NEW ORLEANS, LA -- Southwest Airlines (NYSE: LUV) today at a columnist appointment in New Orleans fabricated a banknote donation of $20,000 to two New Orleans abatement funds. The airline donated $10,000 to the New Orleans Hospitality Workers Disaster Relief Fund and $10,000 to the Friends of the Times-Picayune Relief Fund.
"Southwest Airlines has been confined New Orleans for 27 years," said Gary Kelly, Chief Executive Officer of Southwest Airlines. "We are allotment of this community, and we will abide to be a accomplice in the rebuilding of New Orleans tourism."
The New Orleans Hospitality Workers Disaster Relief Fund was founded by the Brennan ancestors of the Commander's Palace Family of Restaurants and allowances professionals in the accommodation industry who are after jobs afterward Hurricane Katrina.
"This actual acceptable donation will go a continued way against allowance individuals and families in the accommodation industry actuality in New Orleans," said Ti Martin, Chief Executive Officer of Commander's Palace ancestors of Restaurants. "We can't delay to accord the money to those who charge it."
The Friends of the Times-Picayune Relief Fund provides absolute abutment for the advisers of the New Orleans Times-Picayune who never absent a day of publishing afterwards Hurricane Katrina. Southwest Airlines fabricated the donation in account of the newspaper's account and in an accomplishment to abutment the paper's abiding charge to accoutrement the challenges the city-limits faces as it continues to rebuild.
Since Hurricane Katrina, Southwest Airlines has partnered with abundant organizations to accommodate travel, accession funds, and accompany acquaintance to the needs of the New Orleans community. The airline has accurate Friends of the Frontline, benefiting the badge and firefighters of surrounding parishes; partnered with the Mr. Holland's Opus Foundation to carriage about 100 agreeable instruments to the city-limits of New Orleans to alter bounded academy children's instruments absent in Hurricane Katrina; provided adulatory roundtrip airfare for anniversary biking to acceptance displaced by Hurricane Katrina who enrolled at Maryland's Morgan State University due to academy closures in the Gulf Region afterward the hurricane; partnered with Hibernia Bank to clean the Birthplace of Jazz through "ReJazz New Orleans" -- a non-profit web-based attack launched in mid-September to advice restore the Big Easy; donated to the Louisiana Technology Council benefiting baby technology companies; and sponsored the New Orleans Musicians Relief Fund, benefiting across musicians.
In the weeks anon afterward Katrina, Southwest Airlines committed an aircraft to the abatement efforts, evacuating hundreds of New Orleans citizens from the city-limits and aerial in abatement workers from FEMA, the Red Cross, and added abetment organizations. Southwest formed with the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) in an organized accomplishment to carriage aegis workers into and out of New Orleans to accumulate the airport operational. To date, Southwest Airlines has donated 1,200 roundtrip tickets for the New Orleans badge and blaze first-responders, 1,400 one-way tickets for alien transportation, and 63 roundtrip and 19 one-way tickets for abatement artisan transportation, accretion added than $2 actor in donated travel. As of Sept. 30, Southwest Airlines Employees had donated $39,960 to the Red Cross Hurricane Katrina Relief Fund, and the airline akin the donation dollar-for-dollar.
Southwest Airlines aswell accustomed a "flight bank" in which Southwest Airlines Customers could accord their Rapid Rewards common flyer affairs cyberbanking Awards to those displaced by Hurricane Katrina and in charge of busline to accumulate with ancestors or relocate. The donated Awards aswell were acclimated to abetment those complex in the abatement efforts.
Southwest Airlines assisted its Employees through medical benefits, acting bacon continuation, and apartment allowances. Additionally, Southwest Airlines has provided added than 200 Employees with emergency banking aid through Employee donations to the Southwest Airlines Employee Catastrophic Assistance Charity.
The affection of Southwest Airlines and its 31,000-plus Employees charcoal with the citizens of New Orleans. Southwest Airlines currently offers 13 circadian ceaseless flights to 5 cities, including Dallas, Houston, Nashville, Orlando, and Tampa Bay, with added absolute and abutting flights to 28 cities.
Beginning March 17, Southwest Airlines will add 5 added flights, bringing the absolute amount of circadian ceaseless departures from New Orleans to 18. Over eight canicule surrounding Mardi Gras 2006, Southwest Airlines aswell will add 36 (18 roundtrip) flights into and out of New Orleans, apery about 5,000 added seats for tourists to appointment the Big Easy and crop allotment in the acceptable Mardi Gras celebrations.
CONTACT:
Public Relations of Southwest Airlines, +1-214-792-4847
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