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Nice editing, Caleb. You're starting to get a little of that "Hollywood edge" :-)
B
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The thing I remember most about the -200s was how loud they were, especially before they added the "hush kits" back in the late '90s.
The Southwest HDQ parking lot is immediately adjacent to the primary runway at DAL and, before the "hush kits", every time a -200 took off, car alarms went off all over the place.
Of course the loudest plane I ever heard was the B-1 when it took off after an air show at DAL.
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More than 290 Employees in 100 cars hit the road in Dallas to deliver meals to some very deserving people.
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05-21-2009
09:09 AM
414 Loves
Southwest Airlines recognizes Employees for their service in their communities.
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03-17-2009
10:18 AM
7 Loves
Sounds really interesting Lindsey, but you never say exactly what SXSW is/was.
Tell us more!
Bob
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03-13-2009
11:44 AM
At a recent Corporate Culture Committee quarterly meeting, Ann Hancock, Manager Special Events and 30-year Southwest Employee, and Captain Dick East, retired, tell the story of how Southwest Airlines began its association with Ronald McDonald House. As with so many things at Southwest, this now-historic corporate/charity union was the result of an Employee just looking for a way to give back to his community. This was part of what we call a "Rocking Chair" event ... a group of long-time Employees, active and retired, just sitting together and talking about the history of our Company.
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10-14-2008
08:04 AM
5 Loves
Congrats Paula, Brian, and all our bloggers.
This blog is a pure expression of Southwest and our culture that I know we are all very proud of.
B
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08-22-2008
01:38 PM
15 Loves
What a great video for General Aviation ... not to mention it's narrated by Harrison Ford!
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08-09-2008
05:17 AM
15 Loves
I've always loved watching the Olympics, but the '88 Olympics in Korea were my favorite so far. I got a 52" TV just before they started and I remember it feeling like I was there ... on the track, in the pool, on the field of play. Of course that was before HDTV.
This year is my first Olympics with an HDTV. I can hardly wait.
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08-01-2008
01:41 PM
223 Loves
I saw Kim in the hall the other day and officially welcomed him to Southwest. Congrats to Joe, too.
And congrats to Paula and you on your new titles.
And, by the way, I wouldn't call ZaSu Pitts a forgotten star. I often think about how great she was as Gale Storm's wacky side-kick on the early TV show, Oh Suzanna! (later the Gale Storm Show). A lot of people don't realize that Love Boat wasn't the first TV show set on a cruise ship!
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07-15-2008
07:34 AM
07-15-2008
07:34 AM
As a "retirement" gift to her fellow Employees, and to all the Shareholders and Customers of Southwest, Colleen dreamed of and inspired the creation of a new video about "Relationships." It is her belief that "life is all about relationships" and that they are the principle building blocks of our Culture and of the success of Southwest. In this video, you'll hear Colleen and some of the producers of, and participants in, the video talking about what it was like to plan and make the video.
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07-14-2008
10:47 AM
462 Loves
You never know what's going to happen when our Culture Committee Members from all 64 cities get together for their Quarterly Meeting. At our June meeting, Wayne Campbell, a Manager at our San Jose Provisioning Base, decided to serenade Colleen because it was her last such meeting as President of Southwest. As always, he did a great job!
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Does this mean we're going to need a new Web site called "Nous allons!"
:-)
B
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07-03-2008
03:12 AM
3 Loves
Hi Heather,
I was a professional musician for a large part of my life, and I understand your concern about your instrument. What instrument do you play and what are the dimensions of it's case?
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My most unusual view of fireworks was when I was working at Ernst & Young in the Cigna Tower in Las Colinas (Dallas area). We went up to the top floor where there were floor-to-ceiling windows and were able sit with our feet propped up, in air-conditioned comfort, while watching the shells explode at "eye level."
Not a bad way to go!
B
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06-25-2008
06:17 PM
18 Loves
Anonymous,
OLD! Yes!! Older than dirt :-)
Brian in BNA,
Water balloon volleyball isn't the important part. It's doing something ... anything ... FUN with your co-workers that allows you to get to know them, and understand them, in ways you just can't in the typical work environment. Gook luck!
B
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06-24-2008
07:25 AM
455 Loves
I grew up in a small town ... REALLY SMALL. There were about 1,600 people. The good thing about small towns is that everyone knows you. That can also be the bad thing! As a small boy, I remember when we still had phones without dials (much less buttons). You simply picked up the receiver and waited for the operator to say, "Number please." But for a long time, the number was just a formality. Everyone knew you could just tell the operator who you wanted to talk to. I can even remember picking up the phone and saying, with a distinct Southern twang, "I want to talk to my daddy." And guess what ... I was immediately connected. I knew the phone number for my dad's drug store was '13,' but it seemed silly to have to use a number. That was one of the good things about everyone knowing you. I also remember teasing our local sheriff saying, "You can't catch us." He drove a Volkswagen Beetle for goodness sakes! But he would counter with the undeniable truth. "I don't have to. I'll be waiting in your driveway when you get home." Obviously, one of the bad things about everyone knowing you. Of course, back then our idea of mischief was pretty tame by today's standards. Which brings me to water balloons. There's always been something fascinating about those jiggly, translucent, often fragile orbs. And they comprised the upper limits of my mischievousness during my adolescent years. I can remember the excitement ... the down right exhilaration .... as my friends and I huddled in the Chinaberry thicket next to my house, waiting for the next unsuspecting car to pass and be subjected to our onslaught ... our multi-colored liquid grenades exploding against window glass. Unfortunately, we never considered the possibility of Mr. Franks, our very strict, Icabod Crane of a science teacher, driving by with ... of all things ... his car windows rolled down. He was soaked, and we were sure our lives, as we knew them, were over. So today, whenever our Technology Department has one of our annual water-balloon volleyball competitions, I can't help but think we're all going to be in big trouble any minute. And what is water-balloon volleyball, you might ask? Well, the only way it resembles regular volleyball is that you play using a volleyball net. Pairs of players try to throw and catch the water balloons from one side of the net to the other using a beach towel and, as you might guess, if the balloon breaks, not only do you get wet, the other team gets a point. Pure fun! Finally, as I was looking for graphics of water balloons, I came across this ultra-slow-motion video of a water balloon bursting, and I just had to share it with you. Very cool!
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06-23-2008
10:52 AM
4 Loves
Interesting, Bill.
But I keep trying to sing/hum your lyrics to the West Side Story theme, and it keeps turning into the theme from Spider Man. Did you ever think about them being that similar?
Ok ... I'll be quiet now.
B
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06-20-2008
07:27 AM
After his financial report at the 2008 Shareholders' Meeting, Gary Kelly, CEO and newly elected Chairman of Southwest Airlines, tells a touching story of Employees who care.
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06-20-2008
07:17 AM
On April 23, 2008, several hundred of Southwest Airlines' Women of Maintenance came together in Dallas to honor Colleen at a special luncheon. This video shows the presentation to Colleen and Colleen's closing words.
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Whenever I see "mouse ears," I think of my first, and only, trip to Disneyland. It was the summer of 1963, and I had saved up my money to go on a "James Luck Tour."
James Luck was a school teacher in a nearby town and just happened to have been one of my father's roommates back in college. Every summer, James and some of his school-teacher friends hosted a two-week bus trip for about eighty 13/14-year-old kids. It was their way to make extra money in the summer, but can you image anyone having the courage to do something like that these days?
Anyway, the tour I took started in Magnolia, AR, (where James was from) but they picked me up in my home town of Lewisville, AR, about 25 miles away. In two weeks, we went to Six Flags (in Dallas), the Grand Canyon, Carlsbad Caverns, Disneyland, Knotts Berry Farm and lots or interesting little places in between.
We stayed in small, inexpensive motels most of the time, but also spent a few nights in college dorms that were unoccupied for the summer. What a way to spend your first extended time away from home and "on your own." It was a true "coming of age" experience.
But here's the thing that will blow you away. How much do you think it cost?
For the two weeks, including lodging, transportation, and basic admission to all the sites I mentioned, I paid ... drum roll ... $250. And from that $250, we were given back a dollar at each meal.
Don't laugh!! McDonalds burgers were 15 cents back then, and fries were 12 cents.
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06-11-2008
06:36 AM
13 Loves
Great story!
I was confused at the end when he mentioned Southwest "losses" versus the other airlines, but then I figured out he was talking about stock prices last Friday, not "profits and losses."
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06-10-2008
08:35 AM
432 Loves
We just had our first annual Duck Derby on the Lazy River at Sea World in San Antonio. Each of the 5000 ducks represents a current Employee who wrote a Welcome Note to one of our New Hires. It's all part of helping these new folks "get their feet wet." Believe it our not, one of the little guys managed to get a huge lead on all the rest ... but the people who "owned" the top 25 ducks received prizes. For more information about the Duck Derby, see Steve Heaser's blog and podcast.
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06-10-2008
08:30 AM
12 Loves
I've gone on several of these Customer Appreciation events, and there are always lots of children taking advantage of the stickers and colored pens. But the amazing part is how many adults are down on their knees at the tables with all the kids. Southwest brings out the inner child in all of us at times :-)
B
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06-05-2008
11:35 AM
In a recent video blog, Christi Day told you the history of our 25-minute turns. But in this video, you'll see a 50-second turn (beginning at about 1:21 into the video). This video uses a time-lapse technique that captures 1 frame per second, which makes the resulting video 30 times faster than "real time." It was shot from the roof (deck) of Southwest Airlines Headquarters and begins with a segment at 6:00 a.m. as Dallas Love Field and our Headquarters are waking up. Then, it switches to mid afternoon. Enjoy!
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05-21-2008
09:45 AM
21 Loves
I've been lucky enough to have many "encounters" with Herb over the years, but my favorite story is this ...
It was a weekend ... I forget if it was Sat or Sun ... but I was at work at HDQ, and the fire alarm went off. Thirty or fourty of us garthered on the sidewalk out front, waiting for the situation to be evaluated. Of course Herb and Colleen were there, as always, visiting with folks to pass the time.
Finally the fire truck arrived. A couple of firemen went inside to check things out and a couple of others stayed with the truck.
The next thing I knew, I turned around and Herb was up on top of the truck crawling around and asking questions. He wasn't showing off (much :-)) ... he just seemed really interested in knowing more about all the gadgets on the truck.
I've always thought that curiosity was crucial to staying young and vibrant. It seems to be true for Herb.
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05-15-2008
10:26 AM
473 Loves
This video shows excerpts of the dedication of a plane to Charles E. Taylor, the first aviation mechanic. For more information, see blogs by Steve Heaser (Orville, Wilbur, and Charles?) and Gordon Guillory (Charles E. Taylor), and listen to Steve's related podcast on RedBelly Radio (Orville, Wilbur, and Charles?).
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Wow! I have no words ... except thank you, Bill!
B
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05-12-2008
11:23 AM
This video tells the story of a Culture visit to our San Diego Provisioning facility. It begins with a visit to San Diego's "Old Town" for dinner. Then a quick trip to the airport, decorating with a touch of Mexico, and serving fajitas, frijoles, and SWAgaritas (Gartorade) to our Provisioning folks.
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