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11-16-2006
03:34 PM
2 Loves
Hi Jeff,
I worked the ramp for about ten years at my previous employer, Delta, and I loved every minute of it. For an airplane freak like me, working around aircraft was the ultimate, and it is a great place to learn the nuts and bolts of aviation. Yes it is hard work, but you work as a Team, and being part of a quick turn is like a winning football team or a ballet.
It's a great job for folks who hate being tied to a desk and who like being outside. Even though it gets cold in the winter and hot in the summer, there are many days when you just look around and think, I wouldn't change my job for anything.
When I first began, I told my father, who also worked for an airline, that I thought an airport ramp was a "sacred place," and I still think that way. Today, with all the security measures and enclosed jetbridges, most folks never get to see an aircraft "close up and personal" (to borrow ABC Sports old slogan), but you can on the ramp. The knowledge I gained on the ramp has been indispensable in my career.
Brian
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11-15-2006
03:31 PM
8 Loves
Darrell,
I assure you that Kim's thoughts are his own, and we have many, many Customers who think like him. Obviously, you haven't read the entire blog because you would see that we have posted many negative comments. Also we have posted many comments from folks wanting assigned seating. Please see the two posts from Gary Kelly, our CEO. Here's the first one, and here's the second one. However, those wanting to keep open seating far outweigh those wanting a change.
That doesn't mean our current system is perfect. We know it isn't, and we are working on some improvements, and assigned seating hasn't been ruled out completely. We have a lot of test data to consider. Having said that, assigned seating isn't perfect either. Under assigned seating, passengers still have to sit in middle seats, families are separated at times, and passengers have to sit next to rowdy children. Assigned seating doesn't always mean you get the best seat in the house. At least with open seating, you have the option of walking past a row with rowdy children and choosing another seat. With assigned seating you are stuck with your seat assignment.
Brian
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11-14-2006
03:25 PM
7 Loves
Hi Dana,
Nietzsche scares me, and Camus depresses me, but he might have written:
I blogged today. Or, perhaps it was yesterday, I don't know.
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11-13-2006
11:44 PM
11 Loves
You're right Pete, it was Carl Sandburg, so perhaps this is the blog of strong shoulders and blogmaker to the world. Actually, I was going for something from Ogden Nash, Cummings is depressing.
Brian
(Eric, I hear a heart beating in my computer.)
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11-13-2006
10:34 PM
8 Loves
Sorry, Edward, no haiku. I can do e.e. cummings though:
the blog comes in on little cat feet
bl
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11-13-2006
08:37 PM
3 Loves
Hi Louisa,
Well Kim gives me greater credit than I deserve. We don't have a specificposting on fear of flying, but if you will start with this post by Captain Ray Stark, it is one of a series where he explains the various stages of flight.Â
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11-13-2006
10:37 AM
614 Loves
After only seven months in the blogosphere, I know I am still a neophyte when it comes to blogging. I am slowly learning, with the help of Angela, Paula, and Jill, the "language" of the blogs, and it is very different. There's stuff like "blinks, pings, and linkbacks." It got me to thinking of how two of the greatest authors of the 20th Century would write if they blogged.
With profound apologies, here are some blogging thoughts in the style of William Faulkner:
Having just set down in my high-tech, ergonomically correct, imported from Sweden, multi-position office chair after having consumed a pitcher of that delicious concoction comprised of ice, vodka, and orange juice, which would leave lesser mortals totally incoherent from its combustible 75:25 ratio of vodka to juice, I try to organize my somewhat random but highly intellectual thoughts into a stream of consciousness narrative that will posit my unconventional, but inherently readable, diatribes on the state of mankind that even the most isolated souls who, as happenstance and serendipity working in tandem would have it, are totally deprived of all emotional content can understand, and as I sit before the omnipotence of the modern computing device, my highly dexterous fingertips begin their waltz-like procession, not unlike that of Emmitt and Cheryl on "Dancing with the Stars," across my unfortunately conformist keyboard and transform themselves into my latest blog posting.
If that is too verbose for you, try Ernest Hemingway:
Fighting my seventh consecutive morning hangover, I sit in my expensive chair. Thoughts bounce through my head like ricochets at a shooting range. I type. I laugh. I communicate. Soon, happy hour will arrive. My daily toil will cease. The bell does toll for me.
(By the way, I have neither an imported Swedish office chair, nor an expensive one. Rather, I was trying to let the authors "channel" through me.)
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Kim,
I never sleep on the job, and especially when the big bosses are around. Unfortunately, I wasn't asked to participate in the video. If I had, I would have been shopping my audition tapes in Hollywood the next day.
Brian
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11-09-2006
07:23 PM
3 Loves
Hi Rob,
The average age of our fleet is about nine years old (which is quite young for the industry), and the biggest portion of our aircraft are new 737-700s--we have taken delivery this year on over 35 of them. If you are on a longhaul flight from Buffalo, it most likely will be on a 737-700. Even if you should be on our oldest aircraft, it is just as safe as the one delivered new from the factory last week. All of our older aircraft have essentially been completely rebuilt as they progress through their scheduled maintenance. Our Mechanics, like Gordon, live and breathe Safety. Whenever they complete a maintenance task, their name goes on the record for that action, and they take great pride in their work. Since I grew up in an airline family, I have been around Mechanics all my life (that's over 54 years), and I have never seen finer and more dedicated Mechanics than we have here at Southwest. You will be in great hands!
Brian
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11-07-2006
10:33 AM
424 Loves
On November 7, millions of Americans went to the polls, and we are grateful for those who supported the slate of candidates running on the LUV Party ticket. Unlike those other politicians, we hope you voted, and will vote often, for Southwest Airlines.
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Hi Tracy,
I don't know if you have seen this month's "Freedom Story" in Spirit, but we feature a woman executive with a similar story to yours. Rest assured, I will share your post with Colleen Barrett, and we are honored to play such an important role in your life, your family's life, and with your business.
Brian
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11-06-2006
05:38 PM
8 Loves
Me being difficult??? You surely can't mean me? That molding stuff seems like a mystery. However, I can't think of a better group of enablers, and you are right, eating candy corn 737s would be like biting the hand that pays me.
My name is Brian and I am a candy cornaholic
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11-06-2006
04:03 PM
19 Loves
Okay Cookbook Crew, as a world reknown gourmet of all this candy cornish, your reciped puzzles me after reflecting on it. Traditional candy corn has definite striations of color, not unlike a stalactite (sp) at Carlsbad Caverns. How do you add color to ensure that it remains separate on each piece of candy corn? Candy corn that looks like a tie-dye T-shirt won't do.
Brian
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11-05-2006
05:29 AM
2 Loves
Leah, that was awful, but I LUVed it and am sorry I didn't think of it.
Kim, never get in the way of a man and his candy corn!
Bob, when I worked in Reservations, folks would sometimes call in and ask to be put on hold just to hear the jokes.
Brian
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11-03-2006
11:53 PM
3 Loves
Hey Jill,
Do you lie awake at nights thinking of those? Well here's a couple back at you:
How did the thief evade the bloodhounds?
He threw a penny into the woods, and the dogs followed the wrong cent.
Two hillbillies were coming down from the mountain, when they saw a motorcycle go buy. The husband, being a skilled hunter, fired at the motorcycle with his squirrel gun. His wife asked, "Kill it Pa?"
"Nope," he replied, "it's still growling, but I made sure it let go of the man it had."
What did George Washington's father say when George brought home his report card?
"Why did you go down in history?"
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11-03-2006
07:19 PM
3 Loves
I think #2 looks like a great place to hide a stash of candy corn for inflight munchie time. #3 looks like the robotic arm on the space shuttle. And #1 looks like the kind of mirror the dentist needs for rotted candy corn teeth.
Brian
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11-03-2006
06:35 PM
13 Loves
Well, Kim
I'm not the only guy in the office, it's just that when you came up here, I didn't introduce you to them. But...I am a lucky guy!
Brian
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11-03-2006
03:48 PM
8 Loves
Tracie, we do have service between both Denver and Omaha.
John, even though Dallas is one of our original three cities, it is essentially a new city with the passage of the Wright Reform Act. We will add additional destinations as we move along, much like we do with any new city. The schedules we have right now are basically the ones that were written under the Wright Amendment rules. Going forward, we will be able to write our schedules to take advantage of the new law, and this will start with the March schedule that should be released sometime later this month. To be honest, I don't know if includes service to new destinations, but we will be growing here in Dallas.
Brian
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11-02-2006
10:18 PM
10 Loves
Hi Jenny,
We all LUV Kim and his eloquence, even if I am the brunt of his jokes sometime. If I ever hit the lottery, I will hire him as my publicist. Seriously, we are honored that you would like to use parts of the blog in your paper. After all, the blogosphere is about open communications, so feel free to use what you need--even my candy corn post.
Brian
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11-02-2006
10:25 AM
410 Loves
Our President, Colleen Barrett, is spreading her wings in the blogosphere, and she recently did a post on Hill & Knowlton's Client Service Insights blog. If you would like to read her thoughts on Customer Service, please click here.
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11-01-2006
06:50 PM
3 Loves
Dear Mr. Urchain,
I tried dialing that number but my hands were shaking from the sugar high!
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11-01-2006
05:01 PM
3 Loves
Help!
I am surrounded by enablers. I walked into the office this morning and there was a huge bowl of candy corn. Oh my aching teeth.
signed,
strung out on candy corn
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Hi R. Varello,
I am sorry that you missed the two posts on the blog about assigned vs open seating. If you will go to Gary Kelly's first post, there are about 500 reasons why Customers prefer open seating. That doesn't mean we will never change, but our Customers are very outspoken about keeping open seating. Gary recently posted a followup.Â
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10-31-2006
08:43 PM
3 Loves
ssssh! Don't tell them about the candy corn den next door
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10-31-2006
06:14 PM
1 Love
Hi Joe,
Thanks for your questions and suggestions. The reason why the computer won't give you the cost of the segment fees before hand is, as you guess, the computer has to wait and add these in until it knows the itinerary. I can see both sides of your proposal, and I will share your comment with our Marketing folks.
Your second idea also makes a lot of sense, but I know that we have a limited amount of space on the Ticketless Receipts. The receipts are formatted to fit most e-mail programs, so for some folks, it may look like a lot of wasted space and for others, the page is full of information. Also the receipts printed at the airport have limited space. Nevertheless, I will share this idea too. It would be a great way to get awareness "out there" about the true cost of air travel.
Brian
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10-31-2006
03:53 PM
5 Loves
Darrell,
I am sorry that your Southwest experience hasn't been as rewarding as Kim's, but I assure you that he is not a Southwest Employee, and he doesn't receive any compensation from us at all. Kim truly beleives what he writes, and while he is one of our most outspoken fans, as of June 30, we had received almost 19,000 commendations from our Customers. Taking that trend out to yearend, that means we will receive the equivalent of over one commendation for each of our 32,000+ Employees. Kim isn't alone.
Brian
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10-31-2006
03:45 PM
3 Loves
I swear, I only use candy corn when I need a sugar high. I can stop anytime. And I assure you that I don't spend all of my alcohol budget on those little red, orange, and white treats.
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10-30-2006
12:16 PM
550 Loves
It's definitely not corn, and as a candy, it hardly qualifies (although Kandi Korn might be a good name for an adult entertainer). Okay, so why am I ripping off Jerry Seinfeld with this rant about nothing? Aside from the fact that October 30 is National Candy Corn Day (I didn't make this up!), the other day, we were holding a Blog Team meeting in the office of our "faculty advisor," Linda Rutherford (yeah, we actually meet about this), and she had a big bowl of candy corn.
I really don't like the tasteless little treats, but I can't help myself from eating them because they hold a special significance for me. When I was young and had to get a shot at Doctor Joe's office, the nurse would always give me candy corn to ease the sting and indignity of the shot. I really didn't like the taste, but I wasn't about to turn down free candy, even if it was candy corn. Somehow, it's ironic that these waxy little lozenges of pure sugar probably are the number one destroyer of baby teeth. (Maybe Doctor Joe had a tie-in with the dentist down the hall.)
Why is that ironic? Have you ever really examined a piece of candy corn? With their little white caps, long triangular shape, and sickly yellow color, they resemble a human canine tooth that has never seen an ounce of toothpaste. Besides that, candy corn has a half-life of centuries. Caitlin, our former Intern and fellow reluctant candy corn afficionado, tells me that no matter how old and stale a piece of candy corn is, you can still eat it. After hearing that, I had a nightmare of being stuck in a restaurant where all they serve is Spam and candy corn.
Still, like an episode of Jerry Springer or the movie Showgirls, you just can't walk away from candy corn (Kandi Korn?). (Maybe the Surgeon General should require a warning on the package?) Here's hoping your Halloween treats are tastier and less addictive.
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