Posts Tagged ‘Southwest’

Southwest builds first ‘green plane,’ Ma Earth shows her gratitude

Posted by: Gadget Boy in Gadget News on October 25th, 2009

Southwest Airlines may not own a plane with a headrest infotainment system, but it's still far and away the most enjoyable commercial flight you'll find in the US of A (save for Virgin America, naturally). Granted, we'd like to see in-flight WiFi offered on a few more of its flights (read: 100 percent of them), but hey, we'll take free checked bags and friendly employees any day of the week. We'll also take fuel savings and environment stewardship, both of which Southwest is aiming to give us by creating the planet's first "green plane." By utilizing recyclable InterfaceFLOR carpet, weight-saving seat covers and life vest pouches, a lighter foam fill in the seats and aluminum (as opposed to plastic) seat rub strips, the newfangled Boeing 737-700 ends up some 472 pounds lighter than a conventional one. The savings? 9,500 gallons of jet fuel per year. We're not sure when the bird is expected to take her first voyage, but here's hoping a few others are hatched in the near future.

[Via DailyFinance]

Read - Southwest press release
Read - China View's fuel calculations

Gallery: Southwest builds first "green plane," Ma Earth shows her gratitude

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Southwest builds first 'green plane,' Ma Earth shows her gratitude originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 25 Oct 2009 00:11:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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aircraft, Airplane, Boeing, Boeing 737, Boeing737, concept, Design, Eco-Friendly, Green, green plane, GreenPlane, InterfaceFLOR, plane, prototype, Southwest, Southwest airlines, SouthwestAirlines

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Southwest and Alaska Airlines to Test Ad-Supported Wi-Fi [Wi-Fi]

Posted by: Gadget Boy in Gadget News on October 8th, 2009

Paying for Wi-Fi stings, even at 30,000 feet in the air. Luckily, we may not be paying for much longer.

Southwest and Alaska Air are nearing tests of a new ad-supported Wi-Fi system. The hardware and software are installed by third parties with the goal to point fliers to an online catalog called the Skytown Center.

Whether you purchased Wi-Fi or not, you could do some shopping on the plane (with the participating retailers and advertisers footing the bill.) But the more tempting benefit is that airlines look to have most or all the costs associated with providing in-flight Wi-Fi covered under such sponsorships. So while there's no guarantee we'll be browsing the entire web for free, it seems a likely scenario that you'll be able to check your email if you're willing to deal with a few extra ads.

The service, powered by JiWire, will be launching this fall. [Marketing Vox via Mashable via Lifehacker]