Dallas-based Southwest Airlines CEO Gary Kelly made a visit to Atlanta recently for a live onstage Q and A session with Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce president Sam A. Williams to provide insight on their positioning.
The low-cost carrier merged with the equally affordable AirTran Airways this spring, making them the Washington region’s dominant air carrier and giving them an edge over other airlines. The combined airline will control 65 percent of the flights at BWI, and 32 percent of the area’s air travel overall. In 2009, the airline flew 86 million passengers, more than any other airline within the U.S.
Full integration for the two air carriers happens on Feb. 12, 2012 and the after-effect: other airlines will have to take note of their lower fares, ergo air travelers benefit as they compete for business.
Here Kelly, a 25-year veteran, who first flew on the airline when the flight attendants wore hot pants and cowboy boots, discusses what commuters can expect and why they have the happiest employees. –yvette caslin
Will there be reserved seating on your flights?
We will have reserved seating, but open. You will be able to walk on the airplane and pick a seat and pick the person that you want to sit by. We have a lot of romances that started on Southwest.
Will you keep or expand AirTran Airways’ international flights?
We are very excited about the international opportunity. AirTran has six or seven international destinations. We are building for the future and one of the things that we want to construct at Southwest is the reservation system capability to book international service points.
How many cities are you serving now and do you plan to serve more cities or service more frequently the cities that you serve?
Airtran compared to Southwest is a 26 percent expansion. We’ll settle out somewhere around 100 cities. It’s a manageable effort but pretty ambitious.
Baltimore, Chicago, Las Vegas and Atlanta are your top cities, will you add another one to your top tier list?
That will continue to be the list. Las Vegas is a very attractive destination. The low-fare approach works very well for that market. It is very leisure oriented. Chicago is our second largest. Denver has actually been a very fast-growing market for us. We are up to about 150-160 daily departures from that service point. If you look at our [Southwest] route now compared to our competitors, you don’t see that many cities with that number of flights on any other airline. I bet we have 15 cities that have over 100 daily departures, and that’s unlike any other airline.
Tell us about Random Acts of Coolness.
It’s a grassroots effort and it’s hot [in Atlanta]. Our folks are out in the community and pitching in to help. [Employees dressed in blue Southwest shirts visit public facilities and schools in the metro area handing out pastries, popsicles and bottled water to teachers and public safety officials and branded goodies like notebooks, tote bags and pens.]
You’ve always had a culture of having flights attendants who are high spirited and engaged. How do you keep that culture going?
We look for the right people and once we find them, we try our best to take great care of them. Of all the things that we are good at, I am most proud of the fact that we never had a layoff, never had furlough, we never asked for a pay cut and we never cut benefits. We encourage them to be themselves and to have fun … [the environment is] relaxed and engaging. Our employees are proud to be a part of Southwest Airlines.
[The executive dresses up every Halloween, an annual ritual, celebrating the company’s culture of fun. Kelly has shown up as Gene Simmons of Kiss; Edna Turnblad, the character from “Hairspray;” and Woody from the movie Toy Story.]
Our founder is and was a maverick. We have been trying to get the flight attendants back in the same uniforms they wore 40 years ago [the audience burst into uproarious laughter].
