CEO talks about Southwest changes
DALLAS — It’s been a decade of transformative change for Southwest Airlines, as the largest carrier at Orlando International Airport weathered the lows of the recession, acquired rival AirTran, expanded internationally for the first time and steadily built up its network to a total of 100 destinations.
Now, for the first time in what seems like years, the pace of change has slowed, with Southwest’s preparations to fly to Hawaii the only headline-grabbing initiative under way in 2018. CEO Gary Kelly is preaching a back-to-thebasics message to employees that focuses on running a strong operation and defending the carrier’s turf from encroaching rivals. After a recent employee rally that drew thousands of workers to Dallas, here’s what Kelly had to say: up as all continental, lower-48 states, it’s just a big deal. It’s learning some new tricks. To have a fivehour flight all over water is pretty exotic for an airline, not to mention what an attractive destination it is. now to see what we ought to be doing than it was 25 years ago, I think. We’ve built such a robust route system and have such a vast customer base with untapped potential. We don’t do a tenth of what we ultimately could do in terms of managing our customers more efficiently. We’re just going to have to stay mindful of what customers want. The competition is fierce and we’ll have to continue to be on our toes and continue to innovate. One of these days we may have to reinvent ourselves, and we have to be mentally prepared to do that. Now is not the time to do it.