Southwest Airlines Community

This episode of Red Belly Radio is about two people flying from Chicago to Nashville. Roy Harris, a Southwest Airlines Customer would meet Rachael Jacobs, a Southwest Airlines off-duty flight attendant in the gate area. Their introduction was anything but typical.   ... View more

There are two major airlines based in North Texas. Both are publically held and out of the 250+ business days of the year, both hold their annual shareholders’ meeting on the same date. Do we plan it? I really don’t know.  I was no where around when the dates were picked by either airline, but much to the chagrin of our local media, Southwest Airlines and American Airlines hold their annual shareholders’ meeting on the same day. Therefore, if you owned shares in both companies and wanted to attend both meetings, you would need to eat a good breakfast, head out the door bright and early and be ready to make the cross-town trek between the two companies' meetings like an Indy car driver. Southwest shareholders: if you missed our meeting, this year we had a surprise—David Holmes, one of our many talented Flight Attendants, rapped about GAAP (Generally Accepted Accounting Principles). Whaaa? Yes he rapped about GAAP, something I had never put much thought to. Also before the meeting, the video monitors were playing several videos that our group worked on recently. LIFT Coffee, Prize Patrol, and My Old Man in Maintenance.  I have no idea what American did to entertain its shareholders, but I’m glad I was where I was. On this episode of Red Belly Radio, I interview David Holmes who rapped his way to more than 1.6 million views on YouTube, the Tonight Show, and the Southwest Airlines flights he works. You’ll also hear his GAAP rap and find out if he really understands the principles of accounting that are involved. ... View more

On this episode of Red Belly Radio, I interview David Holmes who rapped his way to more than 1.6 million views on YouTube, the Tonight Show, and the Southwest Airlines flights he works. You’ll also hear his GAAP rap and find out if he really understands the principles of accounting that are involved. ... View more

Never let it be said that the vision and work of one person can’t change things for a lot of people. This episode of Red Belly Radio is about the Southwest Airlines Employees Catastrophic Assistance Charity—and the vision of a man who brought it to life. About 19 years ago, Randy Rickard had the idea to assist our Employees in times of need. Simple enough, if everybody donated very small amounts of every paycheck, it could add up to a lot of money. The Southwest Airlines Employees Catastrophic Assistance Charity (SWAECAC) was started to help Employees suffering severe financial hardship resulting from a catastrophic event in their lives. These are generally emergency, medical, or personal circumstances for which a person could not be expected to be adequately prepared through responsible financial planning and budgeting. There is a SWAECAC Board of Directors that meets every two weeks to consider applications, with the primary source of money coming from our own Company payroll. Many Employees choose to donate a portion of their paychecks, but we also receive money from private donations, honorariums for speaking engagements our Employees participate in, leftover department "party funds," and various fundraisers throughout the year. And, 100 percent of money donated is tax-deductible as it is a certified 501(c)(3) charity. The Board of Directors recognizes that each situation is different; therefore we have not adopted any formal guidelines for offering assistance. I recently ran into Randy, who is now retired, and talked to him about getting the Charity off the ground. ... View more

Never let it be said that the vision and work of one person can’t change things for a lot of people. This episode of Red Belly Radio is about the Southwest Airlines Employees Catastrophic Assistance Charity—and the vision of a man who brought it to life. About 19 years ago, Randy Rickard had the idea to assist our Employees in times of need. Simple enough, if everybody donated very small amounts of every paycheck, it could add up to a lot of money.  ... View more

LUV Classic golf tournament and party along with a landmark donation to the Ronald McDonald Houses over the past 23 years. ... View more

[asset|aid=240|format=image|formatter=asset|title=RBRiPodLogoSmall.gif|width=180|height=179|resizable=true|align=right]On this episode of Red Belly Radio, I interview a young man named Dan Webb. He attends university in Rhode Island, and to say that Dan likes all things airline is a gross miss understatement. Dan is 18 years old, maintains a blog called Thingsinthesky.com  and trust me, will work for an airline one day—or maybe I should say will run an airline one day! It seems that Dan is not alone in the world of airline fans (he accepts and even embraces the term: Airline “Geek”) and has dreamed of working for an airline for years. In fact, he has been running his own airline, Dan Airways for a decade now. OK, it’s not a real airline—YET!  Dan knows this industry and will one day make great contributions to some lucky carrier. Give this episode a listen. ... View more

On this episode of Red Belly Radio, I interview a young man named Dan Webb. He attends university in Rhode Island, and to say that Dan likes all things airline is a gross miss understatement. Dan is 18 years old, maintains a blog called Thingsinthesky.com   and trust me, will work for an airline one day—or maybe I should say will run an airline one day! ... View more

How many Southwest Airlines Employees does it take to change the coffee brand and cup design on our aircraft? The answer is about 20. Ok, so it is not as good as some of the old “…change a light bulb” jokes but this is true. In this episode of Red Belly Radio, I interview Micah and Melissa from our Marketing department. They were two of the team of folks who studied the issue and helped get this new coffee onboard our aircraft. Employees from Inflight, Ground Operations, Employee Communications, Graphic Design and Creative Services, Marketing, Provisioning, Purchasing, and Public Relations got together and brewed their ideas into this great new brand aboard our flight. If I were Brian “Blog Boy” Lusk, I’d hit you with a bunch of other puns using words like “perk” and “jolt.” But since I am not, I’ll just steep. No, wait, that’s tea. Tune in to this week’s episode to learn about the double-entendre that makes the title of this blog. LIFT, It's A Cup Above The Rest! Listen now! ... View more

On this episode of Red Belly Radio, I interview Micah and Melissa from our Marketing department. They were two of the team of folks who studied the issue and helped get this new coffee onboard our aircraft. Tune in to this week’s episode to learn about the double-entendre that makes the title of this blog. LIFT, It's A Cup Above The Rest! ... View more

Beginning May 4, Southwest Airlines will unveil a new onboard coffee experience two years in the making. Introducing LIFT, a dark-roasted 100% Arabica blend of South and Central American coffees. ... View more

Interview with Captain Chuck Magill, Vice President of Flight Operations about why we only fly 737s, and with Herb, our Founder and Chairman Emeritus who explains why we went with the Boeing back in 1971. Give it a listen. ... View more

This episode of Red Belly Radio is about why Southwest Airlines operates only one type of aircraft, the Boeing 737. The simple answer is because it is reliable. But flying one aircraft type also simplifies our system, scheduling, training, ground equipment, maintenance, provisioning, dispatch and probably a slew of other aspects I am not thinking of right now. Crew and aircraft are interchangeable, should the need arise—we don’t have to determine whether an Employee is qualified to operate a specific aircraft because they are all qualified to operate every aircraft in our fleet of 737s—the worlds’ largest. Few people remember, but there were actually two periods when we experimented with the 727.  In 1979, we leased one aircraft from Braniff for a little more than a year, then in 1983 to support new routes to California we began what would eventually be a lease of six aircraft from People Express for a period of two years. These experiences taught us a valuable lesson—pick one aircraft type and stick to it! I interview Captain Chuck Magill, Vice President of Flight Operations about why we fly only 737s, and I caught up with Herb, our Founder and Chairman Emeritus who explains why we went with the Boeing back in 1971. Give it a listen. ... View more

[asset|aid=329|format=image|formatter=asset|title=RBRiPodLogoSmall_0.gif|width=180|height=179|resizable=true|align=right]Did you know that Southwest Airlines has its own time zone? Well, we share it with everyone else who lives and works in Central Time, but we have our own name for it. We call it “Herb Time,” and it is what our Flight Crews use on every flight, every day, and in every flight log book.  And, apparently, we are unique in the industry!   It seems other airlines schedule in the local time zones, so a flight from Detroit to Chicago leaving at 0900 would land at 0900. It is then up to the crew to know that those two cities are one time zone apart and that it is a one-hour flight. Our system would show that 0900 arrival in Chicago with an 0800 departure because our Crews always stay in “Herb Time.”   Time management for an airline, as you might imagine, is complex.  And, if we hadn’t started flying to El Paso in 1977, we’d probably just still be using Central Time for everything. Not too many people had the desire to take a job at a startup airline back in 1971, but the ones who did made this airline what it is today. On this episode of Red Belly Radio,  I talk with one of those first Employees, Willie Wilson, whose Employee number confirms that he was the 16th Southwest Employee ever hired.  Willie talks about the origin of “Herb Time,” and we learn about one of the people who helped us get off the ground. (Literally—Willie started as a Mechanic.) ... View more

[asset|aid=240|format=image|formatter=asset|title=RBRiPodLogoSmall.gif|width=180|height=179|resizable=true|align=right]On this episode of Red Belly Radio, I interview Bob Jordan our Executive Vice President Strategy & Planning using questions that people submitted to us via Twitter. A portion this podcast is also on a video titled New Southwest Service To Boston Logan where you can see me with headphone hair (I’d been wearing headphones earlier) asking Bob the questions that people tweeted in the hour preceding the interview. The video, however, does not include the story about how Bob has worked on four of the five floors in our headquarters building (has to be some kind of record) which led me to Whitney Eichinger who has a funny story about how she and several others could not find him one day—it seems he had moved at least once since she had found him last. That day, they were looking all over for Bob to interview him about shaving his signature mustache after only 30 years of having it. Whitney references that video, which has not been released until now! And now, this exclusive link for the readers of my blog, the Mustache Video ... View more

Did you know that Southwest Airlines has its own time zone? Well, we share it with everyone else who lives and works in Central Time, but we have our own name for it. We call it “Herb Time,” and it is what our Flight Crews use on every flight, every day, and in every flight log book.  And, apparently, we are unique in the industry!  ... View more

Length: 11:54 On this episode of Red Belly Radio, I interview Bob Jordan our Executive Vice President Strategy & Planning using questions that people submitted to us via Twitter. A portion this podcast is also on a video titled New Southwest Service To Boston Logan where you can see me with headphone hair (I’d been wearing headphones earlier) asking Bob the questions that people tweeted in the hour preceding the interview. ... View more

For about a dozen years, I have cooked and competed in the Southwest Airlines Annual Chili Cook-off, about one-third of the time it has been held. This episode of Red Belly Radio was recorded at the 36th and last cook-off. I interview long-time chili cook and reigning Tennessee men’s state chili champion Richard Knight, and Jim Powell, who has attended almost every one of the Southwest chili events. Christi Day provides the play-by-play of the awards ceremony for all three chili cook-off categories. Listen to learn the origin of showmanship at chili cook-offs and why we call every Southwest Chili Cook-off "the last," and why you should never use a toilet as a chili cooking vessel. ... View more

For about a dozen years, I have cooked and competed in the Southwest Airlines Annual Chili Cook-off, about one-third of the time it has been held. This episode of Red Belly Radio was recorded at the 36th and last cook-off. I interview long-time chili cook and reigning Tennessee men’s state chili champion Richard Knight, and Jim Powell, who has attended almost every one of the Southwest chili events. Listen to Twitter Queen Christi Day as she walks us through the play-by-play of the awards ceremony for all three chili cook-off categories (Showmanship, Chefs choice, and Judges Choice). Listen to learn the origin of showmanship at chili cook-offs, all about the double-blind judging system, why we call every Southwest Chili Cook-off “the last,” and why you should never use a toilet as a chili cooking vessel. (That does seem a bit obvious, but the story might make you laugh.) ... View more

For this episode, Red Belly Radio comes in two (shorter) segments.  I hosted an inflight contest to guess how many bags of peanuts Southwest Airlines gives out in a typical week. And I interview Sofia Proll, a Southwest Flight Attendant who tells the story of a passenger who might be creating an iPhone app to track the average number of peanuts per bag. ... View more

[asset|aid=240|format=image|formatter=asset|title=RBRiPodLogoSmall.gif|width=180|height=179|resizable=true|align=right]A lot of people might think the title of this blog sounds a bit like an Agatha Christie novel. Perhaps with enough time and effort it could become my first novel. Realistically? I have my doubts. Lots of story ideas come to me and some are short and some are longer. For this episode, Red Belly Radio comes in two (shorter) segments. Of everything to pick from, the first part was recorded on my way to Las Vegas, when I hosted an inflight contest to guess how many bags of peanuts Southwest Airlines gives out in a typical week. Only to be outdone with a wonderful interview with Sofia Proll, a Southwest Flight Attendant. Luckily our paths crossed, and I was able to record the story of a passenger who seems to like averages. Sofia explains how a quick conversation with a couple of passengers could be turning into an iPhone app to track the average number of peanuts per bag. ... View more

[asset|aid=240|format=image|formatter=asset|title=RBRiPodLogoSmall.gif|width=180|height=179|resizable=true|align=right]If the word “Blog” is short for web log, would a flight log be called “Flog?”  With March being Women’s History Month, I recalled an interview with Captain Nancy Martin Belitz that I recorded several months ago for Red Belly Radio. I ask this 20-year Employee about working in a male-dominated field and about being a Pilot. Nancy also shares a story of her favorite passenger. It seems there is a man who has logged (flogged?) every flight he has flown over the past several decades. He notes the flight information and gets the pilots to sign his book. Nancy first signed his book more than 20 years ago when she flew for a different airline, once shortly after she started at Southwest Airlines, and again recently. He probably lives or works near the California bay area because he has been spotted flying out of Oakland, San Francisco and San Jose. I am certainly not stalking this man but if anyone by chance knows this gentleman please let me know. I would love to ask him about his travels and some of the comments he has had written in his flog. ... View more

With March being Women’s History Month, I recalled an interview with Captain Nancy Martin Belitz that I recorded several months ago for Red Belly Radio. I ask this 20-year Employee about working in a male-dominated field and about being a Pilot. Nancy also shares a story of her favorite passenger. ... View more

Among his many talents, Herb Kelleher is an etymologist (one who studies words). Most people would probably say someone like that “likes to use $10 words” but when you are smart enough to start a company like Southwest Airlines, you get to be known as whatever you want. So with Herb as inspiration, I will try to use as many etymologically challenging words in this brief blog. I hope you find this post lucubrating, I certainly opine that it is. Herb is a lot of things, but one thing I especially love about him is that he is a gifted raconteur. He is more than capable of luculent text but I simply can’t pari passu with his story telling. I would not aver you to eschew other podcasts, but this episode of Red Belly Radio is anything but quiescent. Two perspicacious Employees share three stories about one of my favorite people. Retired pilot Frank Wright and Flight Attendant (and part-time blogger) Carole Adams share some stories about our Founder and Chairman Emeritus, Herb Kelleher. ... View more

Length: 5:23 Retired pilot Frank Wright and Flight Attendant (and part-time blogger) Carole Adams share some stories about one of my favorite people, Southwest Airlines Founder and Chairman Emeritus Herb Kelleher. ... View more