Southwest Airlines Community

Today, April 10, is National Sibling Day! To celebrate, we spoke to some of our awesome Southwest siblings about why they love working with their family at Southwest Airlines: Mallory Pyles & Chelsea Ridley Older sister Chelsea began working at Southwest Airlines as a Customer Relations Representative in October 2009, and her younger sister Mallory joined her in the department in June 2010. Six years later, they now work in different departments, but they still love working together at Southwest Airlines! “We are very close, and although we work in different areas, we see each other every day,” Chelsea said, “We get asked if we are twins almost once a day.” Paul & Mark Desimone Even though Paul now works as in Nashville and Mark at Dallas Love Field, they have fond memories of the years they spent working together as Ramp Supervisors. “We looked out for each other,” Mark said of their time working together. Younger brother Mark began working for Southwest Airlines in August 1995, and Paul joined the Southwest family in fall of 2001. “It’s nice because I can bounce things off of him,” Mark said about working at Southwest with his brother. Katie & Sarah Coldwell “I was celebrating eight years at Southwest when Sarah decided to join. She had heard me talk about how much I liked my job and loved the People I worked with, and knew that she didn’t want to work anywhere else,” said older sister Katie, currently working in the Communications department. Sarah, a Flight Attendant, has now worked at Southwest for seven years. Their favorite part of working for the same Company is that they both love to travel. “We grew up in a family that loves to travel. I think that’s probably why we both knew we wanted to work for an airline,” Katie said. In 2009, the sisters travelled to Greece, and this past February they made the journey to Africa together. Sarah and Katie also enjoy taking shorter trips together, especially to Boston and Napa Valley. “In every department I’ve worked in, I’ve loved the people on my Team. Everyone at Southwest feels like a part of our extended family,” said Katie, who got her start at Southwest in Revenue Management. Younger sister Sarah agrees with Katie about Southwest’s family feel, “I knew it was a really fun place to work. I also knew they really cared about their People. Our family has been through a lot, and Southwest has been there every step of the way.” . ... View more

We LUV when our Customers share the memories they make while flying with us. Here is Customer Kim Thomas Muffoletto’s story about the day her family celebrated two special occasions on a recent Southwest Airlines flight! Dear Southwest, I am a recently retired business traveler who has experienced many air travel experiences … some not always so pleasant.  My first leisure trip since retirement was to accompany my parents to Las Vegas to celebrate their 61 st wedding anniversary and my Father's 84 th birthday. My Father is a “spunky” 84 year-old and was “as usual” teasing and flirting with the Flight Attendants. At one point, Flight Attendant Courtney joked back and “informed” my mom and I that “Southwest has open seating, if you don't want to sit with him, ha ha.”  Needless to say my Dad got a kick out of meeting his match! When I had a chance to use the restroom, I “apologized” for Dad’s flirty remarks, and informed Tameka and Courtney that it was his 84 th  birthday and my parent’s 61 st  wedding anniversary.  They thought he was such a “cute (old) man.”  So as it goes with the wonderful Southwest experience, just before landing, the Flight Attendant got on the intercom and asked the Passengers to lower their window shades and turn on their overhead reading lights, so that they could honor a special birthday and anniversary.  The whole plane sang happy birthday to my Dad and applauded my parents on achieving 61 years of marriage!  She asked my Dad to blow out the candles on his pretend cake (the overhead lights), which was met with applause.  My parents were then rewarded with Southwest “crowns” made with bags of peanuts! Upon deplaning, my parents felt like celebrities!  Passengers congratulated them and took pictures of their crowns.  THANK YOU so much for giving them this experience and giving me this precious memory! Kim Thomas Muffoletto On behalf of Anna Sawatis Lambert and Harry Lambert   ... View more

Today, March 16, is Southwest.com’s 20 th birthday! Explore the history of our website and enjoy these 20 fun facts to celebrate 20 years of low fares online: The first version of Southwest.com was created by nine dedicated Employees over a span of nine months. When the first version launched, Southwest Airlines became one of the first airlines to have a website. Southwest’s website has allowed our Customer’s to book ticketless travel online since 1995! In February 1997, Southwest first offered Rapid Rewards members double flight credits to incentivize Customers to book travel through Southwest.com. Southwest’s website has been officially called Southwest.com since August 1, 1997. Also in August 1997, Customers had the ability to receive instant travel and entertainment information from more than 20,000 destinations via Southwest.com Southwest.com first gave Customers the opportunity to receive e-mails with sales and promotions in July 1998. In September 2000, Southwest.com had already generated more than one billion dollars in passenger revenues for that year, which was about 30 percent of the airline’s total passenger revenues. This made Southwest.com one of the largest e-commerce websites in the world. In April 2001, Jupiter Media Metrix released a report revealing that Southwest.com was the busiest airline web site in February of that same year. In that month alone, Southwest.com reached 2.9 million unique visitors. In April 2001, Southwest.com was named the top ranking website for customer satisfaction by Nielson/NetRatings and Harris Interactive. Southwest Airlines Customers have had the ability to check their flight status the site since 2001. That online check in that you know and LUV? It’s been a feature on Southwest.com since January 2004! In October 2005, Southwest began selling electronic giftcards on Southwest.com. DING! A desktop application that allowed Customers to book flights was also a first within the airline industry. DING! was first introduced in 2005. Southwest Airlines flights have been exclusively sold on Southwest.com since June 2006. The "Southwest Shortcut" feature on Southwest.com was the first online tool to help Customers with flexible travel dates to find the lowest fares. During 2014, 82 percent of Southwest Customers checked in online or at a kiosk. Last year, 80 percent of passenger revenues were booked via Southwest.com, swabiz.com, or AirTran.com. More than 18 million people currently subscribe to Southwest's weekly opt-in Click 'n Save e-mails. Southwest.com isn’t just to book flights! You can also reserve hotel rooms, car rentals, and entire vacation packages for when you just Wanna Get Away.   ... View more

Put on those thinking caps! In “Name That Neighborhood,” we challenge you to master your geography skills and guess the SWA destination city from the clues provided. Having trouble remembering all of the cities we service? No problem—click here for our route map. Happy travels! Art, food, history… This city has it all, and is perfect for a weekend getaway. When you think of this city, many think of Rocky Balboa running up the steps in front of the Art Museum. However, what’s inside the building is equally impressive, as it is the third-largest art museum in the country. For movie buffs, there still is a bronze Rocky statue at the bottom of the steps. A visit to Reading Terminal Market is the perfect destination around lunchtime. With more than 75 small independent businesses, selling books, crafts, and both fresh and prepared food, you can satisfy any need or craving. Elfreth’s Alley, the oldest continuously inhabited residential street in America, is also in this city.  The small cobblestone street is lined with 32 houses that are centuries-old. Think you know which city features all of these exciting locations? Comment below with your answer!   ... View more

Special thanks to Jaime for sharing her Southwest Airlines LUV! Keep reading to learn how flying Southwest changed Jaime's life.  Southwest Airlines' recently launched a brand refresh, called "Heart." According to company executives, it represents the heart that their employees put into every flying experience. But for me, the heart of Southwest lies in my own personal story. I've flown Southwest countless times. Mostly from Northern California to Southern California, on a flight that lasts no more than an hour and a half. On these short flights, the best entertainment is the conversations you have with the people sitting next to you. Some people have no desire to talk to their seatmates, and as someone who is more prone to be an introvert than an extrovert, I sometimes fall in that camp. But in my experience, Southwest's love-it-or-hate-it "open seating" policy opens the door for a unique kind of opportunity. More often than not, I board early and hope that my friendly-but-not-pushy posture draws a friendly passenger into my row. I've sat next to filmmakers, marketers, executives, and grandmothers. Some flights have ended in the exchange of business cards. Some simply in a "nice talking to you." But one ended in me giving out my cell phone number- my real one- and years later led me to a beach in Mexico where I married the guy I sat next to. We have been together for 12 years and married for 4. As a content marketing evangelist and consultant, I know companies would kill to have personal stories like mine that back up their self-proclaimed brand identity. I am sure there are business reasons behind their open-seating policy, but having a radically different approach to an everyday process is not only part of their calling card, it is the catalyst behind what are probably thousands of stories that lie at the heart of their customer experience. Given the number of flights per day, and the number of years the Southwest has been in business, one can only imagine the number of "seatmate" stories that live behind that heart. If you have one, share it in the comments below. ... View more

We were so happy to learn that Southwest Airlines played a role in Customer Ethan Ganot’s recent engagement. The special day took the couple across the country to the cities that mean the most to them, ending in Philadelphia where he popped the question! Congratulations to the happy couple! I live in San Diego and my girlfriend lives in St. Louis. On the weekend of her 29th birthday, I flew to St. Louis, having previously told her not to make any plans. The night I arrived, I told her to pack an overnight bag because the next day we'd be taking a trip. I didn't tell her where or how, just some attire guidelines. The next morning, we woke up early and I surprised her by directing us to the airport, where we boarded a Southwest flight to Chicago, where I used to live. In Chicago we had brunch at one of our favorite spots, after which I surprised her again by steering us back to the airport, where we got on another Southwest flight to Philadelphia, where she used to live. In Philadelphia we had a great dinner and then stopped at a restaurant in her old neighborhood for our favorite dessert.  When the dessert arrived, I took out the engagement ring I'd been carrying the entire time and I asked her to marry me. She said yes; it was an amazing day! I couldn’t have done it without Southwest, so I wanted to say thank you! ... View more

When Customer Mary E. Baxter left her cell phone on a Southwest Airlines flight, she was convinced she’d never see it again.  When the 83-year-old learned that Southwest had found her  "flip phone" and was returning it to her, she flipped out her pen and wrote us a poem.  Thanks for the lovely poem Mary ... it was our pleasure to serve you.  Be sure to give us a call next time you need a lift to Denver! Please let me thank you, dear Southwest for sending back my phone It may not seem like some big thing, no just to me alone, My trip to Denver was a joy, and you took me there in style A smooth flight going and coming home mile after mile after mile But much to my chagrin as I arrived and opened up my purse The lovely trip where I had fun had just gotten so much worse I frantically searched both high and low, and dumped out everything But no, no phone was to be had and nothing there to ring Back I dashed into Terminal Four, up to your counter there Only to learn your plane and my phone were already in the air Oh las, alack, and sun of a gun, it really made me mad No phone, no contacts, no way to tell my family that I was sad Next day I went and replaced my loss with heavy, heavy heart And now I have an instrument which Verizon says is “Smart” At 83 my mind is boggled with switches that I can no longer toggle A simple phone call seems out of reach. Am I too old for them to teach? And just when I had given up hope and decided to stick with landline Southwest had emailed to say they found a flip phone that was mine Gladly I answered and agreed for my treasure to be returned Its arrival just yesterday was greeted so gladly and I have a lesson I’ve learned So I’d be remiss if I didn’t say to you now in my creaky, old lady, voice That definitely in my future travels that Southwest is ALWAYS FIRST CHOICE!!!     ... View more