Southwest Airlines Ethics

People – One of the many things good about Southwest Airlines is that the kinds of people who are heroes of the organization are people who care and go out of their way to help the customers. They’re the ones who are celebrated and held up as shining examples. Additionally, high levels of satisfaction among employees can be attributed to Southwest employee policy. Happy employees can provide high quality service and bring more customers back. To reinforce the culture of hard work, high-energy, fun, local autonomy, and creativity, the company provided continuous education program to employees. If you can help someone out or brighten someone’s day, be it a co-worker or a passenger, you’re doing your job well.

Southwest Airlines is a major US airline established in 1967 that services a multitude of cities in all 50 states and beyond. The company is known for its outstanding quality in providing services and it 's cost effective ticket prices to its many passengers throughout the nation. This airline is based in the southwestern United States, in the city of Dallas Texas, and due to the tremendous number of airplanes that it has and the timely service that it provides to its passengers, this airline services more US passengers than any other airline. This airline also has the largest fleet of planes of any economical or low-cost airline service in the world and employees more than 45,000.

In 1986, Southwest celebrated 15 years of low fares, good times and high spirits! Fun Fares were introduced with over 13 million passengers having flown Southwest. In 1987, Southwest celebrated the sixth year in a row as the recipient of the Best Consumer Satisfaction record of any continental U.S. carrier. The prices of Fun Fares were reduced by up to 25% and Weekend Fun Packs (which includes round trip airfare and hotel) were introduced. By doing it smarter, Southwest Airlines does it faster, cheaper and has more fun than any other airline! In 1988, Sea World of Texas and Southwest teamed up to promote the State of Texas as a major tourist attraction. Through the "New Friends" campaign, Sea World of Texas named Southwest as its official airline and

The philosophical culture adopted by Southwest Airlines towards its employees is different from that of the other airlines. Southwest Airlines treats its employees with higher dignity and integrity. As we can see from what Gould wrote, “Organizations are successful when they can secure organizational commitment from the employees, and empower the employees to be a part of the improvement processes for the company. Team effort and interdepartmental partnerships are crucial to the successful and effective implementation of process improvement plans.” (p.6, 2008) The employees at Southwest are given equal treatment and respect as the passengers. They are given the opportunity for education which they can use to benefit from in order to qualify for higher promotion within the Southwest Airlines Company.

Southwest Airlines has a very clear competitive advantage of keeping their customers happy. The organization has a clear focus on the employees they employ and the customers they service. The organization has very clear corporate values, that help engage the staff to get excited about their positions and serving customers. Instead of using words like trust, integrity, and customer service; Southwest encourages their employees to have “A Warrior Spirit,” “A servant’s heart,” and “A Fun Loving Attitude.” (Makovsky) Southwest has put a significant amount of time and energy into promoting employees from within, based on these attributes.

“The Mission of Southwest Airlines is dedication to the highest quality of Customer Service delivered with a sense of warmth, friendliness, individual pride, and company spirit.”

Southwest Airlines is known for its use of high standards of quality, speed, and cost competiveness over other airlines. It’s commitment to customer service is included in its mission statement: “The mission of Southwest Airlines is dedication to the highest quality of Customer Service delivered with a sense of warmth, friendliness, individual pride, and Company Spirit.” (Southwest.com). Southwest Airlines has always been about providing exemplary customer service and affordable fares since its inception in 1971. Southwest describes itself as a customer service company that just happens to fly planes. Founder, Herb Kelleher describes three core values for Southwest Airlines:

Southwest Airlines based in Dallas was founded in 1967 by Rollin King and Herb Kelleher. It is one of the major domestic airliners which provides carrier and transportation service. Southwest primarily provides short haul, high frequency, point- to point, low fare service.

To ensure that Southwest Airlines sustains their competitive advantages, it is up to the employees and the management to stay true to their business model of giving their customers a cheap ticket, on-time flights and great service. The search for employees must be thorough, and must go further than most companies to ensure the "culture" can be adopted by the new people. If they do that, than they might have another thirty years of consecutive profits.

Trustworthiness is seen amongst Southwest Airlines because it have as open door policy, which encourages employees to brings any issues or concerns to the supervisors or managers at anytime. By allowing employees to feel openly comfortable in discussing issues or concerns creates an area of trust within this organization between upper management and their staff members.. Southwest employees feel as if they are not only associates to the organization but also an asset. Southwest Airlines no-layoff policy shows that the company is loyal to their employees. Southwest Airlines has never laid off employees since the company began its operations. “ The no-layoff policy was seen as integral to how the company treated its employees and to the management efforts to sustain and nurture the culture” (Thompson, A.A., Strickland, A.J., & Gamble, J.E, 2010). Southwest has built up a good relationship with there employees and unions by avoiding layoffs within its organizations, compared to other airlines company’s that has had to lay off employees due to a decrease in revenue amongst the airline industry.

Leadership at Southwest has influenced the success of the company immensely. The company sets a tone of having fun and being casual while still fulfilling obligations and accomplishing tasks. Southwest airlines encouraged employees to implement honor in order to put their customers at ease, attempting to make traveling an enjoyable experience.This attitude is critical to their continued success. The company has implemented Ten Organizational Relationships in order to generate extraordinary employee performance. The summation of all relationships combined is greater than the individual parts, as each part reinforces one another.

Southwest was founded in 1971 with a fleet of three Boeing 737 aircraft. Headquartered at Love Field in Dallas, the airline followed a strategy of low fares, few frills, and excellent customer service. Early on, the airline faced many political and regulatory challenges including the Wright Amendment, which prohibited the carrier from offering direct service into Love Field from any state other than Texas and its four neighboring states. Under the leadership of co-founder and CEO Herb Kelleher, Southwest used these challenges to galvanize their employees, ultimately building a highly successful business with a uniquely committed workforce.

"In May 1988, southwest was the first airline to win the coveted Triple Crown for a month – Best Baggage Handling, Best on time record, and fewest Customer Complaints." Southwest. (2005) As of today, Southwest Airlines has won this award more than thirty times. Some other interesting information about South West is the airline made the Boeing 737 its only type used and now has a fleet of around 250 Boeing 737 jets. Some other facts about Southwest Airlines is they were the first to introduce Fun Fares and Fun Packs. They were the first airline to introduce ticket less travel and many other unique programs. Southwest airline was also the first to introduce painted aircraft in semi-liveries advertising the places they fly. Promoting a fun work environment is one thing but the company does not just want anyone working for them. The reason is that it takes a very special person to wear flight attendant wings for this company. The training program is four weeks long and very intense. Not everyone who applies will make it. Mind you, Southwest was also the first airline to

Southwest carries their tradition of treating people right over to their employees. Southwest was the first airline to develop a profit-sharing initiative in 1973, which motivates employees to perform their best. Southwest’s employees are encouraged to have fun on the job. Their uniforms are also more casual than the industry standard. The laid back atmosphere and quality management is what make Southwest number one on Fortune’s list of the “100 Best Companies to Work for in America.”

Southwest Airlines Co is a low-cost airline in the United States. Southwest is the largest airline in the United States by number of domestic passengers carried per year .Southwest, the sixth largest US airline by revenue and it maintains the second largest fleet of airliners of all commercial airlines worldwide. On the July 12, 2008, Southwest operated approximately 3,500 daily flights. Southwest is based in the 2702 Love Field Drive Texas, adjacent to the airport Love Field (Gittell, 2004).