You Are Now Free to Move About The Country Quiz

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. During Southwest Airlines' beginnings in the 1970s as "Air Southwest", it flew only within one Southern state. Which was it?

Answer: Texas

Southwest had its first flight in 1971; however, all of their routes were within Texas. The reasoning behind this was for economic and political reasons: the airline would be exempt by price controls from the federal Civil Aeronautics Board, and that the airline could maintain competitive pricing.

2. For most of Southwest's existence, Southwest had used only one type of Boeing aircraft. Name the model.

Answer: 737

For most of its history (and similar to the history of budget airlines), Southwest had only used one type of aircraft: the Boeing 737. The exception to this tradition was when Southwest used the Boeing 727 from former airline giant Braniff in the early 80s.

3. After airline deregulation in the U.S. in 1978, Southwest made a tactical move that seemed to anger other major airlines. What federal amendment was passed to limit the airline's activity in Dallas?

Answer: Wright Amendment

The Wright Amendment was in response to Southwest's decision to remain in Dallas Love Field (DAL), rather than move to the newly-constructed Dallas Fort Worth International Airport (DFW), like the other major airlines did. The amendment, named after former Congressman Jim Wright (D-TX), limited regular flights from DAL to bordering states only; in addition, any flights outside of bordering states could only have 56 passengers or less on it.

The remaining vestiges of the Amendment were repealed in 2014.

4. Southwest is part of an airline alliance.

Answer: False

The three main alliances in the U.S. are SkyTeam, Star Alliance, & Oneworld. Southwest (along with JetBlue, Frontier & other budget airlines) are not part of any airline alliance.

5. Some of Southwest's planes are designed in homage to flags of some U.S. states. Which state flag's design was NOT part of Southwest's fleet in the 1990s and 2000s?

Answer: Oregon

One of Southwest's most recent state flag designs was "Tennessee One" in 2016. Most of these special planes (except for their plane representing Texas, "Lone Star One") are called "(insert state name) One".

6. In 2014, Southwest fully acquired what former airline?

Answer: AirTran Airways

In 2010, Southwest announced that they would acquire AirTran. Between 2010 and 2014, Southwest and AirTran still operated as separate airlines, while Southwest began to take control of the AirTran's stock. In 2014, AirTran flew its final flight.

7. On June 7, 2014, Southwest withdrew service from which Florida city?

Answer: Key West

Before Southwest's full acquisition of AirTran, Southwest was able to begin flights in Key West. However, because of declining passenger numbers, Key West was dropped early into the acquisition process.

8. In June 2017, one of Southwest's senior employees, Louis Freeman, worked on his last flight for Southwest. What was he ultimately famous for being?

Answer: First African American chief pilot for a major airline

Freeman, hired in 1980, was Southwest Airlines' first black pilot; his retirement was a result of him approaching the mandatory retirement age of 65. Before joining Southwest, he was a pilot in the Air Force beginning in 1974.

9. In 1972, when the company was strapped for cash, a former operations manager proposed deplaning passengers, cleaning aircraft, and boarding new passengers within how many minutes?

Answer: 10 minutes

After Southwest was forced to sell one of their planes (during its time as a startup), Bill Franklin, VP of ground operations, proposed the "10-minute turn": deplaning, cleaning, and boarding passengers in 10 minutes or less. The move gave Southwest its first profit in 1973.

10. Southwest Airlines is noted for its "no frills" service. This had an impact on Michael O'Leary, the current CEO of an Irish airline. When he was asked to make this airline profitable, Southwest was credited as one of his "inspirations". Name the airline.

Answer: Ryanair

Ryanair can be classified as Europe's version of Southwest Airlines - and is Europe's largest airline (in terms of passengers). Ryanair shares most of Southwest's "no frills" philosophy. It also only operates 737 aircraft; this tradition arose when Ryanair bought many of Boeing's aircraft in the early 2000s, particularly due to Boeing's struggle to find aircraft buyers after the events of September 11, 2001.

Source: Author omar7812

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor trident before going online.
Any errors found in FunTrivia content are routinely corrected through our feedback system.

A quiz about an American budget airline, Southwest Airlines.

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