Welcome to the Southwest experience

Last week's news that Southwest Airlines will land in Pittsburgh International in May, with as many as 14 daily flights, is great news for area travelers. In addition to providing more travel options, Southwest's discount policies have fueled the kind of competition that brought about lower fares in market after market.

It must be doing something right, which in itself would be a welcome change for an airline around here. The actual impact in Pittsburgh remains to be seen, of course; Southwest hasn't yet announced which destinations it will serve or how frequently, But you can bet it will be a short list of the 60 other cities to which it already flies. Gaining Southwest as a carrier means fewer Pittsburghers will make the trek to Cleveland or Baltimore simply to get access to its system.

Whether Southwest's entry into our market is a death knell for US Airways or just another nail in the coffin also remains to be seen, but it's certainly not good news for the struggling airline or its employees. Still, as Yogi Berra observed, it ain't over till it's over. Although the symbolic value of Southwest's incursion is huge, 14 flights a day won't make much of a dent in US Airways' domination here -- at least not at the outset.

Southwest won't be going to nearly as many places or as frequently as US Airways, even in its crippled state. And while our new carrier provides some insurance against Pittsburgh being isolated by a US Airways liquidation, as long as the airline some people love to hate keeps its noses in the air, we'll have the best of both worlds.

Southwest's prices are much more palatable than its primary competitors. The entire cabin is one class of service, and there are three fare breaks, depending on when the reservation is made.

Less expensive, reliable fares will be a big plus, but passengers also may learn to appreciate some US Airways virtues they've come to take for granted -- assigned seats and special services, for example. Southwest passengers may be free to move about the country, but since they have to wait around the gate for seat assignments, they're somewhat less free in their ability to move about the airport.

The Southwest flying experience will be new to many of us. We've heard about the irreverent cabin staffs, but cutesy may get old quickly if you're jammed in a tight, uncomfortable seat -- even at a big discount. The airline doesn't make advance seat assignments, but passengers find fewer restraints to changing their tickets or transferring them to other people.

Southwest will be great for flying from Point A to Point B, but less of a pleasure if your final destination is Point C, even if it is a city Southwest already serves. Ditto for anywhere out of the country, since it doesn't have any international flights.

And booking flights will be different, since the primary way to access Southwest's prices and reservation system is through the airline itself (www.southwest.com or 1-800-435-9792). The only other source for its flight information is the Sabre computer system, and Southwest cannot be booked through any of the online travel agencies. Although regular travel agents are able to book trips on Southwest, it may not be their airline of choice for a variety of reasons.

Southwest offers a frequent-flier program, Rapid Rewards, which offers free tickets after eight round trips, even fewer if the trips are booked online. Because its reward coupons are valid for any open seats on a flight, they are simpler to use than the mystical capacity control allocation systems other carriers employ for their free trips.

It's clear Southwest's first arrival in Pittsburgh will herald significant and, let's hope, purely positive changes. Only time will tell, but there's nothing wrong with extending Southwest a warm welcome.