Southwest Airlines has experienced great success through effective employee and customer communications. It began service in 1971 with three Texas cities and has grown to over 550 aircraft serving 72 cities. Southwest focuses on building teamwork among employees and prioritizing customer service through initiatives like casual dress policies, profit-sharing, and transparent internal communications. These efforts have helped Southwest maintain profitability while others struggled and achieve best-in-class metrics for on-time performance, customer satisfaction, and baggage handling.

1. Employee Communications: The Key to Efficiency, Loyalty and Survival

2. Background 1967: First papers filed to create a new airline that would connect Houston, Dallas and San Antonio Legal complications in creating the airline leave Southwest with little capital 1971: Southwest begins service to DAL, SAT and IAH with $20 one-way fares. Today, Southwest operates 550 aircrafts among 72 cities. Most successful low fair, high frequency, point-to-point carrier Largest U.S. carrier based on domestic passengers

3. Recent PR Challenges Flight 1248 crash Budget crisis Weight regulations Kevin Smith Clothing Regulations Too Hot to Fly

4. Southwestern: Building a Brand Strengths: Southwest was a new company with an innovative and cost-effective business plan. Weaknesses: Lawsuits left Southwestern with little capital, forcing Southwest to choose between selling a plane or firing employees. Opportunities: Few affordable and convenient options available for flights between Houston, Dallas and San Antonio. Threats: Nearly saturated market, no reputation Challenge: To develop a system that allows for 10 minute turnarounds between flights--a feat only possible with a strong flight crew

5. Plan development Research: What environments bolster teamwork? What motivates employees? What personalities thrive in fast-moving work environments? How can one translate strong internal communications to exceptional customer service? What are travelers seeking from an airline? Primary: focus groups with employees and consumers, surveys Secondary: research on how new airlines have branded themselves as successful organizations

6. Goals and Objectives Goal: To build an airline brand that leads in low prices, customer service and environmental initiatives Publics: American travelers seeking low cost flights Southwestern employees and potential new employees Objectives: Create internal initiatives that build teamwork within first year Develop a system that allows fast turnaround (10 minutes) Develop a ranked customer service program that will increase repeat customers by 25% within first year Strategies: Choose employees whose personalities support an innovative team mentality Hold customer service at the top of priorities, with refunds and acting upon customer complaints and reviews

7. Internal PR Initiatives: “Southwest Spirit” Casual Dress Competitive wages, benefits and profit-sharing programs Internal Transparency: “ Walk a Mile” program Formation of the “Culture Committee ”

8. External PR Success: Online First airline to establish a home page First airline to use DING! Airfare service to notify consumers of exclusive offers www.nutsaboutsouthwest.com won Best Corporate Blog for three years in a row As of March 2011, southwest.com was the 2nd largest travel site and largest airline site in terms of unique visitors Links air, hotel, car Community travel forums Active social media networks

9. Results Southwest remained profitable as nearly all other airlines crashed in early 2000s Best on-time performance, fewest customer complaints, fewest mishandled bags Plane turnaround of approximately 20 minutes Excellent customer service recognition “ Best Places to Work” Highly recognized environmental efforts

10. Reflection Employee satisfaction translates to customer satisfaction Transparency with publics increases trust Strengths: Strategic communications: able to build positive brand Strong employee relationships Strong customer loyalties Creative crisis management skills Leader in customer satisfaction Efficient and user-friendly website Weaknesses: Make all policies, including clothing and weight, more readily accessible Increased freedom internally can lead to unexpected employee behavior