LUV Lessons--Airplanes meet Academics (Part I)

From 2001 through 2005, I had the very fortunate life experience to work as a Customer Service Trainer for the most successful airline in aviation history:  Southwest Airlines.  (I was also teaching full-time, and I would not have taken on the job if it wasn’t extremely rewarding, given the stress of juggling two full-time jobs!  I literally cried when I left that company to come to work here at Yavapai College.)

“LUV” is Southwest’s “ticker name” on the stock exchange.  But a very special kind of “love” permeates the airline’s culture.  Interestingly enough, I learned a lot about higher education from this aviation enterprise; lessons that are perhaps worth sharing.  So here’s what I took away that I think applies to us as college.

1.  THE CUSTOMER DOESN’T ALWAYS COME FIRST.

More than any other airline, SWA consistently wins the award for the best customer service in the business.  So, one might assume that they embrace the conventional notion that “the customer comes first” or "the customer is always right."  Not so.  In fact, the company is adamant that their EMPLOYEES come first!  When a customer is wrong or abusive, leadership backs their employees almost 100% of the time, and we employees knew that.  When a crisis occurs (such as it did on 9/11/2001), the safety and well-being of employees came before customers and even profits.  Since 1971, the company has never laid off an employee due to difficult financial times, organizational restructure, change of leadership or any other external reason.  The positive morale this creates is literally indescribable.  That confidence turns itself into quality productivity.

2.  FINDING A WAY TO SAY “YES.”

Many places I’ve worked (including some colleges and universities) have been riddled with negativity.  Often there is the assumption that something CAN’T be done because “of course” organizational or personal barriers will “inevitably” be encountered.  Launching hundreds of aircraft a day out of four dozen or so locations nationwide and trying to coordinate arrivals, departures, personnel, mechanical issues and weather may be the most unpredictable working environment that exists, short of a military at war.  Stuff happens… frequently!  Flights get delayed, aircraft become disabled, crew shortages occur, bags get lost, people misconnect with their next leg of their journey.  The list is almost unending.  But Southwest Airlines doesn’t see these as obstacles, but opportunities.  Numerous times I found myself saying to a distraught (even angry) customer something like, “We can’t get you on THIS flight, but we CAN get you to your destination today!”  Turning negatives into positives, always finding ways to say YES!, was a linchpin in the Southwest Way.  It bred goodwill between employees and customers, line workers and management.  I rarely dreaded going to work.

3. “ON TIME” IS A REAL WORLD CONCEPT.

The bread and butter of airlines is performance in the “Triple Crown”:  Accurate baggage handling, customer satisfaction and on time performance.  Outside of academia, there are very few occupations where time isn’t of the essence (because time is money, right?).  Nowhere is this more true than in operating an airline.

Now, I realize I’m about to step on some toes here.  I have some very dear colleagues who discuss and write about what to do with due dates, etc.  This is meant as no disrespect to any of you, my friends.  But here’s my perspective:  NEWSFLASH—Being on time matters!  It’s a highly valued quality in the workplace.  (In a quick survey of online articles, “managing time well” comes out high on the list of attributes employers are looking for.  This includes showing up regularly and on time, as well as getting tasks done in a timely manner).

Flight delays cost money, LOTS of money.  A sense of punctuality and urgency, tempered by reason and compassion, is the order of the day when unloading and loading 137 passengers out of and into a flying sheet metal tube in under an hour.  And because timeliness is an important value, Southwest expects it, and rewards employees who demonstrate it.  Those who have “perfect attendance” in any quarter (including being on time) receive two free, round-trip priority passes (which they can use themselves or pass on to anyone else, employee or non-employee) to anywhere the airline flies.  Conversely, if an employee is late or absent three times in any quarter, they are dismissed from the company on the spot:  no discussion, no excuses, no questions.  Needless to say, Southwest Airlines does not have much of an attendance problem.  And they are the most on-time airline in the history of modern aviation.

So I muse… Are we doing our students any favors by “dumping due dates”?  I think not.  Don’t we have a responsibility to help our students develop their time management skills, so they can be successful in whatever fields they choose?  Ultimately, won’t they thank us?

(To be continued…)