This Just In...

It has just been reported that Southwest has added four daily non-stop flights in six cities nationwide. With the addition of four more daily non-stop flights, Southwest customers will have the opportunity to choose from a variety of low fare options that may help to better accommodate their needs.

The cities Southwest has decided to add the non-stop flights to are as follows...

Manchester-Boston Regional Airport



Salt Lake City International Airport



Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport



Raleigh-Durham International Airport



McCarran International Airport



Southwest Airlines Vice President of Marketing, Sales, and Distribution, Kevin Krone said, "Southwest is dedicated to bringing Customers more nonstop flights to the places they want to go. We've grown tremendously in the past year. We have added nearly 200 daily departures to our schedule and announced that we will begin service to San Francisco this fall."

Take a look at what Southwest has in store for their new daily non-stop flights...

Beginning August 26, 2007:

• One new daily nonstop round trip between Manchester (Boston area) and Phoenix.
• One additional daily nonstop round trip between Phoenix and Salt Lake City (for a total of eight).

Beginning October 4, 2007:

• One additional daily nonstop round trip between Las Vegas and Raleigh-Durham (for a total of two).
• One additional daily nonstop round trip between Las Vegas and Seattle (for a total of four).

When Southwest begins the operation of their new daily non-stop flights the company will still continue to offer the best value to their customers. Like Southwest's current flights, the new non-stop flights will enable customers to have a comfortable amount of leg room, premium leather seats, complementary snacks, juices and sodas along with pillows and blankets for the comfort of the passengers.

Mike Hafner Named Vice President of Inflight Services for Southwest!

Mike Hafner was announced the vice president of inflight services on March 14,2007.

Mike's Duties will include reporting directly to Daryl Krause, the Senior Vice President of Inflight Services & Provisioning. Mike will also take primary responsibility for serving the groups which make up the Inflight Department including the carrier's 8,900 Flight Attendants, Initial and Recurrent Inflight Training team, Inflight Crew Planning, Scheduling, Audit, Payroll, and Inflight Employee Resources and Automation.

Mike's Focus Areas:

• Safety
• Staffing
• Training
• Scheduling
• Customer Service delivery
• Labor relations
• Regulatory compliance

Previous vice president, Daryl Krause states, "Mike Hafner is one of our most experienced Leaders when it comes to serving our Frontline Employees and Customers, he has grown up at Southwest Airlines, understanding the importance of exceptional Customer Service for both our Internal and External Customers. With his 26 years of experience, I know our Inflight Services Team will benefit from Mike's Frontline Customer Service experience."

Mike began working for Southwest in 1981 in Houston as a ramp agent and has since worked in Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Oakland, and Phoenix fulfilling various jobs such as Customer Service Agent, Operations Agent, Operations Supervisor, Customer Service Manager, Assistant Station Manager, Station Manager, Regional Director, and Senior Director of Stations. It is employees like Mike who have helped Southwest to be named Business Week's first ever list of "Customer Service Champs."

• Southwest's Annual Report
  

Southwest's 85 page annual report is a slick marketing piece. The opening page of the annual report includes graphs and charts showing the company's net income and consolidated highlights. The following pages include extremely colorful pictures both real and fake. Interestingly, the fake pictures are drawings of CEO Gary Kelly, President Colleen Barrett and Chairman of the Board Herbert Kelleher. The annual report goes on to show real photos of southwest airplanes, employees and customers. A majority of the pages include graphs to display company numbers.

• Southwest's Annual Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)

The Southwest Airline's website simply posts their annual SEC filings under the Investor Relations link. When you arrive at the page that displays the SEC filings in chart form, you are able to download the statements by choosing either Microsoft Word or Excel, an HTML document or Adobe Reader. The chart displayed on the opening SEC Filings page shows the date it was filed on. Also included within the SEC filings page is the option to view 10-K(annual) filing very simply.

The goal of Southwest's annual report seems to be their opportunity to tell their company's story. The annual report really shows the strengths of the company, the achievements of the company and the future goals of the company. The annual report begins by stating who the company is and Southwest's history in story form. Within their opening statement they explain their customer service initiatives and state that they have one of the best overall company customer service records. Throughout the annual report graphs and pictures are shown which helps to keep the reader's attention.

• Letter to shareholders from the CEO

Through the letter to the shareholders, Southwest conveys several messages. The letter is opened up by telling the shareholders that Southwest just experienced their 34th consecutive year of gaining profit which no other airline has ever done, this message allows the shareholders to understand that Southwest continues to satisfy their customers which results in gaining profit year after year. The letter then sends the message to the shareholders that the company performs above and beyond which results in customer satisfaction and strong revenue growth. The tone of the letter is glowing and informative. The letter demonstrates "glow" as it talks about Southwest employees and how they have done an excellent job making customers happy and how they have worked extremely hard to lower airline fuel costs. The letter informs Southwest shareholders of the company's previous achievements, spectacular improvements and also goes into detail about their plans to expand the flight route network, the letter states that "In 2007, we presently plan to add 37 new Boeing 737s to our fleet of 481 aircraft." This letter is extremely creditable and believable, it is very honest and gives valid statistics. The letter was signed by CEO Gary Kelly, President Colleen Barrett and Chairman of the Board Herbert Kelleher.

• News release related to Southwest's Earnings

This news release titled "Southwest Airlines Reports First Quarter Earnings; 64th Consecutive Quarter of Profitability," is reader friendly in some aspects, for example, the quotes coming from the CEO are straight forward and easy to understand. However, there are aspects of this news release that discuss technical company numbers and percentages.

• Earnings story from Forbes.com

The story found from Forbes titled, "Earnings Preview: Southwest Airlines," clarifies what was stated in the earnings release, explaining that "Southwest, like the overall airline industry, suffered a series of setbacks during the first quarter." That direct quote clarifies what CEO Gary C. Kelly stated, "Although we are gratified to report our 64th consecutive quarter of profitability, it is disappointing to report first quarter economic earnings below year-ago levels." Not earning the profit that Southwest did last year is a setback to the company. The messages do not conflict, both give readers the same idea of what happened with Southwest's latest earnings.

Southwest's First Quarter Earnings Are Out & Profit Has Been Gained For The 64th Consecutive Year!!

Southwest has reported their 2007 first quarter earnings on April 19th and the numbers show that the airline continues to have a profitable year, for the 64th year in a row. Southwest is proud of their achievements however, the profit is below what it was last year at this time. Southwest's CEO explained that the profits are lower this year due to the high cost of fuel and the earnings last year were exceptionally strong. Southwest's total costs for 2007 were 1.7 % higher than 2006.

The Southwest website states that the "Net income for first quarter 2007 was $93 million, or $.12 per diluted share, compared to $61 million, or $.07 per diluted share, for first quarter 2006. Economic net income for first quarter 2007 was $33 million, or $.04 per diluted share, compared to $64 million, or $.08 per diluted share, for first quarter 2006. This economic net income result is in line with First Call's mean estimate of $.04 per diluted share for first quarter 2007."

The financial highlights that Southwest experienced in the 2007 first quarter are...

• Record first quarter revenues of $2.2 billion, up 8.9 percent
• Economic net income of $33 million, down 48.4 percent
• Economic net income per diluted share of $.04, down 50 percent
• Repurchased 13.5 million shares of common stock for $209 million

Given the fact that Southwest has experienced an increase in total costs and a decrease in total profit in comparison to last years numbers, the airline will still continue to value their customers as they always do and will stay dedicated to maintaining their signature low fare tickets. Southwest did a web cast on April 19th to discuss the first quarter of 2007 financial results.

Southwest And Coca-Cola Extend Their Contract For 3 Years

Southwest Airlines has announced that they will continue to serve Coca-Cola products for the next three years.

The following Coca-Cola products are served on Southwest...

• Coke
• Diet Coke
• Sprite
• Sprite Zero
• Seagram's Mixers
• Minute Maid Juices

Southwest's Vice President of Provisioning, Scott Halfmann, stated, "We are pleased to continue our long-term partnership with Coca-Cola. It's great to work with a partner who understands our Corporate Culture and operating philosophy which focuses on providing outstanding Customer Service and running an efficient airline operation.We look forward to working together and providing our Customers their favorite products while on board their favorite low-fare Leader - Southwest Airlines."

Coca-Cola's Vice President of North American Sales, Jim Terry, Stated, "We are proud to extend our relationship with Southwest Airlines. We have partnered together to refresh Employees of Southwest Airlines and Southwest Airlines Customers for more than 35 years, "We look forward to continuing this great alliance."

The news release coming from Southwest.com explains how Southwest offers the best value in airline travel and how Coca-Cola is recognized as the world's most valuable brand. Together, Southwest and Coca-Cola are able to form an alliance and make people's lives happier above the clouds.

Share Repurchase Authorization

Southwest has announced that they have authorized a new share repurchase program. The share repurchase program will acquire up to $300 Million worth of stocks.

The Southwest website has stated that on March 14th the company's close price was $14.88, this price represents approximately 20.2 million shares of common stock. The repurchase authorizations will be made in accordance to the open market or private transaction security laws. Currently, Southwest has approximately 785 million shares of common stock. The shares that will be retired could potentially be used for funding of the Company's Employee stock plans or the repurchased could be retired.

The CEO of Southwest, Gary Kelly, said, "Today's announcement affirms our confidence in our future growth opportunities and plans, as well as our continued commitment to increase Shareholder value. While our number one priority remains to profitably grow our route system, our strong balance sheet and liquidity allows us to use our capital base to further enhance Shareholder value over the long-term. This new $300 million authorization is in addition to the $400 million buyback program initiated in November 2006, which was completed this month. Since the beginning of 2006, we have completed three buyback programs and have repurchased 62.1 million shares of common stock for a total of $1 billion."

The press release announcing Southwest's Share Repurchase Authorization titled "Southwest Airlines Announces Share Repurchase Authorization," goes into detail about Southwest's management's objectives, projections, estimates, expectations, and predictions through the CEO's statement.

...More About Southwest's Involvement Within The Community!!!

"Citizen service is the very American idea that we meet our challenges not as isolated individuals but as members of a true community, with all of us working together…"— former President Bill Clinton

Southwest Airlines loves to spread their company spirit. Southwest's "Share the Spirit" is spread throughout all the communities they serve. Southwest does not have a foundation, they work on several community enhancing projects. The company works together to help those in need within the community, they strive to become part of the community.

A quote from Southwest's community service page states, "Southwest Airlines has always been devoted to each and every community that we serve. Our Employees, Customers, and neighbors make the Southwest Family the LUVing place that it is and we are proud to offer our cities more than just friendly and affordable air service. We offer our hearts!"

Southwest's community service programs would not be made possible without their employees. The employees are heavily involved in helping the communities Southwest serves. The community service programs that the company takes part in reflects highly on their reputation. By helping the communities they serve, Southwest proves that they care about their customers and would go out on a limb for them if they were ever in need. They want to give back to their customers. The company has many programs that are all unique in their own way, the programs are all different in order to help a variety of people in need. The public can become aware of the company's efforts through their website and the news. Southwest has a Community Service section on their website that explains all their programs in detail.

Southwest teams up with many organizations to help make community events possible. Some of the organizations Southwest has lent a helping hand to are...

• The Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities (HACU) - Southwest teams up with HACU to provide round trip airline tickets to Hispanic students with socio-economic needs. The airline tickets that Southwest provides enables students to leave home to travel and get a higher education.
• Long Island 2-Day - Southwest joins the LI2Day 35 mile walk to help support the fight against breast cancer.
• Operation Healthy Heart (OHH) - Southwest helps OHH campaign to help save the lives of Vietnamese children who are in need of heart surgery. Together, Southwest and OHH help to financially assist the children in need. The program has currently assisted over 1,200 children in Vietnam.
• Habitat for Humanity - Southwest employees team up with Habitat for Humanity in Dallas to help with the landscaping of newly renovated homes to give back to the community.

Southwest offers many community service programs and they have been recognized for their contributions within the company. Here are some of their Corporate Citizenship Awards listed on their website....

• 100 Best Corporate Citizens, 2000 to 2005, awarded by Business Ethics for service to seven stakeholder groups.
• Eddie Garcia Partnership Award for "Flight to Fight Hunger," 2005, by Texas Association of Second Harvest Food Banks.
• Performance Through People Award, 2004, from The Forum for People Performance Management and Measurement, Northwestern University. The award honors companies that successfully capitalize on the human interactions that impact a company's long-term growth.
• Camaraderie, 2003, The Great Place to Work Institute honored Southwest for our exemplary display of camaraderie.
• Salvation Army Volunteer Partner of the Year, 2002, in appreciation to Southwest Airlines for helping to build the caring community in partnership with The Salvation Army.
• Civic Award of Excellence, 2002, given "for establishing a philosophy and setting the industry standard in your commitment toward your Employees…"
• Employer Support Freedom Award, 2001, in recognition of employers for employment policies and practices that are supportive of their Employee's participation in the National Guard and Reserve.
• Corporate Citizenship Award, 2000, awarded for Southwest’s dedication, commitment and leadership in promoting Employee Relations.

One of Southwest's programs is called "Adopt-A-Pilot." The four week program is designed to help fifth grade classrooms around the country gain a "sky high" education. Through the program, students are united with Southwest Pilots who help them to better understand math, science, geography, history and creative writing. The students are given situational problems which they apply to aviation. Students at this age are often intrigued by aviation and applying it to their subjects helps them to become more eager to learn.

Southwest also helps people who are less fortunate. Every year Southwest employees support National Hunger Awareness Day in Texas. The employees get together and help feed 80,000 hungry families. They put a lot of time into packing food boxes, this really helps to make a difference in the community.

Southwest also helps out burn victims through the Parkland Burn Camp. Throughout the past 12 years they have raised over $100,000 for the camp. The camp enables children to be surrounded by other children who are burn victims, this helps the children interact with others and not feel self conscious. This camp helps the children to build self esteem and heal both mentally and physically. Southwest employees lend a helping hand each year to make this annual event a success.

...Back From Spring Break!

... I have good news and bad news. The bad news is my spring break is over, but the good news is that Southwest got me home safe in the midst of a terrible northeastern snow storm. The service was great and on time. I was very satisfied. Below are a couple pictures I took from the plane, enjoy :)

Giving To The Community Through Ronald McDonald...

The president of Southwest Airlines, Colleen Barrett, said directly on the Southwest website, “You give life, personality, spirit, and LUV to our Company, and these are qualities of which few companies can boast. It is quite a privilege to have you share with us your individual and collective achievements.”

Southwest believes in giving charity and the company has effected the lives of many people. Over the past twenty years Southwest has been apart of the Ronald McDonald House Program, it is the company's primary corporate charity. The Ronald McDonald House Program helps to improve the well-being of children and their families who are in need.

Southwest sponsors an annual "LUV Classic Golf Tournament" and all the proceeds go to the Ronald McDonald House Program. Southwest has helped raise over nine million dollars in the past twenty years!!

I Interrupt This Intense Blogging Session To Tell You...

.....I coincidentally just got off the phone with a Southwest employee who was very helpful to me. I am flying to Orlando for spring break this weekend and needed to change my return flight home. I booked the flight through my credit card company, they said the itinerary could not be changed and was non-refundable. However, when I called Southwest they told me different. The company allowed me to change my flight for no penalty fee, I actually saved $70, wow! I am also a fan of Spirit Airlines, but last time I changed my flight plans through their company I was charged $50, not cool. Anyways, I know this post is totally random, but I just wanted explain how I just experienced Southwest's mission, I am a satisfied customer.

TODAY In The News...

I found an article from the Dallas Morning News tittled, "Southwest plumps its image as other airlines cut amenities." The article explains how many airlines are starting to charge passengers for snacks and even contemplating the idea of charging for soft drinks, but Southwest is not traveling down that path. The article goes on to mention how Southwest finds it humorous that other companies are charging their passengers for things that should be included in the airfare, one Southwest commercial shows someone having to insert a coin in order to use the overhead luggage compartment.

Southwest wants their customers to know that they are not like other airlines and will not change to be like them. Today, airlines are experiencing heavy competition and many have filed bankruptcy, but not Southwest.

Southwest has never been known as an airline that offers satellite television or full meals. Southwest has always wanted to be known as the airline that gets their customers to their destination for a low cost, not known as an airline with several amenities. As this article explains, some people criticize Southwest for not having assigned seating. Southwest will continue to defend their seating policy because the company is not losing customers. Southwest will never try to squeeze all the pennies out of their customers, always remember Southwest puts customers before profit.

...Humor Above The Clouds...

Southwest is known for having funny flight attendants. I found this video on YouTube, it is a clip of a flight attendant singing to the passengers on Christmas Day, everyone was clapping and seemed to have loved the entertainment.

In an interview with CEO Herb Kelleher, done by Strategy & Business Magazine, the interviewer asked him why the Southwest flight attendants sing and he answered with, "Southwest flight attendants sing because they want to. We don’t program our flight attendant training to teach people to sing or tell jokes. What we say is, “If that is your basic personality, feel free to go ahead and do it.” We’re not trying to train you to be anything different from what you really are. If singing buoys up your heart, makes you feel good, go ahead and do it. We have tried to say to our people, “You don’t have to put on a mask, you don’t have to be an automaton when you come to work. You can just be yourself.” Wasn’t it Robert Frost who said, “Isn’t it a shame that people’s minds work furiously until they get to work?” Well, that’s because they feel that they become artificial and constrained by the workplace."

Well, while I have you in the humorous mood, take a look at this clip. The clip is about a funny Southwest flight attendant named Matt, he explains why he likes to tell jokes on the aircraft and you can watch some of the funny things he does to enlighten the passengers.

Enough With The Seriousness And Onto Some Fun Facts...

While surfing Southwest's website I found some fun facts directly from their Southwest Airlines Fact Sheet. These facts are very interesting...

• Southwest received 284,827 resumes and hired 3,363 new Employees in 2006.
• In 2006 Southwest served 61.5 million cans of soda, juices, and water; 10.9 million alcoholic beverages; 5 million bags of pretzels; 93.8 million bags of peanuts; 16 million snackpacks; and 35.4 million other snacks.
• Southwest consumed 1.6 billion gallons of jet fuel in 2006.
• In 2006 Southwest moved 265 million pounds of cargo and mail.
• The shortest daily Southwest flight is between Ft. Myers (RSW) and Orlando (MCO) (133 miles). The longest daily Southwest flight is between Philadelphia (PHL) and Oakland (OAK) (2,510 miles).
• Southwest has 1,133 married couples. In other words, 2,266 Southwest Employees have spouses who also work for the Company.

......WOW!! 284,827 resumes and Southwest only hired 3,363 new employees. Those numbers prove that Southwest is looking for employees who are really eager to help the company with customer satisfaction. When I read the fact that Southwest moved 265 million pounds of cargo and mail I was shocked, I had no idea the company dealt with cargo. I was astonished when I learned the number of married couples working for the company... how cute ;)

Take A Look Into The Blogosphere... I'm Not The Only Southwest Blog In Cyberspace!

Southwest has created their very own blog on their website titled, "Nuts About Southwest," I urge you to check it out! How ironic, the opening of their blog says, "FORTUNE'S MOST ADMIRED COMPANIES."

Anyone can leave a comment on their blog, it is very interesting to read other's comments about the airline. I think I'll comment on Southwest's blog, after all I do want to become part of their BLOGOSPHERE

In relation to Southwest being one of the TOP 10 companies on Fortune's 500 List, one person commented saying, "Southwest should be ranked #1. They are the GREATEST company in the world!!!!!" How's that for customer satisfaction??

I came across an article written in USA Today titled, "Southwest Airlines blog takes off." The article was written in April of 2006 and it explains how Southwest created the blog because they figured it would be a great way to connect with their customers. An interesting point was brought up in this article, what would Southwest do if a negative comment was posted on their blog? After posting my own comment on "Nuts About Southwest," the website told me that my comment would be viewed and approved before becoming public. This article states that Southwest will expect negative comments and the company plans on dealing with them from an airline carrier's point of view.


SIDENOTE: After the USA Today article explains how Southwest plans on dealing with negative comments on their blog, the article states, "Southwest took the same approach when it decided a couple years ago to participate in a cable television reality show that follows its employees as they deal with angry passengers and other problems." I have personally watched Southwest's television show on A&E and I believe it is a great way for the company to show their customers that their company isn't perfect but will do all they can in their power to help satisfy their customers, even their angry customers and show what it is they do to solve company problems.

On the top left of my blog I have included an RSS feed to Southwest's company blog, enjoy :)

SKY High Reputation!

I came across this picture and found it funny when I read it, but in all seriousness it is very true. With a bad reputation, a company may be at risk of losing their customers. Once a reputation is lost, it is hard to re-build, or in some cases can it be rebuilt or in other words, dry-cleaned?

Southwest has worked very hard to keep their company's good reputation. They earned a good reputation and now the challenge is sustaining it. My public relations professor has taught us that good reputations result in many things such as better job candidates, positive press coverage, and customers coming back. Southwest works around the clock to make sure their reputation is not stained.

Southwest Airlines is one of the world's most profitable airlines and it all travels back to their well deserved reputation. Southwest has developed a reputation revolved around their company's identity and what they stand for, which is amazing customer service and cheap airfare. The laid back airline ensures that their customers will fly and have a good time, customers can always expect an atmosphere made up of high spirits and entertaining employees.

Customer service comes first, profit comes second. To communicate their reputation, Southwest has developed a Customer Service Commitment page on their website, which explains everything customers need to know about flying with Southwest and how the company operates. The airline has no hidden secrets, within the Customer Service Commitment the company shares everything for the convenience of the customer to maintain a good reputation.

May of 1988 was a very significant year for Southwest's reputation. During this time, they were the first airline to have ever won the Triple Crown. The were awarded this because the company had the best on-time record, the fewest customer complaints and they were the best baggage handlers. In the year 2007, 19 years later, Southwest has won the Triple Crown award thirty times, proving to keep a good and stable reputation.

I am sure many of you are aware of the 'Frequent Flyer Program,' but did you know Southwest Airlines was the first airline to give their passengers credit for the amount of trips taken as opposed to the amount of miles flown? This program enables customers to travel and get rewarded, the total trips traveled eventually adds up to a free ticket. The start up of this type of Frequent Flyer program was very reputable for Southwest. It was just brought to my attention that Southwest was NOT the first company to start the Frequent Flyer Program, it was started by Western Airlines in 1980.

What do other people say about Southwest's reputation? Well, one thing is for sure, there are not many people complaining about the company. Southwest's website states that, "Southwest Airlines has consistently received the lowest ratio of complaints per passengers boarded of all Major U.S. carriers that have been reporting statistics to the Department of Transportation (DOT) since September 1987, which is when the DOT began tracking Customer Satisfaction statistics and publishing its Air Travel Consumer Report." Southwest strives to keep their identity of satisfying consumers and by the looks of the Department of Transportation statistics, the airline is doing a great job.

There are challenges to keeping a great reputation in the airline business. It is an industry that could change for the better or worse at any given moment. Take for example JetBlue, one minute they had a great reputation and the next one of their jets was stunk on the runway for hours at a time and they experienced their first public relations nightmare. Their company went about handling it very professionally and developed a Passenger's Bill of Rights to ensure the incident will never happen again. Planes often experience technical difficulties resulting in delays, weather conditions also result in delays or cancellations, and the fact of the matter is anything could happen unexpectedly in the airline business. Southwest always needs to be prepared for the worst to make sure they can handle it the best possible way to help sustain their reputation.

Southwest Airlines works hard at keeping a good reputation. The company strives to get their customers to their destinations on-time for the lowest possible fares. They want to have a good time satisfying their customers, and this is why customers keep on coming back to fly.

Mr. CEO... You lead, we'll FLY behind you!

Herb Kelleher, the CEO of Southwest Airlines since 1982, has been the backbone of Southwest. He believes that his good spirited personality is the most powerful thing to help the company. Kelleher said in an interview, "Spirit comes from the heart and not the head."

Kelleher was also the co-founder of Southwest Airlines with Rollin King in Texas. Ever since he co-founded Southwest he had the idea to be different. Back when Southwest was created, other competitive airlines were all they same, which is why Kelleher and Rollin drew up an idea on a napkin in hopes to create a more "fun" airline. The two originally created the service to operate between Houston, San Antonio and Dallas, but little did they know, the airline was going to skyrocket. Today Southwest operates between 62 cities, serving a whooping 80 million passengers yearly!

Would you like to know more about the leadership of Herb Kelleher? I found an interesting website called Leader to Leader Institute, the site includes an article written by the only and only, Herb Kelleher himself, titled, "A Culture of Commitment." In this article he spills his secrets of what it takes to build an organization like Southwest Airlines.

Mission Possible

Southwest Airlines has been in service since 1971 and now operates over 468 planes. The company strives to get their customers to their destination on time while having low fares. Southwest's Mission Statement is made up of two parts, one part directed towards their customers which states, "The mission of Southwest Airlines is dedication to the highest quality of Customer Service delivered with a sense of warmth, friendliness, individual pride, and Company Spirit," and one part dedicated to their employees which states, "We are committed to provide our Employees a stable work environment with equal opportunity for learning and personal growth. Creativity and innovation are encouraged for improving the effectiveness of Southwest Airlines. Above all, Employees will be provided the same concern, respect, and caring attitude within the organization that they are expected to share externally with every Southwest Customer."

The well written Mission Statement of Southwest Airlines may be the reason why they are the least complained about airline. Customer service is crucial, the job of the employees is to satisfy the customers and Southwest treats their employees the same way they want their employees to treat their customers.

CEO Herb Kelleher said it perfectly, "When I started out, business school professors liked to pose a conundrum: Which do you put first, your employees, your customers, or your shareholders? As if that were an unanswerable question. My answer was very easy: You put your employees first. If you truly treat your employees that way, they will treat your customers well, your customers will come back, and that’s what makes your shareholders happy. So there is no constituency at war with any other constituency. Ultimately, it’s shareholder value that you’re producing."

ATTENTION PASSENGERS, this is my first blog!

Due to expected turbulence, please fasten your seat belts by inserting the metal tab into the buckle and pull tight, this blog will be a wild ride.
The Fortune 500 company I have chosen to fly with is Southwest Airlines. Through this blog I want to take a look at the ins and outs of how the company runs. If I leave anything out please feel free to state your opinion, comments are greatly appreciated. Please enjoy the flight :)