muse described the original name as sounding like “some Mickey Mouse, third-level carrier.”
21. Lamar Muse. He had served as CEO at Central Airlines and Universal Air before coming to Southwest.
22. Fresno, Calif.
23. Lockheed Electras , to be acquired from American Airlines.
24. C — It was 19 years, in 1990, before Southwest reached 100 airplanes. It took another seven years, to 1997, to reach 250 airplanes.
25. C — About 550 (548 as of March 31).
26. Peanuts handily beat pretzels, 87.6 million bags to 19 million bags. The airline reports that it also served 63.5 million cans of soda, juices or water; 13.6 million alcoholic beverages; 18.4 million Select-A-Snacks; and 29 million other snacks.
27. The University of Texas, the school attended by both Jim Parker and Gary Kelly.
28. Rollin King.
29. They arm-wrestled for it in the “Malice in Dallas” match at the old Dallas Sportatorium. Kurt Herwald won but let Kelleher and Southwest keep using the slogan.
30. Chicago Midway, with 243 departures as of June 5. Next are Las Vegas, 227; Phoenix and Baltimore, 195; and Denver, 153.
31. Chicago and Las Vegas, with flights to 54 airports each.
32. Corpus Christi, with five daily departures. It also has the fewest destinations — one, Houston Hobby.
33. D — 300.34, following 14 splits from 1977 to 2001. It hasn’t split since early 2001, and that was when Southwest’s share prices peaked. But one share worth $4.125 on Jan. 1, 1975, would be worth more than $3,300 at current prices with annual dividends of $5.41.
34. Four: the original Boeing 737-200s; the “Classic” Boeing 737-300s and 500s; and the “Next Generation” Boeing 737-700. Southwest will begin operating a fifth version, the 737-800, in 2012.
35. B — Icelandair. It was a short-lived arrangement.
36. Ebbert was the San Diego woman who made a splash after a Southwest employee ordered her to either get off a July 2007 flight or adjust her clothing. Southwest later apologized.
“We searched for the naked truth, got down to the bare facts, and she kind of caught us with our pants down,” Southwest chief executive Gary Kelly said. “So we’re apologizing, and we’re going to move on and hope we keep her as a good and valued customer.”
Ebbert later appeared in Playboy magazine.
Bar Refaeli was the Israeli model whose swimsuited body was displayed on the side of a Southwest Airlines jet in early 2009. She joined killer whales as among the living things that have been displayed on a Southwest airplane’s exterior.
37. Midway (Southwest) Airway Co., an air carrier to be based at Chicago’s Midway Airport. The proposal died for two reasons: Its primary proponent, Lamar Muse, resigned in late March 1978, less than two months after the Civil Aeronautics Board began hearings; and the 1978 airline deregulation act gave Southwest the freedom to fly interstate routes beyond Texas.
38. A. They bought him a customized Harley-Davidson motorcycle; B. They swiped his luxury car while he was eating at the Palm restaurant and had purple neon lights installed on its underside.
39. A — Lady Gaga, so far.
40. D — None of the above. The cocktail napkin was just a myth created by the airline early in the company’s history.
SOURCES: Southwest Airlines; Brian Lusk; Dallas Morning News research
Jun 20, 2011, 3:13 pm
#7
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Westchester Co, NY or Rio Grande Valley, TX or ???
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Thanks for posting this! I shouldn't have taken the time to do it, but I couldn't resist. I only scored 27 (generous scorers might also award me 1/2 credit for the "all three titles" question #13, 1/2 for knowing Kyla Ebbert but not Refaeli, 4/5 for remembering all the chief executives except Howard Putnam - I remembered him as a former Braniff exec but somehow confused his name with Jim Parker's, and 1/2 for the answer "some kind of turboprop" - I couldn't think of the Electra). I thought I would do better - oh well.
