R.I.P. Herb Kellerher. A great airline leader
 

One of the great airline leaders of all time passed away yesterday. Herb Kellerher, who founded Southwest Airlines. His ethos was that "employees came first", customers second. Take care of your employees and they will then take care of the customer. Wise words from a wise man. There isn't a manager in Swire/CX who is fit to even shine the shoes of this man. Rest in Peace Herb.

A quote from the obituary:
".....Under Kelleher, Southwest’s culture of “employees first” was also formed. With help from many of Southwest’s first leaders, Kelleher created a company culture that made work and traveling fun. Southwest was and is still known for its quirky in-flight announcements and giveaways such as liquor bottles and ice buckets.“Employees came first. Employees first, customers second, shareholders third. If the employees serve the customer well, the customer comes back, and that makes the shareholders happy,” Kelleher told CNBC.....".

It's such a simple formula that seems to have been abandoned many decades ago by most other big corporations . Cathay used to be like that back in the 80's , they took care of us and we reciprocated whenever they needed our help. We didn't expect additional payment for it , we worked on G days, extended when flights went off schedule, or a last minute call out occurred . It was all part and parcel of knowing that we were paid a fair wage and if a family member became ill, Cathay would provide the best possible care for them. We used to get a thank you letter from Flight Ops for operating on a GDO. It wasn't much but it was a nice touch. I had a stack of them . Sadly that work environment has been poisoned to such an extent and has become so toxic that today I wouldn't lift a finger to help out.