Southwest Airlines Brings 171 Texas Troops Home for the Holidays

      Airline Adds Extra Section to Flight Schedule to Bring Troops Home

    WHAT:         Southwest Airlines will perform a Christmas miracle for 171
                  Texas families on Sunday, Dec. 23. The 436th Chemical
                  Company of the Texas Army National Guard is stationed in
                  North Carolina waiting for deployment to Afghanistan. They
                  recently got news that their deployment was delayed, so now
                  they are able to spend the holidays with their families, and
                  Southwest Airlines is making it possible! Southwest Airlines
                  is flying 171 soldiers home to Texas. Since more than 100 of
                  these soldiers live in Laredo, Southwest Airlines is adding
                  an extra section to its schedule to bring these troops to
                  San Antonio International Airport. Southwest Airlines
                  Employees and Customers will welcome home these troops,
                  along with their family members.

    WHO:          Texas Army National Guard
                  Southwest Airlines Employees
                  Southwest Airlines Customers
                  Families welcoming soldiers home

    WHEN:         Sunday, Dec. 23, 2007
                  12:15 pm

    WHERE:        San Antonio International Airport
                  Southwest Airlines Gate Area

                  ***MEDIA***
                  For questions, interviews, or escort to gate area, please
                  call:
                  Gary Dipasquale, Southwest Airlines, (cell) 210-414-8941.

    VISUALS:      -- Interviews with Texas Army National Guard troops.
                  -- Southwest Employees and Customers welcoming the soldiers.
                  -- Gate area decorated with balloons and "welcome home"
                     banners.
                  -- Families embracing their loved ones.

    OTHER FACTS:  Southwest Airlines (NYSE: LUV), operates more than 3,400
                  daily nonstop flights to 64 cities in 32 states. Southwest
                  Airlines employs more than 33,000 people throughout the
                  Southwest system.

SOURCE Southwest Airlines