Flowing back as well were some American Airlines new hires with very little civilian time who found it difficult to get through training.
The saddest thing about this story is that we didn’t need to go down this path. As mentioned before, Southwest Airlines does not use regionals. All passengers with Southwest tickets fly on Southwest even on short routes, something which demonstrates that the term “regional” as applied to aviation is probably a misnomer. Southwest is a product of the deregulation environment to be sure, and it’s never been a glamorous affair for passengers who are loaded as if into the back of a cattle car. Yet, while they provide very competitive airfares to the consumers with the most productive employees in the industry, its crews are among the most unionized and best compensated, and Southwest has never had an unprofitable quarter.
None of this was an accident. Southwest’s founder Herb Kelleher invested a lot of time and money into creating a culture employees were proud to be a part of. This is reflected in its NYSE abbreviation: LUV and by the renaming of its Human Resources Department to “People Department.” If anyone doubts Southwest’s commitment to a business philosophy at odds with the mindset of a Harvard MBA graduate, pick up a copy of Nuts! Southwest Airlines’ Crazy Recipe for Business and Personal Success and read, if nothing else, chapter headings like: Hire for Attitudes and Train for Skills, Act Like an Owner, One Great Big Family, and Customers Come Second.
Kelleher’s belief was that if an airline treats its employees right, the employees will in turn treat the travellers right. It is a radical concept but one that has given birth to an enviable Esprit de Corps which shows no sign of waning.
Further Required Reading:
Flying the Line. The First Half Century of the Air Line Pilots Association by George E. Hopkins
Flying the Line vol.2 The Line Pilot Crisis: ALPA Battles Airline Deregulation and Other Forces by George E. Hopkins
Grounded: The Inside Account of How Frank Lorenzo Took Over and Destroyed Eastern Airlines.
Here Endeth the Lesson