Southwest Airlines Honored by the American Meteorological Society for Its Innovation in Advance Applied Meteorology

Southwest In-House Meteorology Team is Honored for Advances in the Aviation Industry

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Dec 09, 2010, 11:00 ET

DALLAS, Dec. 9, 2010 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Southwest Airlines’ in-house Meteorology Team was recently recognized when the Council of the American Meteorological Society (AMS) named Rick Curtis, Southwest’s Chief Meteorologist, the recipient of the 2010 Award for Outstanding Contribution to the Advance of Applied Meteorology. This award will be presented to recognize Southwest Airlines’ outstanding contributions in advancing the use of meteorology within the airline industry to further enhance safety and efficiency of operations.

“As a weather-dependent operation, the Meteorological Team is the eyes and ears of Southwest. We depend on them to provide Operational Leaders a precise forecast every day to secure the safety of our Customers, our Crews, and our aircraft,” said Greg Crum, Southwest Airlines Director of Operations. “We are proud of the great work the Meteorology Team does every day, and we congratulate them on this great achievement.”

Rick will be honored at the American Meteorology Society Annual Meeting awards banquet to be held on January 26, 2011, at the Washington State Convention Center in Seattle. The AMS Annual Meeting will gather the nation’s top contributors in the fields of atmospheric, aviation, oceanic, and hydrologic sciences to focus on the advancement of meteorology within a variety of industries.

Rick has been at Southwest Airlines for 13 years and serves as Chief Meteorologist for the Southwest Airlines Operations Coordination Center. He graduated with a Bachelor in Science in Meteorology from Lyndon State College, and was a 2005 Southwest President’s Award winner. He concentrates on strategic weather forecasting, weather research, weather instruction, and is Southwest’s primary representative to the aviation meteorology community.

ABOUT THE AMERICAN METEOROLOGICAL SOCIETY

The American Meteorological Society promotes the development and dissemination of information and education on the atmospheric and related oceanic and hydrologic sciences and the advancement of their professional applications. Founded in 1919, AMS has a membership of more than 14,000 professionals, professors, students, and weather enthusiasts. AMS publishes nine atmospheric, related oceanic and hydrologic journals, both in print and online, sponsors more than 12 conferences annually, and offers numerous programs and services.

ABOUT SOUTHWEST AIRLINES

After nearly 40 years of service, Southwest Airlines (NYSE: LUV) continues to differentiate itself from other low fare carriers—offering a reliable product with exemplary Customer Service. Southwest Airlines is the nation’s largest carrier in terms of originating domestic passengers boarded; now serving 69 cities in 35 states. Southwest also is one of the most honored airlines in the world known for its commitment to the triple bottom line of Performance, People, and Planet. To read more about how Southwest is doing its part to be a good citizen, visit southwest.com/cares to read the One Report. Based in Dallas, Southwest currently operates more than 3,100 flights a day and has nearly 35,000 Employees systemwide.

www.southwest.com

SOURCE Southwest Airlines