The airline industry is full of “numbers” and so many of them are important to our bottomline. Well, here’s a number of which I am very proud—it’s the External Commendations to Complaints (Rudeness) Ratio, and it is outstanding! For the first quarter of 2010, we received 9.82 commendations for every ONE complaint. I can’t think of a better indicator that our Employees are continuing to display the traits that have secured our place as a leader in Customer Service. “Friendly… caring…helpful…genuinely concerned”—these are all terms that we hear and see in the letters, phone calls, and e-mails from our Customers. What that means is thatoSouthwest Airlines Employees are one of the reasons that our Customers remain loyal to Southwest and why they reward us with their return business.
Although a good part of the communication we receive about our Employees includes numerous cases of “above-and-beyond” acts of kindness, there are plenty of thanks that are shared for the simplest thoughtful gestures. Recent examples include an e-mail commendation of a Ramp Agent who set up a Customer’s stroller, complete with car seat and locked brake; kudos for a Customer Service Agent who (unbeknownst to the Passenger) removed her baggage strap and secured it in the bag’s zipper pocket; and a great social media “blog shout-out” to our Proactive Customer Service group for proactively contacting a Customer who’d experienced a flight diversion.
No, we aren't perfect, but our Employees are working very hard so that you can count on us to deliver friendly, affordable, and safe travel.
