Dear Plagwate,

I'm happy to report that we are continuing to make progress on our goal of integrating Southwest Airlines® and AirTran Airways®, our wholly-owned subsidiary. As you are aware, this is an extremely complex process, and I sincerely appreciate your patience as we work towards our ultimate goal of integrating two great airlines into one brand.

Last month, I addressed a question that many of you may have been pondering related to our intent to combine A+ Rewards® and Rapid Rewards® into one program. The answer is a definitive "yes" on an eventual program merger, but the timing of merging our two programs into one is still to be determined based on several dependencies on other aspects of the integration.

This month, I wanted to take the opportunity to discuss your A+ Rewards Credits and hopefully provide some reassurance of their safety. We recognize that you've earned your A+ Credits and that you may be wondering what will happen to them leading up to the program merger. Rest assured, these are your credits and we are committed to keeping your active credits safe and available for use. Your A+ Credits will continue to be available for use for AirTran flights, and we have created the icon at the top of this e-mail to show our commitment to keeping your credits safe. When the time comes to combine the two programs into one, we are committed to preserving the value of your active credits and will ensure that they are given equal value when we merge the programs. I realize that I may be getting a little ahead of myself since we have yet to determine a timeline to combine programs, but I want to share our vision in hopes of addressing any potentials concerns. In the meantime, think of it as business as usual and keep flying and earning your rewards in either program!

Again, I appreciate your patience and want to thank you for your continued loyalty. We look forward seeing you onboard again soon.

Sincerely,

Kevin Krone
Vice President Marketing, Sales & Distribution
Southwest Airlines