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Southwest Helps Disney's Tinker Bell Fly Into TIA Today

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By TED JACKOVICS | The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 31, 2008

TAMPA - Aircraft manufacturers have begun to seek surrogate fuel sources to produce "green" jet fuel and cut costs, but leave it to fun-loving Southwest Airlines to test pixie dust power.

Tinker Bell One, a specially decorated Boeing 737, is scheduled to visit Tampa International Airport on a flight from Chicago at 2 p.m. today.

Flight attendants will wear wings a la Tinker Bell and award prizes to passengers who can answer trivia questions about Disney's classic character from the animated film "Peter Pan."

It's not really about the greening of powering airliners but a collaboration between Southwest and Walt Disney Co. to promote the "Tinker Bell" DVD released Monday by Disney.

U.S. and Canadian Disney fans bought 668,000 copies of the computer-animated film on its first day of release, about 22 percent above projections, The New York Times reported.

Sales at many Target stores were double the forecast, and the movie easily moved 1 million copies by Wednesday, The New York Times said.

The DVD release is a Disney effort to push its "Fairies" business into a franchise similar to its "Princesses" franchise built around Snow White and Cinderella videos and merchandise..

A surge in Disney merchandising based on the "Tinker Bell" DVD release is in the works.

As for Southwest, spokeswoman Ashley Rogers said Tinker Bell is not permanent livery on the aircraft that will be assigned various routes throughout the system.

Unlike certain aircraft painted in colors to commemorate various states the airline serves and three planes that have carried Shamu the whale's image to commemorate Southwest as SeaWorld's official airline, the Tinker Bell decor was applied with decals, Rogers said.

Reporter Ted Jackovics can be reached at (813) 259-7817.

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