It’s right there in our Mission Statement: “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 let me tell you—we take that part about Company Spirit very seriously. In fact, we take it very literally. I know a lot of people who don’t work at Southwest Airlines, and I have never seen them wear their company logo on a shirt, let alone decorate entire rooms in their homes with company memorabilia. But here at SWA, it’s the norm.
A legendary SWA joke goes: How many Southwest Airlines Employees does it take to change a light bulb? Answer: Two; One to change the bulb and one to make the t-shirt. Yep, we make T-shirts for EVERYTHING. I guarantee you that every SWA Employee has at least one T-shirt emblazoned with our logo; we are all well-equipped to show our SOUTHWEST SPIRIT.
The idea for this post came to me one morning when I noticed that almost every car I passed in the lot at Headquarters had something on it representing SWA, so I decided to ask around and see what was really out there--I’m not sure if what I found is a little disturbing or just plain awesome (or should I say “plane awesome”?), but there is no doubt that our Employees are truly proud of our Company.
I now know of at least three Employees across our system with Southwest Airlines tattoos. One Coworker had a SWA-themed wedding. One of my Teammates has an entire room in her home filled with SWA memorabilia. And there’s not a cubicle at Headquarters or a locker out in the field that doesn’t have some sort of SWA goodies on display…and some go WAY above and beyond.
I hope you enjoy the pictures. I also hope that whether you are an Employee at Southwest Airlines or anywhere else that you have even a smidgen of the same sort of pride for your work as these folks (and all our Employees) do. Because, just like superfans of sports teams that say their team colors run through their veins, I do believe that at Southwest Airlines, we bleed Canyon Blue!
