Speeches and Presentations from Southwest Leaders
 |
Gary Kelly |
Change is nothing new to Southwest Airlines, Gary Kelly recently told a group of the world’s best undergraduate business students.
“Our Employees believe in the Southwest cause,” he said. “Our mission statement says ‘we are dedicated to the highest quality of Customer Service’ and our Employees understand that our primary objective is serving Customers and they bring the objective to life everyday.”
Princeton University’s “Business Today” magazine hosted its 33rd annual international conference, and nearly 200 students from countries all over the world convened in New York to study companies that are tops in sustainability. The conference’s theme, “Sustainable Growth: Taking Responsibility for the Future,” also hit on environmental themes as industries across the globe grapple with how to be better planetary citizens.
Kelly talked about Southwest’s staying power in a brutal industry and outlined several new changes underway to keep the airline’s product relevant to the way people are traveling today.
The business strategy, Kelly said, involves a commitment to offering low fares, being efficient, and maintaining a low cost structure. “It is our vision to be the best low fare airline with the highest quality operation, offering the best Customer Service,” he said. “In other words, the best overall air transportation value.”
Five contemporary strategic objectives for the airline, he said, are:
- Be the best place to work
- Be the safest, most efficient, and most reliable airline in the world
- Offer Customers a convenient flight schedule with lots of flights to lots of places they want to go
- Offer Customers the best overall travel experience
- Do all of these things in a way that maintains a low cost structure and the ability to offer low fares.
“We are in what I would call a pretty dramatic transformation phase at Southwest Airlines,” Kelly said. “We have had more significant changes over the last five years at Southwest than at any other time in our history. It is clearly a different company than it was in 2000. One of the things we recognized recently is that—as good as we’ve been—we’re going to have to be even better at managing change.”
The airline has embraced change with its usual gusto, he said, including reorganizing its leadership group, establishing executive level strategy teams, deploying more technology to drive productivity and higher levels of Customer Service. Among those changes were boarding pass and baggage tag automation, new aircraft interiors, the codeshare agreement with ATA Airlines, launching DING!, the new desktop computer booking tool, securing the Wright Amendment compromise, which will open the North Texas skies to more nonstop flight choices at lower prices by 2013, and refreshing the brand with new advertising and marketing efforts.
“While Southwest is adapting and transforming, I’d like to assure you that some things at Southwest Airlines won’t change,” he said. “We will continue to expect our people to live what we describe as the ‘Southwest Way,’ which is to have a Warrior Spirit, Servant’s Heart, and Fun-Loving Attitude. Those three things have defined our culture for 36 years.”
Kelly also said the airline remains committed to providing warm, personal service. “We feel our people connections are as important as our airport connections and our internet connections,” he said.
In touching on the airline’s “green” agenda, Kelly said Southwest has installed winglets on its fleet to reduce fuel burn, employed electric airport service vehicles, and is looking into new satellite based cockpit tools for more precise navigation that would reduce emissions and fuel burn.
Back to Top
Return to List of Previous Articles
