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Our Valentine's Day Heroes

slogan
Adventurer C
Is it any surprise that the LUV Airline celebrates big on Valentine's Day?  After all, our stock symbol is LUV; our home airport is Love Field; and Valentine's Day is the favorite holiday of our President, Colleen Barrett! One of my all-time favorite Southwest events is our annual Heroes of the Heart celebration, which is held each year in Dallas on Valentine's Day.  This coveted award honors one deserving group or department that works behind-the-scenes at Southwest without direct contact with our External Customers.  This year is a very special Heroes celebration, because it is the 15th Anniversary of the award.  The Culture Committee created this honor in 1992 to pay tribute to a hardworking group of Employees that works behind the scenes to ensure the success of our Company.  Past winners include:  1993 - Station Coordinators 1994 - Technical Services 1995 - Crew Planning, Scheduling, and Payroll 1996 - Customer Service Coordinators and Flight Information Agents 1997 - Reservations Administrative Support Staff 1998 - Systems (Technology) 1999 - Maintenance Control 2000 - Revenue Management and Pricing 2001 - Pass Bureau 2002 - Finance Payroll 2003 - Fuel Management 2004 - People Benefits 2005 - Schedule Planning 2006 - Legislative Awareness The winner of the Heroes of the Heart award is one of the best kept secrets at Southwest Airlines.  Each year, a small committee, headed by Sunny Abercrombie, is formed to coordinate this event.  The committee reviews nominations from Employees nationwide; decides on one deserving group; plans the unveiling event for the following Valentine's Day; and coordinates prizes for each Employee in the winning department.  The secret is not revealed until a hidden banner is unveiled at the end of the Heroes of the Heart celebration! The actual event is complete with musical entertainment, balloons, and appearances by Colleen and Gary.  As the suspense mounts, a video is shown that teases the audience into guessing who the year's winner will be.  A few of the questions on past videos include: "If this group were an Olympic event, which event would it be?"; "What super hero best describes this group?"; and "If this group were a song, what would its title be and why?"    Once the Heroes are finally announced, they are called individually by name to the stage to accept his/her award.  They are showered with LUV; and an actual Southwest Boeing 737 with their department's name emblazoned on the Heroes of the Heart logo will fly in their honor for one year.  So keep your eyes to the sky for the new Heroes plane as soon as the winning Team is announced! 2007 Heroes 010.jpg...and the 2007 winners of the Heroes of the Heart award are...(drum roll, please)...Internal Customer Care!! This fabulous group truly is the heart of our Company.  The mission of these seven Employees is to "express Southwest Airlines' LUV during life's events."  They act as the liaison between the Company and our Employees during monumental occasions, whether happy or sad.  They send congratulations, sympathy, and/or love to our 32,000+ Employees to recognize marriages; celebrate births; mourn the death of family members; provide support during surgeries or  illnesses; and acknowledge Employees in the military, as well as their loved ones at home (just to name a few!).  I can not think of a more deserving group to be awarded the 2007 Heroes of the Heart.  Congratulations, Cynthia, Andrea, Judith, Rebecca, Penley, Linda, and Anne.  We LUV you!!          
13 Comments
Paul_Barney
Explorer C
My Valentine's Day Hero wishes go out sincerely to the entire team at Southwest. I want to tell you briefly about a looong afternoon of air travel that became a very pleasant experience - from the ground crew to the pilots to the fantastic Phoenix based flight attendants: Toni, Jan, and Teri. I wiill look for them on every future Southwest flight and hug them like old friends. I hope they will remember me too as we shared good company on a crummy winter day. I flew from Baltimore to Long Island Islip this snowy icy afternoon. What was supposed to be a 40 minute flight turned into a 6 hour affair thanks to the weather and those pesky "ice pellets" over Baltimore. We departed 4 times - we deplaned 2 times - we de-iced 3 times. This could have turned ugly but the entire Southwest staff stayed professional, upbeat, feisty and fun. They sang, they awarded 'honorary wings' on a day long passenger, and they held a birthday party for another. I was impressed that these lovely ladies went above and beyond all afternoon when things could have easily gone the other way. They sure made Southwest look good. You should all be proud. When we finally landed at Long Island Islip, the captain chimed in with his own perfect sense of humor. He said, "I'm sorry for the delay folks, but next time Southwest get you to your destination 5 hours and 15 minutes early, we'll call the whole thing even." Thank you Southwest. Special thanks to Toni, Jan & Teri. Happy Valentines Day! xoxoxo Paul Barney - "The Fry Guy" CIDA Managing Director National Distribution & Contracting, Inc. Nashville, TN
Francisco_Delga1
Adventurer A
As you know being in the military has its many challenges, but i can say that flying Southwest is no challenge at all. Your airline has so many heros that have helped me get home to my family. Your employees have always gone above and beyond for me. Here is to all the employees at SAN AND ABQ and all of the inflight crews that make me feel right at home. God bless and happy Valentine's day. Francisco
J_Doe
Explorer C
Thanks for allowing me get home to my wife for our first valentines day as a married couple. Well, actually; thanks for the "tremendous effort" you put into helping me get home after you cancelled my flight. Instead of being home, I am typing this from the floor of the airport watching the clock pass the 25 hour mark of being here. Happy valentines day. I hope you all get to spend time with your loved ones.
Judy_Malone
Explorer C
Congratulations to my Friends in ICC! As the liaison for Maintenance & Engineering for all Family events & news, I get to work very closely with this fabulous Team of caring, LUVing women. They make every effort to see that each SWA Employee has been acknowledged, comforted, celebrated, and shown that special SWA LUV in times of joy and sorrow. They even trudge over to the DAL Hangars for our fundraising Burger Burns to support our Mechanics in times of need. Words cannot express the feeling in my own heart when I received their cards and gifts during my own mother's hospital stay last Summer. Thanks you to each of you for LUVing each of us, just when we most need it. It is a pleasure to work with each of you & congratulations again! You are truly our Heroes of the Heart! LUV, JAM DAL MX Receptionist
joe-mdw-plane-d
Frequent Flyer C
"j. Doe" why don't you tell both sides of your story? Why was your flight cancelled? Is it weather related? Sorry, but no airline has control over that. There were 16 airports that southwest flies to that were posted as having delays/cancellations. Setting trusses with a crane is FUN in windy conditions! Still not a blog boy Joe Friedmann
jmalone
Adventurer A
Congrats to the Internal Customer Care group! The honor is well deserved. Happy V-Day! James Malone MDW FA
Mary9
Explorer A
J Doe, I am sorry you're stuck in an airport on your first valentines day. I hope you take the time to write your wife a loving email, which I am sure she would appreciate. I am missing lunch with my son so I could come to work and assist passengers who are stuck in airports. BTW I was scheduled off. So I know it is not fun but we are doing all we can to assist each passenger. So once again when weather strikes, all we can do is apologize and hope the next time you travel it works out better.
Nick_Martin
Explorer C
I had a great flight back from Chicago thanks to a team of friendly, lovely flight attendants, and was inspired to write this song on the southwest napkins that came with my peanuts. It was then performed (poorly) on the loudspeakers by request. A Southwest LUV Song Will you permit a flight of fancy, You of flowing hair and silver pendant, Who lightly tread these speckled aisles, Disguised as Southwest flight attendant, Other passengers may not recognize, Peanuts bestowed by divine hands, They fail to hear, in Ã
Francisco_Delga1
Adventurer A
congrats to internal customer care group. You guys are an asset to your company and should be proud of all of your accomplishments. Francisco
Anonymous2470
Explorer C
Congratulations to the wonderful women of Internal Customer Care. You are very deserving of the "Heroes of the Heart" Award. As a former Employee who has received gifts when I was out of the office for surgery, your kind work puts a smile on our faces when we get those packages and makes being away from the office easier. Keep up the good work!
Mike_Staton
Explorer C
I've decided to switch to Southwest permanently! Since 2003, I have flown every weekend from home to work. On Valentines Day, there was a family emergency and I had to return home. After checking my normal airline (who wanted over $1300 for the ticket home), I was able to book a flight on Southwest and be home that evening for around $300. Although depressed about the situation at home, my feelings were lifted when I arrived to the gate and saw all the valentines day decorations. Also, great service was provided on my flights by the flight attendants and crew. When I say the purple heart on the plane that read "We luv you", I thought "A company like this needs to stay in business"; so I pledge to do my part. I booked all my March travel on Southwest! Thanks and keep up the good work.
FriendofBlogBoy
Frequent Flyer B
Congratulations to the awesome ICC Team! I am a big believer in supporting friends and luved ones in both good times and bad, and I know that y'all do that quite well. In keeping with the philosphy of SWA striving to take good care of their Employees, it makes perfect sense to have a group of people designated to do just what you do. Tell Brian I said he has to share some of his candy corn with you! Best wishes, Kim 🙂
William_TenEick
Explorer C
I have always been a fan of Southwest - until this past Wednesday - February 14th. While I completely agree with flight safety - don't try to lfly or and if you can't do safely -- but to be "dumped" in Baltimore - at 7:45 PM (flight 1866) - and be told to rebook and offered no help in finding a place to stay, nor help in getting to a place to stay or any food - I was very, very upset. We also could not get our baggage - it was to be picked up in Providence when we got there. The Soutwest ground representative offered no assistance whatsoever. Our plane went on early the next morning - but we were not able to be on it - we could only go at 6:45 that next evening -- so I drove home - and took two other elderly people home with me. And of course, that cost was mine to bear as well. Does Soutwest care anymore??? W. Ten Eick, Natick, MA