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Southwest Airlines Community

Employee Stories: Safety is a Priority

AdamH
Retired Community Manager
jose gomez Jose Gomez was performing a routine walk around an aircraft prior to its departure from Baltimore on July 12.  Jose, a Ramp Agent at BWI, was looking for anything out of the ordinary when he noticed a loose screw protruding from the fuselage. He promptly reported the discrepancy to the Pilot, who alerted a Maintenance Technician. The loose screw was quickly repaired and before long, the airplane pushed out of the gate and was on its way to Detroit. While Jose’s dedication to Safety is appreciated by his peers and Leaders at Southwest, there were two other individuals who were also particularly pleased with his attention to detail. David and Vicky Chinery were standing in the Gate Area when they watched the events on the ramp unfold. Their son was flying alone for the first time, headed to Detroit for a high school engineering program. “We were nervous to say the least,” David said. After speaking with the Gate Agents about the mechanical issue they witnessed, they were assured the problem would be fixed, and our Employees on the ground even went out of their way to check on their son onboard. Once their son had arrived safely in Detroit, David took to Facebook to share his gratitude for Southwest. In a follow-up email, he added:
“I wanted to acknowledge this gentleman for his diligence and attention to detail in doing his checks. Although I was at first nervous about the event, I gained comfort in the fact that this guy took his job very seriously! His attentiveness and the entire crew's efforts to address this were more than reassuring!  This gentleman helped allay our fears and instilled confidence in the fact that these guys care greatly about the lives entrusted to them.”
 David’s post on Facebook quickly went viral, gaining over 2,300 likes and even catching the eye of some other Ramp Agents in BWI. When Jose arrived at work the following day, his Coworkers had taken the liberty of printing out the Facebook post and hanging it in the break room for all to see. Jose said he remembered alerting the Pilot regarding the loose screw, but had no idea his actions would go viral.
 “It seems so trivial, something I do five to six times a day,” Jose said of the walk around. “It’s nice to know something as simple as that can have such a positive effect on the Customer.”
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1 Comment
jocelyn_saia
Explorer C
Way to go Jose!!! Safety First!! 🙂