Everyone knows that airline employees get the benefit of free travel. If there is an open seat, we can go. What you may not know is that Southwest also extends those flight privileges to our spouse, minor children, and parents.
The Freedom to Fly is one of the best things about working for Southwest. It became even more of a blessing when my wife's mom, Mary, was diagnosed with cancer last year. Since Mary lives by herself in Pensacola, FL, we decided to have her go to Jacksonville, FL, to live with her son and his family during treatments. My flight privileges allowed my wife, Carol, to fly down to Jacksonville to help with her care and also allowed my Mom, Liz, to fly in from Tuscon, AZ, to care for me and my daughters while Carol was away. For the past nine months, Carol has gone to Jacksonville as needed and my Mom has come to Nashville.
Thankfully, Mary is now in remission. Last week Carol flew to Jacksonville to help move her mom home to Pensacola. As she has done throughout this ordeal, my Mom flew in and has played taxi driver and cared for my children during the past week. Today, Carol flew home to Nashville and Mom returned to Tucson.
You expect your employer to care about you, the employee. But not many companies also care about an employee's family. Thanks, Southwest, for not only being a great place to work, but for also caring about our internal Family (Employees) as well as our external Family (Employees' Families).
