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We’re All In This Together

katie-coldwell
Explorer B

At Southwest Airlines, we like to say, “we are in the Customer Service Business, we just happen to fly airplanes.” We make promises to our Customers that our Employees keep, each and every day. But to ensure we keep these promises, we know we must take care of both our Internal and our External Customers. That’s why we always capitalize the “C” in Customer and the “E” in Employee. It is both a tribute and a reminder that they are the reason we come to work every day. We view our business as a partnership with our Employees and our Customers because, really, we’re all in this together.

 

So what’s the benefit–does all of this focus on Employees and Culture and Family really pay off? Well, who better to tell you than our Customers and Employees.  The video  below shares a few things that our Customers and Employees had to say about the Southwest Culture and how they feel when they do business with us. Take a look at the video below and let us know your thoughts.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


***This video was given to the Employees and Customers of Southwest Airlines as a gift from Southwest Airlines' President Emeritus, Colleen Barrett.  It was her dream and vision to capture on film the people and the relationships that are the building blocks of our Culture and our success.

11 Comments
jazzyspreetsing
Explorer A
Awesome video! It was really neat and amazing to hear all of the stories from the employees, especially the one about the woman who was getting a surgery! I LUV Southwest because of your amazing employees, and they are the reason I keep coming back to you guys! I have a ton of really fun stories I could tell about Southwest employees going above and beyond their job description to help make someone's day! SWA is awesome, and I hope to get the chance to work with you guys one day! 🙂 "If the Wright brother were alive today Wilbur would have to fire Orville to reduce costs.."-Herb Kelleher
Cat_Hoffman
Explorer C
That is a truly fantastic video, thanks for sharing it with us!
nightowl2
Explorer C
I wish, wish, wish, that Southwest Airlines would expand its airport gates to more southern cities close to Colleges & universities! Like: 1. MEMPHIS, TN; ** 2. PENSACOLA, FL; ** 3. ATLANTA, GA. 4. CHARLESTON, SC. 5. CHARLOTTE, NC ** 6. BOULDER, COLORADO 7. SAVANNAH, GA Or how about: San Miguel de Allende, GTO, Mexico!! We LOVE Southwest Airlines! Please help us by servicing the needs of needy College families! YEA! All of the very best!
1_SWA_traveler
Explorer C
yeh!!!! the people of swa are the funnist to travel with, I have taveled with many low cost carriers and will allways look for routes on swa because of there true hearted spirit. GO SWA GO
Anonymous3285
Explorer C
Excellent video and Kudos to the employees on the frontlines I work behind the scenes so you guys makes us or break us. We truly need to kick this economy in the Tail and get people flying SWA.. Thanks to all the CSA's ,Pilots, Flight Attendants, Sky Caps, Ops Agents, your the face of SWA and you don't get Thanks enough!! I would like to share an email I got the other day: We can all be Wally's... A SPECIAL Thanks to our Customers who make it possible for us to give you GREAT SERVICE! Our paychecks have a little tagline on them: Deposits made possible by your Southwest Customers Ducks Quack Eagles Soar No one can make you serve customers well. That's because great service is a choice. Harvey Mackay, tells a wonderful story about a cab driver that proved this point. He was waiting in line for a ride at the airport. When a cab pulled up, the first thing Harvey noticed was that the taxi was polished to a bright shine. Smartly dressed in a white shirt, black tie, and freshly pressed black slacks, the cab driver jumped out and rounded the car to open the back passenger door for Harvey .. He handed my friend a laminated card and said: 'I'm Wally, your driver. While I'm loading your bags in the trunk I'd like you to read my mission statement.' Taken aback, Harvey read the card. It said: Wally's Mission Statement: To get my customers to their destination in the quickest, safest and cheapest way possible in a friendly environment... This blew Harvey away. Especially when he noticed that the inside of the cab matched the outside. Spotlessly clean! As he slid behind the wheel, Wally said, 'Would you like a cup of coffee? I have a thermos of regular and one of decaf.' My friend said jokingly, 'No, I'd prefer a soft drink.' Wally smiled and said, 'No problem. I have a cooler up front with regular and Diet Coke, water and orange juice.' Almost stuttering, Harvey said, 'I'll take a Diet Coke.' Handing him his drink, Wally said, 'If you'd like something to read, I have The Wall Street Journal, Time, Sports Illustrated and USA Today.' As they were pulling away, Wally handed my friend another laminated card, 'These are the stations I get and the music they play, if you'd like to listen to the radio.' And as if that weren't enough, Wally told Harvey that he had the air conditioning on and asked if the temperature was comfortable for him. Then he advised Harvey of the best route to his destination for that time of day. He also let him know that he'd be happy to chat and tell him about some of the sights or, if Harvey preferred, to leave him with his own thoughts... 'Tell me, Wally,' my amazed friend asked the driver, 'have you always served customers like this?' Wally smiled into the rear view mirror.. 'No, not always. In fact, it's only been in the last two years. My first five years driving, I spent most of my time complaining like all the rest of the cabbies do. Then I heard the personal growth guru, Wayne Dyer, on the radio one day. He had just written a book called You'll See It When You Believe It . Dyer said that if you get up in the morning expecting to have a bad day, you'll rarely disappoint yourself. He said, 'Stop complaining! Differentiate yourself from your competition. Don't be a duck. Be an eagle. Ducks quack and complain. Eagles soar above the crowd.'' That hit me right between the eyes,' said Wally. 'Dyer was really talking about me. I was always quacking and complaining, so I decided to change my attitude and become an eagle. I looked around at the other cabs and their drivers. The cabs were dirty, the drivers were unfriendly,and the customers were unhappy. So I decided to make some changes. I put in a few at a time. When my customers responded well, I did more.' 'I take it that has paid off for you,' Harvey said. 'It sure has,' Wally replied. 'My first year as an eagle, I doubled my income from the previous year. This year I'll probably quadruple it. You were lucky to get me today. I don't sit at cabstands anymore. My customers call me for appointments on my cell phone or leave a message on my answering machine. If I can't pick them up myself, I get a reliable cabbie friend to do it and I take a piece of the action.' Wally was phenomenal. He was running a limo service out of a Yellow Cab. I've probably told that story to more than fifty cab drivers over the years, and only two took the idea and ran with it. Whenever I go to their cities, I give them a call. The rest of the drivers quacked like ducks and told me all the reasons they couldn't do any of what I was suggesting. Wally the Cab Driver made a different choice. He decided to stop quacking like ducks and start soaring like eagles. How about us? Smile, and the whole world smiles with you... The ball is in our hands! A man reaps what he sows. Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up... let us do good to all people. Ducks Quack, Eagles Soar Have a nice day, unless you already have other plans
Anonymous3285
Explorer C
I appologize I foolishly left out our men and women in the Reservations Centers, they too are our Frontline people and deserve KUDOS as well...Please forgive me!!
Terri4
Explorer C
It's 6:43 AM and I'm watching this lovely video before taking off on non-Southwest flights. In order to get closer to our final destination I did not choose SWA. I have not gotten on the planes, yet, and I'm already saying "always fly Southwest." Getting our boarding passes has been difficult. I have had to pay for luggage. Airline employees have been very rude over the phone. I'm remembering vividly why it has been a long time since I've flown anything other than Southwest. Thank you for being the company that you are.
Den_Den
Explorer C
I'd like to go on about all the ways S-West excels but we'd be here all day & I'd miss my flight next month ! The one story I do like to tell happened last year. I make my annual pilgrammage to Chicago from Nashville & the morning (very EARLY in the AM) was looking a lil hairy weather wise. Between a great team, & I'm one of the "if it ain't a Boeing I ain't going" crowd, & an incredible fleet not much worry.Taking my usual seat(last row next to the privvy) I'm settling in for a nice ride & a lil people watching from the tail end of da big bird. The FA gets on the PA system asking if anyone would change seats so a mom & youn son could sit together. Not a single passenger raised their hand....OY !!! Like a fool I'm flapping my long arm around but as she's standing in front of me she can't see me. So out of desperation she offers A free drink to whoever will comply...again nobody budged so at risk of getting popped in the mouth I tap her on the back & now we are set. the middle of da bird ain't so bad for just an hour flight. now to my disappointment of everyone NOT volunteering the lady I switched with says nothing in gratitude to me. no biggy maybe she's stressed or having a hectic day with a youngling in tow(I'm guessing about 10 or 11). so now we're gettin' err dunn in the air. from the time in air I'm guessing we're over Indianapolis & the weather starts. remember my no Boeing, not going remark ? I won't scare ya'll that are a lil skiddish about flying but it got wild for a while ! the poor guy next to me was having a bit of a crisis with the "bumps". we start talking & we were both former military who had been on C 40 transports before(a 737 ala military) & that helped. if the Military can put em thru a beating then we're A-Okay ! getting back to feeling unappreciated about the seat swap...the FA was VERY happy with my gesture & refused to take any $$$ for anything I ordered & in my mind she was treating me as 1st class all the way. in conclusion my fellow flyers we all know some days travel, by any mode, can be a pain. you don't have to be a social butterfly, bleed out of compassion,....BUT the most simple gesture goes a long way. pack a lil toy in case of a young one having a bad day (I pack a cheesey Sonic toy). I tote enough cigs & a spare book of matches in case a fellow smoker, like myself, makes that zip-run outdoors to light up ! one day soon I hope to do a S-west longer flight to see parts I've never been to. to any Flight Attendant reading this...you have a situation you need a hand with, helping someone with their hands full, overhead bin (at my height I get a few requests there) look at your manifest for Denny G****** whos' head rubs the center ceiling & I am at your service ! I'll be seeing ya'll next month for my trip north. my nephew is playing his 1st homecoming football game so uncle denny is pumped & ready !!!
w5pda
Adventurer B
I can relate to the "shock" that Harvey experienced with the cab driver. Back during my cab driving days in RNO, I did my best to provide the same quality of service that Wally does, although not quite as grand as he does. I occasionally wondered if my PAX ever took notice of this. One day, I got the answer to my unspoken question. I'd been driving one of my company's minivans equipped with a wheelcair ramp. Dispatch sent me a (data) message asking me to switch to voice. The dispatcher told me I had a wheelchair customer who was adamant about riding with me and me only. When I got there, "Mark" told me he'd been waiting for ME for almost two hours. I told him that we had two other drivers on that day, so he shouldn't have waited so long for a ride. Then Mark told me something that meant more to me than any tip I'd ever gotten. "You're the only one that I trust." After that day, I never again complained about usually being one of only three drivers on (between eight vans & two companies) and the sometimes crushing workload that such a shortage of drivers causes. Thank you for sharing this story Harvey. And Wally, wherever you are, thank you as well. It's professional drivers like you that make me proud to call you a colleague. And least but not least in any form, thank you SWA for providing an avenue for stories like this to be shared with others :-) Paul In CRP
Anonymous2243
Explorer C
Does anyone know who sings this song?
kmookini
Explorer C
Thank you Southwest! Our family has participated in National History Day for the past, oh, 14 years. We have had to travel to BWI for many of those years-and we have only flown Southwest-because I know when we will get there, I know our props will get to us before competition, and for many other reasons that have only to do with my family feeling safe and happy. Each year when we stand in line, I have asked our friendly gate agents in Oregon to ask how SWA could become the official airline of NHD-and lo and behold-today I see that you have! Thanks again-now if you could only fly to Hawaii!