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Southwest Airlines Community

Flashback Friday: Being Admired for 20 Years

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Employee
Employee
pic1 This year, our Company once again appeared on FORTUNE Magazine’s coveted Most Admired list.  Described as “the definitive report card on corporate reputations” by the publisher, most companies would be happy to see their name appear just once somewhere on the list, and be ecstatic with a top-ten position. To be consistently recognized 20 years in a row is truly an accomplishment. pic2 Our first mention on the list was on February 7, 1994, when FORTUNE added an Airline category to its annual ranking and named Southwest to its number one spot.  At that time, we were a Company of just over 15,000 People and had recently introduced service to Louisville, San Jose, and what is now one of our largest stations, Baltimore.  We also were well into the acquisition process of Morris Air, and the announcement of our status as the launch Customer for the Boeing 737-700 was also making headlines. pic3 pic4 Starting in 1997, FORTUNE reached out to the Hay Group, an independent management consulting firm which calls Philadelphia its home, to administer the list. Each year, it looks at major companies from around the world by surveying company leaders, outside directors, and financial analysts.  Surveys are sent to participants asking them to rank nine key attributes: Ability to attract and retain talented people, quality of management, social responsibility to the community and the environment, innovativeness, quality of products or services, wise use of corporate assets, financial soundness, longterm investment value, and effectiveness in doing business globally.  The surveys are sent out starting in October and are requested back by December in order to be evaluated.  Hay Group collects almost 15,000 of these surveys to determine their rankings. pic5 A key factor that has brought Southwest to the top ten list many times is how the business world views our Culture.  A Hay Group expert in corporate culture was quoted as saying, “Great companies treat their cultures as assets.”  Empowering Employees to consistently deliver top notch Customer Service is also an attribute specifically mentioned as why our Company has remained the envy of the industry. How a company evolves is also a crucial component to maintaining our place on the Most Admired list.  While we continue to grow our business both domestically and abroad, it’s important for us all to remember the necessity of adapting to the evergrowing demands of our industry. As Herb famously put it, “If you don’t change, you die.”