The "One LUV" tour played the Atlanta airport Tuesday.
A troupe of Southwest Airlines employees hit a crew lounge at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport to meet with AirTran Airways workers as the two carriers merge.
It was one stop on what Dallas-based Southwest has dubbed a "One LUV" tour of AirTran employee bases. LUV is Southwest's stock ticker symbol.
In the crew lounge and a baggage handler break room in Atlanta, where AirTran has its largest hub, the Southwesterners handed out information and answered questions about flight benefits and other issues.
"It's nice to see them pop in," said AirTran flight attendant Abraham Torres.
Southwest spokeswoman Olga Romero said "people can be a little hesitant" about a merger. "We're here to just calm everyone."
The Southwest-AirTran deal closed earlier this year, but integration is expected to take at least a couple of years.
AirTran is already morphing into Southwest in small ways, however. The company loosened the dress code at AirTran to fit with Southwest's casual style, for example. And as of August AirTran employees will be able to use their flight benefits on Southwest flights and vice-versa.
A "wingmate" buddy from Southwest is assigned to each AirTran employee.
On Wednesday, Southwest employees will meet with AirTran customer service workers in Atlanta, then meet Thursday with AirTran' reservations workers in Carrollton, and on Friday with agents at AirTran's Savannah call center.
Some workers in departments at AirTran's corporate center in Altanta, meanwhile, are making decisions about whether to move to Dallas to join Southwest or leave the company.
Operationally, Southwest is preparing to combine the two airlines' schedules and cut some flights, chief executive Gary Kelly said in a message to employees.
"We just have a lot of flights that aren't profitable and with these fuel prices, there's obviously now way to change these economics," Kelly said.
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