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Southwest Airlines Community

First Ever Duck Derby Podcast

sheaser
Frequent Flyer B
Recorded at the San Antonio SeaWorld, I recently had the privilege of covering the first ever, Southwest Airlines Duck Derby for Red Belly Radio. The event was the culmination of eight-months of work by our Onboarding department, to sell 5000 Canyon blue rubber ducks. The Onboarding department is charged with welcoming new Employees during their first year to make them feel welcome and to help them stay “onboard” at Southwest Airlines.

Ducks are purchased by older (err—not brand new) Employees to raise money to give the new (err—not necessarily younger) Employees a little gift. I won’t say these ducks are endangered, but they are limited. The ducks have little wings and a tail that is slightly different from a real duck—and of course a red belly!

So, you think we just dumped a bunch of ducks in the Lazy River and wait for them to float around? Not hardly! I interview Jan Barandela, a Dallas Mechanic, who designed and built a contraption-catcher-funnel-channel to determine the winners. We didn’t want any arguments over the prizes.


Give this episode of Red Belly Radio a listen you won’t reg"wet" it

(Also, check out Bob Hurst's video blog on the race to see how the "duck funnel" works.)

4 Comments
Anonymous2906
Explorer C
thank you for our daily awesome!
swatraveler1
Explorer C
So how do I get one of those ducks? I collect hem and LUV Southwest....a perfect combo!
americanducky
Explorer C
ME too! I collect these awesome cuties and would love to have one! How can I manage one? Thanks!
blue-duck
Explorer C
I am trying to get one of those ducks too... please let me know how to get one.....thx.