Southwest Airlines Community

“I love picking any seat I want!”—Ayden Bichsel, age six   Photo by King Lawrence How many flights have you been on in the last six years? Chances are Ayden Bichsel has you beat. This young jetsetter started flying Southwest when he was just three weeks old, and he hasn’t stopped since. After celebrating his sixth birthday last month, Ayden hopped on a plane with his dad, Brad, to visit his grandparents in New York City. After a connection in Baltimore, the second leg of their journey to Long Island marked Ayden’s 300th career flight. As you can imagine, a passion for travel runs in the family. Ayden’s parents, a traveling music duo known as Brad + Rebekah, are A-List Customers, too. Dad even has a Companion Pass. Congrats on reaching an exciting milestone, Ayden. We’re looking forward to 300 more!   —Adam Hernandez, Communications & Outreach              Visit @southwestair on Instagram to go behind-the-scenes on Ayden’s 300th flight.   Favorite Things “Wherever Daddy goes for coffee, I love to get a cookie and hot chocolate. I also like ninjas and superheroes.”   Travel Tips “I make sure Momma and Daddy’s iPad and headphones are fully charged and full of fun things to watch and play.”   Bucket List “I want to go to Disney California Adventure Park because I’m finally tall enough to ride Radiator Springs Racers.”   ... View more

We’re often asked if Campus Reach Interns are ever hired for full-time employment after their internship. Our answer: we love hiring interns! The Campus Reach Program has built a talent acquisition pipeline here at Southwest, so you will see many of our former Interns roaming the hallways now as full-time Southwest Employees.    Adam interned on the Inflight Crew Scheduling Team back in Spring of 2013 and is now a Specialist in Communication & Outreach. Read on for more.     Year/semester of internship:  Spring 2013   Department/Team interned for:  I was lucky enough to Intern with Inflight Crew Scheduling. I say “lucky” for two reasons. One, they were a great team, and I was very thankful that they were there to guide me as I began my first real job. Secondly, I say “lucky” because it took a stroke of good fortune to even land the job in the first place. Do you have time for a story? Because there’s a story…   I had originally interviewed for an Internship on the Communication Tools Team, but was disappointed when they went with a different candidate. It was my dream to work for Southwest, but perhaps it just wasn’t meant to be. Then on graduation day, something crazy happened. Our school’s career coordinator approached me with some exciting news. She had just been informed that one of the Interns had to back out of their commitment and that Southwest was interested in interviewing me to fill the position. Two days later, I was back at Headquarters, putting it all on the line, hoping this time it would be different. Turns out, I was in luck. They offered me the Crew Scheduling Internship that same day, and a few weeks later I began the journey of a lifetime. I guess sometimes it takes a little luck to make your dreams come true.   Adam flying Luvie at the SWAmazing Race during his Spring 2013 InternshipAdam flying Luvie at the SWAmazing Race during his Spring 2013 Internship Department/Team and current job title:  Social Business Specialist   Years at Southwest:  4   Favorite Southwest city:  Denver   Most memorable Southwest moment/event:  Southwest unveiled its newest specialty livery, Tennessee One, in February of last year. The plane’s first day of flying was a busy one, starting the day in Nashville, flying down to Memphis and then back to Nashville before heading to Dallas for a flyby during the Deck Party. I had the chance to be on each of those flights that day, covering the event for our social channels. While the Live at 35 on the way to Memphis was pretty cool, the most memorable of the legs was from BNA to DAL. We had about 15 total Passengers, all Employees, and I had a chance to kick back and enjoy what felt like a private jet back home to Dallas. An experience I’ll never forget!   With my CoHeart Derek at the unveiling of Tennessee One in 2016With my CoHeart Derek at the unveiling of Tennessee One in 2016 First ever job:  Summer after my sophomore year of high school I got a job as a lifeguard at the city pool. I actually got fired from this job! It really wasn’t funny at all back then, but we can all have a good laugh about it now. It’s a pretty great story. Getting fired from my first job taught me a lot about resilience, and how to be responsible for my actions, especially in a professional setting.   Proudest Southwest moment: In the fall of 2015, we had an extremely compelling story come to our attention through a Customer’s post on Instagram. One of our Employees had gone above and beyond to help a Passenger, and I helped produce a video to tell that story. Gary Kelly saw the video and loved it so much, he included it in his speech for the 2016 Rallies. When Gary was up there on stage and he queued up a video that I helped make, I suddenly realized the value of my job, and how inspiring our social audience is just as important as inspiring our own CoHearts.    Words to live by:  “Sometimes you gotta work a little, so you can ball A LOT.” –Tom Haverford. This is actually terrible advice given by a fictional character on the TV show “Parks and Recreation.” But I always admired Tom’s entrepreneurial spirit and his penchant for the finer things in life.    Reasons other people should intern at Southwest:  It’s truly the opportunity of a lifetime. The People you meet, the experience you gain, the places you see. There’s no other Internship like it.   Ultimate Travel Tip: If I know I’m going to be on a flight longer than two hours, I always pack a peanut butter and jelly sandwich!   With some CoHearts at the 2017 Dallas RallyWith some CoHearts at the 2017 Dallas Rally ... View more