At Southwest, you know we like to be a bit of a mover and a shaker; ground breaking; a pioneer. Most people wouldn’t associate those words with something like a company report, but this year, they really do apply. We are very proud to introduce our 2009 One Report – a “year in review” report that focuses on our triple bottom line of Performance, People, and Planet. The One Report is just that – a single document that combines reporting on our financial performance along with our corporate responsibility and environmental efforts. It’s kind of a simple name for what is actually a fairly complicated document that took a Team of People from across the Company to create.
A couple of folks have asked us why we chose to undertake this more comprehensive report. It’s because our Stakeholders want a full picture of Southwest – how we are doing as a citizen of the world. We are very proud to be one of a small handful of FORTUNE 500 companies to produce this type of report.
Our Customers, our Employees, and our Shareholders want to feel good about Southwest, and this report helps illustrate our commitment to global citizenship. It’s not new that we have a focus on the triple bottom line, and we wanted our reporting to reflect that focus. We are proud of our Company’s commitment to continually working to improve the efficiency of our Operations, the value to our Customers, and our commitment to our People – this report reflects how we do that.
Something else that is different for us this year is that our One Report adheres to the Global Reporting Initiative Standards (GRI), an internationally recognized standard for sustainability reporting. We’ve said that we are committed to continually improving our operations and the GRI gives us standards against which to measure our successes. The information in our One Report was verified by an independent third party to underscore our commitment to accuracy and transparency.
In the One Report, Our Performance section illustrates how we maintained our 37 consecutive years of profitability – a record unmatched in the airline industry – and how we produced industry-leading revenue performance in a year with the largest year-over-year revenue declines on record for the domestic airline industry. Our Employees carried out the mission of Southwest Airlines and helped enhance our Customers’ flying experience both in the sky and on the ground while making it a priority to share the LUV with those who need it most, which you can read about in the Our People section of the One Report.
We believe that doing what’s right for our Planet makes good business sense, so we partner with vendors, academic researchers, and industry organizations to develop innovative efficiency and eco-friendly enhancements for aviation. It’s essential for preserving our Planet for future generations. And it’s the right thing to do. You can learn more about how we go Green in the Our Planet section of the One Report.
We chose not to print the One Report as part of our commitment to conserve our natural resources. You can read the One Report at southwest.com/cares. I hope you enjoy reading it, and maybe even learn something new about Southwest. It was quite an undertaking, but all of us involved are very proud of this “year in review” of Southwest, and I am proud to work for a Company who is such a great citizen and a leader not only in our industry, but across all industries.