June, 2006

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Southwest joins the blogosphere
Renowned as one of the airline industry's pioneers on the Internet, Southwest has launched its own blog, which will feature employees writing about both their jobs and the travel industry, The Associated Press reports. Southwest officials say they hope the online diary will allow the discount giant to connect with and form a better relationship with customers. "There was a growing online community having conversations about travel and Southwest," exlains company spokeswoman Linda Rutherford. "We could watch that conversation, or become part of it." Southwest’s blog -- called "Nuts about Southwest" -- will feature posts from about 20 employees, including a flight attendant, a pilot and a mechanic. Rutherford says Southwest will try to update the site at least three times a week. But with such a public and accessible forum, Southwest may have to be prepared to accept unflattering feedback. "The true test of Southwest's blog will be to see how they handle negative comments," says blogging expert Josh Hallett. "Some companies delete negative comments, but that comes out in the end, and it just looks like you're covering things up."

Millionaire flight attendants may serve you your next drink on Southwest
The flight attendant serving you drinks on your next Southwest flight could be a millionaire. Eight flight attendants are among the 17 employees who have worked at Southwest since the discount carrier’s first days of service. All are millionaires, beneficiaries of Southwest's profit-sharing program. “Ask them why they stick around and they mention frugality and pride in earning their keep. And they say they simply like to work,” writes The New York Times , which ran a feature on the long-time Southwest employees. Joining the founding flight attendants are five operations workers and four executives. One of the airline’s “millionaire attendants” is Sandra Force, described by the Times as a former “elementary school teacher and one-time beauty pageant winner from Memphis.” She was hired “on the spot” after her summer 1971 interview. "My mother was devastated,” Force tells the Times. She recalls her mother saying, “Sandra, if you were going to quit your teaching job, why didn't you go with a well-known airline like Braniff?" At the time, Southwest was considered to be the long-shot upstart while Braniff was the well-established heavyweight. The airlines competed head-to-head on many Texas routes -– though Braniff never made it out of the 80s while Southwest has gone on to become one of the airline industry's top success stories. As for Force, the single 61-year-old just completed chemotherapy for breast cancer and returned to work this month after a six-month absence. But, the Times writes, “she does not need the paycheck.” Force has more than 100,000 shares of Southwest stock, a stash valued at about $1.6 million. "I love to work," she says. "Southwest is kind of my family and my husband."

Phase 3E
Amsat's new Phase 3E amateur radio satellite looks like its headed for a 2007 launch. If all the modules function well and the satellite passses some critical vibration tests, the launch could be early next year (actual dates not set).The twin-looking satellite of OSCAR 10 or 13 is in its final building stages and tests. It may look like a twin of AO-10 or AO-13 but it has some of the latest technology onboard. Some is even being tested for the future Phase 5A Mars orbiter. That will be an adventure in the near future for everyone to enjoy and another story.

P3E satellite images available on the web
Information and pictures of the new amateur radio P3E satellite can now be downloaded from the web. P3E will be the first amateur satellite to make use of the amateur 47GHz band but, according to P3E project leader Peter Guelzow, DB2OS, its most popular feature will be its 70cm-to-2m 150kHz bandwidth linear transponder. Thanks to the satellite's highly elliptical orbit, the transponder will provide worldwide communications for many hours each day. Peter said it would make "the top end of the 2m band sound like 20m". See Amsat-dl website for further information and pictures.

June, 2006

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