Southwest Airlines Visits Rotary

May 24, 2011: Ana Schwager, Community Affairs Manager at Southwest Airlines, addressed our club on May 24, 2011. Ana joined Southwest in February of 1995 as a reservation sales agent in Little Rock. A native of Little Rock, Arks., she received her bachelor’s degree in marketing communications from the University of Central Arkansas in Conway, Ark.

Southwest Airlines is based in Dallas and was launched in 1971. Thirty-nine years later, Southwest operates more than 3,400 flights a day coast-to-coast, making it the largest U.S. airline based on domestic passengers carried. It has been profitable for 38 consecutive years and boasts the lowest number of customer complaints since 1987. It holds the title of the most profitable airline and the only one in the U.S. to remain profitable this decade. There have been no layoffs at Southwestern—-it is the most heavily unionized airline in business. Southwest is hailed as the nation’s leading low-fare carrier (where bags fly free). This year, on March 13, Southwest started service to the Palmetto State through Charleston International Airport.

Ana Schwager gave the club a glimpse into the philosophy and corporate culture of Southwest Airlines. At Southwest, employees come first, customers second, then shareholders. Southwest is committed to providing their employees with a stable work environment where creativity, fun, and innovation are encouraged and rewarded. The Golden Rule figures prominently in the culture of this company—treat others the way you want to be treated, and so, doing the right thing by employees and customers is inherent to the mission of the company. The Southwest way of living is to “Have a Warrior Spirit, a Servant’s Heart , and a Fun-Loving Attitude.” The company believes in these attributes so deeply that every Southwest employee is evaluated in these areas on an ongoing basis. By putting employees first, the idea is that customers and shareholders benefit.

Southwest is passionate about customer service—“We are in the customer service business. We just happen to fly airplanes.” Their philosophy is to go above and beyond the call of duty, “doing whatever it takes, with proactive communication.” They are dedicated to improving the customer experience and building value for the customer. To that end, they have self-service kiosks, charging stations, Business Select programs, pet-friendly flights, and, of course, bags fly free.

Southwest is committed to community outreach and volunteerism. Community initiatives include developing relationships with nonprofit organizations at both the local and national level. Employees volunteer to serve on local, state, and national boards to assist nonprofit organizations achieve their missions. Another program is the Adopt-A-Pilot program that leads students through science, geography, math, writing and other core subjects, all based on aviation-related activities. Last year, Southwest employees collectively volunteered more than 45,000 hours and the company donated more than $11.6 to nonprofit organizations across the country. Environmental stewardship is also a responsibility that Southwest takes seriously, and to that end, it has instituted a number of environmentally-responsible operations.

Submitted by Loretta Wilson, Keyway Committeee