Joe is exactly right. I can't prove it but I suspect that executive compensation is a pretty good indicator of leadership or the lack of it. Look at the SW financials and you will see pretty reasonable salaries for the top execs. In fact, they are amazingly small for the largest US airline in terms of passengers, the most profitable airline and the one with the best employee relations. Seems to be a pattern here.
... View more
I teach graduate business classes in org. behavior, strategy, etc. and am finishing a doctoral degree in organizational leadership. Southwest is often referred to in the popular business press and in serious research as a great example of servant leadership. I just returned from a two day conference on servant leadership and traveled SWA both ways. On the way to Norfolk from Columbus, OH in the evening of Aug 9, I was one of the doubtless thousands of your passengers bedeviled by the severe thunderstorms that hit the East Coast that evening. Our flight to Baltimore (SW 624), originally scheduled to leave at 5:15 was delayed as was just about everything else. At about 8:00 PM boarding was announced and we dutifully lined up. Shortly thereafter, the Captain disembarked, went to the podium and explained that, after the clearing the flight for a southerly routing to BWI, the FAA suddenly cancelled the clearance. In more than thirty years of flying for business and pleasure this is the first time I have ever seen the cockpit crew go to the trouble of explaining things. Whoever that Captain was, he deserves the a pat on the back from Colleen. Deciding that discretion was the better part of valor, I rebooked for an early morning flight and went to a hotel. The last flight status text message I got said it was going to leave at midnight. While we were waiting the gate agent called up the weather radar display on the terminal at the gate and invited passengers to take a look. Not exactly crowd pleasing but a refreshing dose of candor.
Returning from the conference, I had a chance to converse with an SW crew on the hotel shuttle. Captain and First Officer both recounted having breakfast with Colleen and Herb during their training. As it turned out, they were taking the aircraft parked at the gate adjacent to mine at Norfolk. I watched out the window as they helped the baggage guys load and unload the numerous strollers that accompany a Saturday afternoon flight from a vacation destination. I even took a photo to use in my classes. (If I could figure out how to post it here I would) . Later in BWI I watched as a Captain came up the jetway and took wheelchair bound passengers down to the plane.
As I passed the time in BWI waiting for my flight, I asked four separate customer service people if they like working for SW. The answer in each case was "I love it, its a big team." And this one day after they all worked into the wee hours of the morning clearing out the storm caused backlog. One agent said they had to turn 30 flights after midnight on the morning of Aug. 10.
... View more
