Still needs more approval

Southwest Airlines wins the airport war? Mayor Parker to announce internationalflights at Hobby deal

Southwest Airlines is getting the right to fly international flights out ofHobby Airport.
Photo by Dylan Ashe
Hobby Airport
Photo by WhisperToMe/Wiki

Houston is on its way to becoming a two international airport city.

Mayor Annise Parker will announce that the city and Southwest Airlines have reached an agreement that will finance an expansion at Hobby Airport, setting the stage for Southwest to fly international flights out of the airport.

The press conference will be held Wednesday morning at Southwest's main ticketing terminal at Hobby. To the victors goes the press conference locale?

Gary Kelly — the chairman, president and CEO of Southwest — will be at Parker's side at the press conference, which figures to be full of pomp and circumstance (anyone care to set the over/under on the number of balloons present?) But despite the sure-to-be giddy scene, United Airlines' fight to keep Houston a one international airport town is not necessarily over.

City Council still needs to approve the financing plan before it can go forward — which involves a $100 million expansion (that vote could come as soon as May 30). There is also the little matter of the FAA giving its go-ahead.

Still, there is no question that this is a huge win for supporters of having international travel out of both Hobby and IAH. And it's looking more and more like, Southwest will be flying international from Houston in the not-so-distant future (2015 to be precise).

KTRK Ch. 13 and the Houston Chronicle first reported the news of Wednesday's impending announcement.

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Turkey Day news

Houston plates up top-20 rank on list of best cities for Thanksgiving

Courtesy of Amrina

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Houston is sitting at the head of the table as one of the best places in the country to celebrate Thanksgiving this year, a new study has revealed.

Houston ranked No. 15 out of 100 of the largest U.S. cities in WalletHub's annual "Best Places to Go for Thanksgiving" report, published November 12. The city made a big leap over its 2023 ranking as No. 32, and is the third highest-ranked Texas destination for the holiday.

The study analyzed each city based on 18 metrics to determine the best places for Thanksgiving, such as the number of pumpkin patches per capita, the average cost of a Thanksgiving dinner, the number of volunteer opportunities, the average weather forecast, and more. The metrics were then organized into five overall categories to determine the rankings.

The categories that Houston ranked the highest in were the city's affordability (No. 15) and the average weather forecast during the holiday period (No. 19), while the lowest-ranked category was for safety and accessibility (No. 95). Other categories that determined Houston's overall ranking were the number of celebrations and traditions (No. 23), and a "giving thanks" rank (No. 30).

"The best cities for celebrating Thanksgiving all have an abundance of high-quality restaurants and places to buy festive decorations, and their residents get very excited for the holiday based on their Google search history," said WalletHub analyst Chip Lupo.

By Thanksgiving on November 28, Houston will be fully decked out for the December holidays. Houstonians who will have extended family in town during Thanksgiving weekend can take in of all the marvelous Christmas lights brightening the city. Houston certainly goes all out for the most wonderful time of year.

Elsewhere in Texas, Dallas (No. 5) and San Antonio (No. 7) were the among the top 10 best cities to go for Thanksgiving, while Austin only came in at No. 39.

San Diego, California (No. 1) topped the overall list of best places to go for Thanksgiving this year, followed by its Golden State neighbors San Francisco (No. 3) and San Jose (No. 4). Atlanta, Georgia (No. 2) rounds out the top five.

thanksgiving wallethub rankings holidays lists