I'm going to Disney World!
Well, not right now. But the post-Super Bowl victory cry might be one we all should shout over the next few months - for the good of Knoxville.
News that Southwest Airlines has agreed to buy AirTran has sparked hope that the city might finally land the nation's premier discount airline.
AirTran already flies out of McGhee Tyson Airport, and if the Southwest deal goes through, jets with red tail stripes and flight attendants in khaki shorts could be hauling Knoxvillians to Disney World and points beyond next year.
However, that's only if Southwest considers the Knoxville connection worth keeping.
AirTran has been back at TYS since June 2009, flying in and out of its Orlando hub. During the summer, it offered seven flights a weeks. Now, in the off season, it's down to four flights a week, but with plans to ramp up when vacation time comes again.
I love Southwest Airlines. I love its irreverence. I love its convenience, and I love its low fares.
The airline's history is pure Texas. Entrepreneur Herb Kelleher sketched plans for the first Dallas-Houston-San Antonio circuit on a napkin in 1967, then waged a three-year court battle against the big boys to get Southwest off the ground.
His first flight attendants - still called stewardesses in those days - were long-legged women in hot pants and boots. That garb was gone by the time I encountered Southwest in Albuquerque in the 1980s. But wisecracking attendants, peanut fares and cattle-call seating with plastic boarding passes changed my perception of air travel. Even as a young couple, my wife and I could hop on a plane without having to save for a year.
We missed Southwest when we moved to Colorado. Denver International Airport was too costly for the discount carrier. By the time Southwest got the deal it wanted at DIA we had moved to Knoxville.
Over the past several years we've often journeyed to Nashville to catch flights on Kelleher's dream. To now be able to make that connection right out of Knoxville would be a dream come true.
The Southwest-AirTran merger still has to be approved by federal regulators and Southwest shareholders. But assuming the $1.4 billion deal goes through, Southwest will have gates in Atlanta, Washington National and the Caribbean, as well as Knoxville, next year.
Folks at McGhee Tyson are hoping that Southwest will expand its Knoxville service, ideally with flights to the Baltimore/Washington area.
There's a danger, though, that Southwest will do as AirTran did the first time it tried the Knoxville market - pull out. AirTran started flights to Knoxville in 1994 but ended them in 2000 because seats were less than 40 percent full.
This time around, the Knoxville-Orlando route has proved lucrative, airport officials say. It's important that it stays that way as Southwest evaluates AirTran's routes over the next several months.
So if you've been contemplating a trip to see Mickey Mouse or visit Harry Potter at Universal Studios, now is the time to consider the air option.
The Department of Transportation ranked McGhee Tyson's average fares third-highest in the nation earlier this year.
Landing America's leading discount airline might help bring fares back to earth.
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