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Southwest Airlines Community

Going the Extra Mile

wbartels
Adventurer C

Positively Outrageous Service—it’s who we are, what we do, and what makes us stand apart from our competitors.  So much so, that the idea of offering Customers “outrageous” service isn’t an obligation or a task.  Rather, this service is a natural reaction, from the heart, and in perfect compliance with The Golden Rule: to treat others as we would like to be treated.

As a Customer Relations Representative, I get to watch our Employees go out of their way for our Customers on a daily basis. For example, one Customer wrote in after having trouble using a Green Pass to visit his friend Danny in ICU after recently suffering a severe snowboarding accident.  CR/RR Writing Representative, Paige Gonzalez, decided to not only remedy the struggles with the Green Pass, but she also passed around a card for each Writer to sign and send to Danny, wishing him the best for a speedy recovery.

But, it doesn’t stop here.  Each day, Southwest Employees do crazy things for the LUV of our Customers.  For instance, in Kansas City, Customer Service Agent Mina Kelly raced to the jetbridge, trying to hold the plane for an Unaccompanied Minor who was running late for her flight to Disneyland.  According to Mina, she knew how important the trip was to the child, and in her words, “I was determined that [the child] would have the vacation with her dad.”

Dallas-based Customer Service Agent, Marianne Rojas, didn’t think twice before taking in a burn patient who was homeless after missing a flight.  Marianne gave the displaced Passenger a place to call home for six months.  And, her Coworker, Customer Service Agent, Bill Waggener, offered his Servant’s Heart to a family who had recently run out of money in the middle of their travels.  Bill not only bought the family dinner at Chili’s, he called a nearby hotel, gave them his credit card information, and put the family up for a night on his tab.

David Allen, a Ramp Agent in MCI, understands the importance of ensuring that our Customer’s belongings arrive with them at their destinations.  He describes a time when one of his Customers was especially anxious about her belongings making it on the flight. David personally sought out the Customer’s bag to ensure it made the flight, and on to the Customer’s final destination.

Flight Attendant, Kim Tidwell, joyfully lent a helping hand to a new, young mother by holding her sick baby on a flight out of Florida.  And Customer Service Agent, Margaret Williams, explains that the Southwest Spirit motivated her to run from the baggage claim all the way to Gate 9 when a deplaning Passenger realized she had left her wallet and work portfolio on the plane.  Why?  Margaret explains, “It made me feel good to know that I had helped [the Passenger] out.  Simply stated, “Customer Service.”

These stories are only a glimpse into the many sacrifices Southwest Employees make on a daily basis.  My assumption is that every Southwest Employee has a similar story—a story about a time they went out of their way for someone else, a moment where they made the decision to positively impact someone else’s day.  What I admire most about these stories is that our People are never looking for recognition.  In fact, more often than not, Employees are humble, but starkly honest in explaining that serving Customers is simply a part of what they do each and every day.  According to our Employees, the decision to go beyond the job description stems from LUV—LUV for our Company, LUV for what we do, and LUV for our Customers.  So, to our Employees who are never afraid to share this LUV, thank you for what you do, and for putting Positively Outrageous Service into action.

What examples of Positively Outrageous Service have you witnessed?