"I think any company that isn't hard nosed and looking to cut costs is a lost caused". If I didn't know any better I'd think 'Tape it' was from management. Such comments leave me cold.
Take a brief look and the NTSB report into the latest Shuttle tragedy and see what contemporary accident investigators say about such concepts. From what I can remember...
"A cheif contributor to the accident was the culture of cost cutting at NASA that saw the need to reduce costs and ensure schedule integrity over-ride safety".
Now before you say .... what have wages got to do with safety?.... take a further look at Westpac Australias research into staff morale and motivation as they relate to a workers output.
This is exactly why Southwest pay well. And why Southwest treat their employees well. As a result they offer a product that is different to their competitors. Product differentiation is imperitive in our industry. Sure CONTAIN costs but don't just slash and burn at the expense of your company's product.