Southwest Airlines Community

I never thought I’d see the day.  My New Orleans Saints won the Super Bowl. I know I speak for every native New Orleanian (and even some folks who just love to root for the underdog) when I say I can’t remember a more joyous time in the city.  I’ve lived through 32 Mardi Gras and have never felt the pure love and celebration that I have felt during this entire football season.   I live in Dallas now, but anyone who knows me knows that my heart belongs to my hometown, New Orleans, and thanks to my Southwest Employee privileges, I was able to fly home for some games and be in the city for the NFC Championship...and of course the Super bowl XLIV.  I wouldn’t have missed any of these occasions for the world.  I lost my voice, hugged too many strangers, and cried tears of joy over the last few weeks, and I loved every second of it. I can’t describe what an awesome feeling it was to look out over Bourbon Street on a Sunday afternoon in February to a sea of black, gold, and fleur de lis-- with “Black and Gold to the Super Bowl,” “I Believe,”  and “Get Crunk” providing the soundtrack. I may be missing “Lombardi Gras” today, but I’m wearing my Super Bowl Championship T-shirt at Southwest Headquarters with pride, and I’ll be back home for Mardi Gras next weekend to jump right back in to the celebration I left yesterday with Coach Payton holding the Lombardi Trophy out the sunroof of his car as he left the airport.  I’ve been a proud Saints fan my entire life; we believed in the "Bless You Boys" and they did it!  Thank you Sean Payton; thank you Drew Brees;  thank you to all the players and the entire New Orleans Saints organization;  and thank you everyone who has supported our team and our city—the heart of New Orleans is beating strong again. I don’t think we had any doubt we would bounce back after Katrina, but this just seals the deal.  WHO DAT! ... View more

LUV is in the air.  Not only is Valentine’s Day right around the corner, but we have something very special planned in Harlingen, Texas--the first city we flew to after our original three (Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio).  To celebrate our 35 years of service in Harlingen, we’re awarding two lucky LUV-birds an opportunity to exchange vows in the Valley and fly away (on SWA, of course!) on a complimentary honeymoon.   Tell us your favorite couple’s “LUV Story” for a chance to tie the knot, Southwest-style! The grand prize includes: -Two (2) roundtrip tickets to Harlingen, Texas -Southwest Airlines-themed civil ceremony at the Valley International Airport on February 11, 2010 -Two (2) roundtrip tickets to honeymoon destination in SWA’s system (68 cities and counting!) -A two-night hotel stay at honeymoon destination   Imagine walking down the aisle, and then walking right on to a LUV Jet to celebrate your honeymoon!    Visit www.southwest.com/luvinthevalley for all the contest rules. And good luck! ... View more

It’s time again for Gary Kelly’s yearly identity crisis to come to a close.  You all sent your suggestions for his Halloween costume and he chose something that won’t let you down, but you won’t find out what it is until our SWA Headquarters Halloween celebration on Friday, October 30.  Southwest Airlines has once again partnered with Spirit Halloween Stores to make sure that not only our Employees get in to the spirit of the holiday, but also our Customers.  Spirit Halloween is the largest Halloween retailer with stores located throughout the United States, so you know they will use all their resources to make Gary’s 2009 costume better than ever!  [asset|aid=226|format=image|formatter=asset|title=3ColorReaperHandHS.JPG|width=262|height=118|resizable=true|align=center] Some lucky Customers received coupons for great discounts at Spirit Halloween stores on their flights last week, but the fun doesn’t stop there.  The company has given us decorations for the inside of our planes that you will be treated to if you fly October 30, and some cute giveaways that you can look for in the gate area before your flights that same day!   If you want to check out all that Spirit Halloween Superstores has to offer, go to www.spirithalloween.com or call 1-800-COSTUME to find a store near you.  On their website, you can join the Spirit Secret Society for even more discounts! ... View more

March 12 is a very big day in Southwest Airlines land....yes, it is the day that holds claim to two VERY important events--the births of Gary Kelly AND Herb Kelleher! We all want to show our LUV to Gary & Herb on this special day each year, but this year, the Executive Office, Culture, and Communications Employees decided to do something a little different. Instead of collecting money to purchase a group gift, we decided to give back by collecting non-perishable food items to donate in Gary's and Herb's names to the North Texas Food Bank! Our favorite boys have given all of us (and our community) so much, we figured this little food drive was the least we could do for them.  So, Happy Birthday, Gary & Herb, we hope you enjoy this gift from our hearts! ... View more

I've written about Nunu; some of you may know my dog's name is Kookalaka Fettucini; but my favorite silly name of all is the one that makes Thanksgiving one of my favorite days of the year: Gogi. Gogi is my grandmother; but she is really my best friend.  She helped my mom raise me, she has sewn more costumes than I can count, and boy can my Gogi cook!  My mouth is watering right now even thinking about Gogi's Thanksgiving stuffing.  It's a really simple recipe; there's some croutons, some celery and, I'm pretty sure, some special Gogi magic in it.  It got to the point several years ago that Gogi started making two batches of her stuffing--one for the bird and one for me to eat for at least three meals after Thanksgiving dinner! So when I think of Thanksgiving, of course I think of family and all the things I am thankful for.  And, yes, I am very thankful for the yummy stuffing that she makes, but I hope she knows that in all the world one of the things I am most thankful for is Gogi!   ... View more

Three things I never wanted to see at work: Hannibal Lector reminding me of the time he had a friend for dinner…with some fava beans and a nice Chianti!; Jason from the Friday the 13th movies swinging his machete at me when I walked by; and Gary Kelly’s Executive Assistant, Gillian Kelley (no relation) wearing a full beard. Well thanks to our amazing holiday partnership with Spirit Halloween Superstores this year, I got to see all that and so much more!  And honestly, seeing all those things just made one of SWA’s favorite holidays more spectacular than ever before. You may have seen the decorations at the Southwest Ticket Counters in all 64 of our cities; or maybe you played some Halloween trivia with our Flight Attendants during your travels Halloween day and won a squishy pumpkin, a pen, or some Spirit Halloween sticky notes.  We’re hoping that everyone—Customers and SWA Employees-- put their 20% discount coupons to good use; judging by some of the costumes, wigs, and props I saw around here on Halloween, I’m guessing everyone did! You couldn’t help but get in to the Halloween “Spirit” (pun intended!) if you dropped by Southwest Airlines Headquarters the week of Halloween—the lobby decorations that Spirit provided, as spooky as they were, were amazing! There was a haunted castle flanked by a grim reaper, a spooky American Gothic-esque farmer and his wife, a cranky witch that stirred up her bubbling cauldron when you made noise, black crows hanging out on the balcony, and, of course, those darn scary movie characters that taunted you when they sensed even the slightest bit of motion.  It was the first Halloween that the lobby had ever been decorated, but I am positive it will not be the last--the decorations were a huge hit. Of course the most important part of our Halloween collaboration wasn’t to scare our Employees and visitors, it was to make sure Gary Kelly’s 2008 Halloween costume was top notch—and boy did Spirit Halloween deliver!  Check out A Sharp Dressed Man and Southwest Airlines Halloween 2008 to see Gary and his crew (Gillian Kelley, his Executive Assistant; and Nan Barry, his Chief of Staff) in all their ZZ Top glory!  If I didn’t know better, I would have thought the actual band was roaming our halls! Although it seems like Halloween just happened and we won’t need to worry about it for another year, I guarantee that the wheels are turning at SWA as well as at Spirit Halloween Superstores to make next year’s Halloween events even bigger and better. So in 2009 when you start thinking about your costume, your skit theme, or how you want to decorate your house, remember the LUV we were all shown by the folks at Spirit Halloween in 2008.   ... View more

We wanted a dog, we got a baby sister; luckily she turned out pretty great, or we would have totally traded her in for that dog. As of Monday, July 7, 2008, at 9:05 a.m., my baby sister, Margot Ashton Messina, the “baby Nunu”, officially became a college graduate.  I was lucky enough to spend her last official weekend as a College of Charleston student with her in Charleston, South Carolina, and that’s when I decided to write this blog.  (**I flew SWA in to Jacksonville, FL, then drove a quick 3.5 hours to Charleston—so worth the drive!) I’m not really the weepy type, but for some reason, seeing Margot in her element just got to me.  I watched in awe as she and her best girlfriends Patrice (“Pat Rice”) and Natalie (“Nat G.”) walked around the great Low Country like they were government officials—they knew everyone on the street, at the beach, and, of course, in the packed college bars.  It suddenly hit me that Margot is not a baby anymore, and I wanted her to know how much I have enjoyed watching her get to this important turning point in her life. So, Margot, I was in third grade when you were born.  I remember being called out of Mrs. LeGrande’s class because I had a phone call in the principal’s office—8lbs, 8 oz, a healthy baby girl.  What I didn’t find out until I saw you for the first time was that babies are sometimes born with pointy heads and bad skin—I was worried sick but never let anyone know; you (and your many chins) were just awesome to me.  (Don’t worry, her head is normal and she has long since grown out of that skin and those chins, but that is my first memory of my little sister.) You sat there happily and let me dress you up and spike your hair with mousse. You were a very happy little kid, but seemed to cry louder than any other baby in the universe. Remember when you got sick at Callaway Gardens during the play?  As gross as it was, it’s one of my best Margot memories. I can still hear your raspy, pack-a-day little voice delivering those spectacular student council election speeches and belting out tunes from The Lion King soundtrack ; your love for Jonathan Taylor Thomas was just adorable—I love that you named your first dog Max because JTT had a dog with the same name.  You soon got over JTT and moved on to Leonardo DiCaprio.  Have you gotten over Leo yet?  Of course you have, you had to make room for Kevin from the Backstreet Boys.  For such a cool little kid-- one who wore Airwalks, one who could Rollerblade rings around the boys, one who met Hootie, one who swam right up to Sting to say hello while all the adults pretended he wasn’t there-- your teeny bopper side still shines through; I like to take all the credit for that.  Working with you at Ripples was one of my favorite times; only you and I can break into “At Ripples…” at any time and get such a kick out of it.  And I think you, Mimi, and I will forever startle at the first downbeat of “All I want for Christmas is You”—how many days of holiday camp did we wake to that? As you got a little older, and started growing out of your snaggletooth phase, you moved to Florida where you would finish high school.  I was concerned; New Orleans is in our blood, what would those beach dwellers think of Margot and her funny obsession with Rent?  As usual, I had nothing to worry about.  You fit right in, becoming a soccer star and hostess of some of the best parties those Niceville kids had ever seen.  When those snotty girls left you out of prom plans, you let it roll off your back in typical Margot fashion while your family was ready to kill.  Where did you come from? It’s like you took my silliness and mixed it with Mimi’s (our big sister) tell-it-like-it-is attitude and came up with this laid back, brilliantly funny, all around cool chick; the perfect balance for all the drama that has surrounded the family since before you were born.  (Would we spell it Margo?  Margeaux? Would people pronounce the “t” if we spelled it that way? Such serious issues!) So here we are today.  You blossomed the second you stepped foot on that campus in Charleston and met your friends.  I am not sure I will ever really get over you pledging Chi Omega (it hurts my Tri Delta heart!), but I know you found your place.  You have some of the best friends anyone could ask for.  I have never laughed so hard as when spending time with you, Pat Rice, Nat G, and the rest of the gang (when is Dave’s show premiering?).  You lived in Italy and were just a rock star all over Europe.  I’m not sure I could have done that at your age. You and I can now share clothes and shoes and have some of the funniest conversations on earth—there are not many other people  I can say are genuinely concerned about the well-being of Britney Spears the way we are, or who appreciate YouTube performances from Rent, Wicked, Kelly Clarkson, and Tony & JC the way we do-- and I couldn’t love it more.  I can now confess that I secretly loved when you would call and try to bribe me to write your papers for you; you knew I would have happily done all of them for you, but I knew you were perfectly capable and just had a raging case of college procrastination disease, so I had to practice “tough love”. I know you are thinking, “Why is Mallory writing a blog about me,” and the answer is simple:  I am so proud of you and can’t wait to see what happens next in your life.  I know you are at an age where you don’t want listen to life or career advice from anyone, but I will take this forum to shamelessly promote Southwest Airlines and to tell you that you are a perfect candidate to work for the Company.  If Colleen Barrett knew you the way I do, she would probably put your picture next to the definition of Living the Southwest Way—you have a huge Servant’s Heart, an unwavering Warrior Spirit, and the biggest Fun-LUVing Attitude on earth.  Just keep that in mind as you begin your search for a career path.  Even if you don’t end up at SWA, just remember you can do anything and that you possess those qualities that will help you ride straight to the top of any organization. You are a grown up now.  I don’t know if there are other older siblings out there that have gone through this when they realize the baby of the family is no longer a little squirt.  (It’s not helping me during my crisis over turning 30, either!)  I have a hard time believing you can drink legally or drive a car, let alone graduate from college.  If only dad were around to see this, he would be even more proud than I am, I just know it.  I’m sure he would be telling everyone about his girl graduating from college and beginning her takeover of the world. Nunu, you’ve taken everything life has handed you and made the absolute best of it, and I don’t think dad or any of us could have asked for anything more.  No, this isn’t your “official” graduation present, that will be a surprise, but I hope you know how much your big sister loves (and LUVs!) you and is on the edge of her seat waiting for your next move.  Xoxo, Mal P.S.- Margot, you can search for jobs at SWA here:   ... View more