PHOENIX!

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No, Southwest is not moving to Phoenix. You might have heard in the news that Southwest is moving its headquarters. This is a perfect example of 1) a company’s brilliantly using the media to advance its political gains, 2) the media’s tendency to turn a nonevent into news, and 3) people’s tendency to jump to conclusions. Southwest’s PR department is a master of keeping Southwest in the news. As part of the Wright fight, our CEO mentioned last year that it didn’t make sense to have HDQ at Love Field with Wright in place. Phoenix, a wisely pro-business city, heard that and wants to entice us to move HDQ there. Out of courtesy, we are hearing them out. No big deal. We get hundreds of pitches on all kinds of subjects each year – requests for new service, sales pitches on various products, sales pitches on new aircraft types, and so on. We pass on most of them, just like we will on this one. I’m sure Southwest made sure the media found out we had agreed to hear the Phoenix proposal, which is an instant news maker. The story returns the focus to the Wright Amendment, to Southwest’s importance as an employer and taxpayer here, and to Dallas’s poor support of one of its star employers. Unfortunately, upon hearing the story that Phoenix is pitching a move, many people heard it as “Southwest is moving to Phoenix,” and our moms got worried. =) The only way we would consider moving, in my humble opinion, is if the Wright Amendment somehow became a lost cause. I don’t see that happening. Instead, I see our local mayors and congressional leaders finally realizing that Wright will fall one way or another, and that they have a choice to make: let the rest of Congress decide how it falls, or work out a compromise together. They are working on a compromise. Thanks to Senator Hutchison for her efforts to get the ball rolling.

And in other news, American has resumed service from Love Field to Kansas City, St. Louis, Austin, and San Antonio. A credit analyst recently estimated that American would lose around $115 million annually by serving Love Field. That’s quite an expensive way to prove a point. I give them 18 months before they pull out again.

Out for Blood

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We had a good time on our trip. The weather was great, but the whole region needs about 2 feet of snow. Jenny decided skiing wasn’t her sport, partly because the ski shop gave her the wrong boots, but she brought plenty of books to read while I skied solo. We got plenty of rest, ate well, watched the Olympics, and visited a couple of New Mexican wineries. If you’re ever in the area, I highly recommend Vivac Winery, which is owned and run by two brothers who are about my age. It was great just to get away together and leave work and school behind.

I gave blood today. If you’re in good health, I highly recommend it. Visit Carter BloodCare if you live in the Dallas area. It doesn’t hurt that badly, and it’s a great way to help someone else in a way that medical technology is still unable to duplicate. If you have past risky behaviors or serious medical issues, don’t give, but if you’re just afraid of needles, that’s no excuse! You even get free juice and cookies, and sometimes even a free t-shirt!

I finished Labor Relations last week, class number 9 of the 13. I’m scheduled to start Advanced Aviation Economics on March 7. If all goes well, I should be through with class in 8 months. Woohoo!

Working It

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We’re mostly packed up and ready for the slopes! We’re planning to leave tomorrow after work, skiing Saturday through Monday, and flying home Monday night. We’re so excited! We’ve both been working out, trying to get our legs and lungs in shape. On a related note, Jenny has joined a health club for a year, and she’s really enjoying it so far. I’m proud of her new drive, and also thankful because it helps motivate me to stay in shape as well.

I read an interesting editorial on health care in the Dallas Morning News recently. It pointed out that our current health care system is very reactive and offers little incentive to take care of yourself. If you happen to get sick or hurt, you go to the doctor, and your employer or insurance provider pays most of the bill. But if you take the initiative to take better care of yourself through gym memberships, vitamins, losing weight, quitting smoking, or other wise moves, you pay any costs involved. The personal benefits of these positive activities are the only reward, and often they don’t appear right away. So it’s much easier to think short-term and eat whatever you want, lay on the couch all day, keep smoking because it’s just too hard to quit, and then run to the doctor if anything goes wrong. The results of this system are all around us – many American adults are out of shape, overweight, and generally making poor health choices. Your homework for this week is to think up ideas for a better system. =)

Come on Down!

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My observant sister just made me realize that I forgot to change the year on my blog postings. So instead of looking like a week or so since my last update, it looked like a year. I have corrected the problem. =)

It’s already February! Wow… Work is good. Jenny and I went to the Stars-Blues game last week. A friend of ours works for the Stars, and for the third period he moved us and some other friends down to some unsold seats ON THE GLASS, right on the Stars’ goal line! I was amazed at how much faster the game is compared to how it looks on TV or from our normal seats. It also became really clear how big these guys really are, and how hard it is to keep track of the puck from ice level. Apparently we got on TV, too! We scored a last-minute goal to tie up the game, and the TV camera showed me and Jenny kissing and cheering to celebrate the goal!

Our other exciting news is that we’re planning a ski trip next weekend to Angel Fire. We did a pass trade with a friend of Jenny’s who had won a ski package in a raffle and didn’t plan to use it. Jenny has never skied before, and I haven’t been since college. We can hardly wait! Now, if I could just trade off that Saturday night shift…

Two Week Report

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Here’s the two-week report: 500+ flights planned and/or overseen. 11 shifts. 1 air turnback due to a bird intake. 1 weather diversion (thunderstorms in Houston). 1 very busy day (Dallas desk with thunderstorms near Houston plus a problematic charter flight). 1 overtime shift. 10 fairly easy and calm days (counting the bird intake day as a calm one). $1 million+ worth of fuel consumed. I’m having a great time!

In other news, Jenny and I have gotten much better about working out. The trick was putting a calendar on the fridge and recording the days we work out on it. If we miss several days, the calendar shows a big gap and makes us feel bad. =) We saw a great movie Saturday night called Hoodwinked. It’s very funny and clever, the voice acting is great, the computer graphics are well-done, and it’s just a fun movie. I’ll be done with my labor relations class in about a month. Despite my apprehension going into it, I must say I’ve learned a lot from the class, and I’m better off for taking it. I’m still not a big fan of unions, but I better understand their value and purpose. It’s easy to forget that not all companies treat their employees as well as Southwest does.

Aircraft + Bird = Bad Idea

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The first few hours of my first solo shift were great. Beautiful weather, good aircraft, no problems. Then a flock of birds got in the way of a Hartford departure. At least one bird went through the core of the engine, producing strong vibrations, a loud explosion, a nice cooking-bird smell in the cabin, and a big fireball out the tailpipe. The engine immediately returned to normal operations, but the passengers were a little upset. The captain decided to return to Hartford as a precaution and landed without incident. I had to write an irregularity report, amend the flight release, and call the FAA Command Center to report the diversion. I’m glad everything went fine, except for the birds, but I was hoping for a slightly less exciting first day. The next two were much better. I even got called in for overtime this afternoon! Today’s desk includes Chicago departures to the southwest, and it’s snowing right now, which could cause some weight issues on takeoff. Should be interesting!