Interesting Interactive Map

This is an interesting interactive map that is useful for travel planning. The interactive version is available at http://www.southwest.com/travel_center/routemap_dyn.html. It appears to have been made using Flash because of the option to upload Flash Player in order to view it. It was made by Southwest Airlines to detail where they fly--you can roll your mouse over an airport to see a flight path of where they go from that airport. You can even sort the routes by nonstop service, or any service, including connections. I have included a screenshot of the interactive map above (with the service available from Washington Dulles clicked). For the interactive version, you can visit the above link.

Because the site uses the rollover effect rather than clicking the mouse, it is difficult to "lock" the airport you want to look at. This is especially problematic when two airports are close together (Washington Dulles and BWI for example). While looking at one, if the mouse moves a little bit, it then shows the other airport routes. This map could be improved if there was a clickable option to lock the aiport you would like to view.