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Southwest Airlines Community

My Special View of Southwest Airlines

jashworth1
Explorer C
Throughout the month of October, Southwest Airlines proudly recognized National Disability Employment Awareness Month (NDEAM).  One of the ways we recognized NDEAM was through a Coffee & Conversation event, hosted by the Southwest Airlines Diversity Council, where I had the privilege of speaking with some of our Employees.  During the event, Southwest Flight Attendant Glenn Fox and I discussed how disabilities have impacted our lives, both personally and professionally. NDEAM I joined the Southwest Family in January 2012 after transitioning from AirTran Airways, where I had started my career in June 1994.  As a Sr. Operations Manager for AirTran, I was given my first major assignment for Southwest, which was managing the consolidation of all three of the AirTran Call Centers into one Georgia Center, and overseeing the integration of AirTran’s Customer Support & Services (CS&S) Operations into Southwest Airlines CS&S. To say that our integration involves a lot of moving parts is an understatement, but one part I have been particularly impressed with is Southwest’s desire to provide their Employees with everything they need to be successful.  At AirTran, we created a program where we would hire people who were blind or have low vision and provide them with the tools they needed to do their jobs.  As someone who was diagnosed with macular degeneration more than a decade ago, these tools are a very important part of my daily life. So, when we started the integration process, Southwest Airlines wanted to understand the technology we had in place to assist our Team Members who are blind or have low vision (VIP).  Southwest’s Technology Team and People Department made sure they had everything ready when the VIP Group went through their training as part of the integration process.  Although integration completion was still two years away at that time, it was easy to see how much of a priority it was for Southwest Airlines to set up their Employees for success. Now, two years later, we have tools and resources in place at Southwest that make the transition that much easier for Employees like me who are blind or have low vision.  I’m proud to work for a Company that truly cares about its People.  I LUV this Company for all of the great things that it does, and I’m glad to call Southwest Airlines my home.