Suppose your airline was about to announce the first international codesharing agreement of its life.

Suppose this is a news nugget that you would want to see get maximum media attention.

Then, suppose your CEO just kind of let the news fall out of his mouth as part of a longer interview with a major newspaper.

Well, that’s exactly what appears to have happened when, in a long interview published in the  Chicago Tribune Sunday, reporter Julie Johnsson wrote,  “For the first time in its history, Southwest is preparing to venture outside the U.S., to Canada, via a marketing alliance that will be announced this summer, [Southwest CEO Gary] Kelly said.”

Now, the fact that Southwest and WestJet might be considering a link-up should come as no surprise to anybody. I even alluded to the possibility in a recent PlaneBusiness Banter. It is a natural fit in many ways.

But that’s not the point.

The point is, did Gary really say this to the reporter?

If he did, then, well, there is really only one potential marketing partner for Southwest in Canada, and it’s not Air Canada.

So if he said this to this reporter, he essentially let the cat out of the bag. Before either airline had made an official announcement of the fact. While Southwest has talked in generalities about their “international” intentions, this was, as far as I know, the most direct comment in reference to Canada, including a timetable, that I had heard.

We hear there is now some “scrambling” going on in certain quarters, and that we may have an “official announcement” of what Gary basically told everybody Sunday in the Chicago Tribune this week. Which, we hear, is just a tad bit earlier than had been planned.

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