DALLAS — Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE: LUV) is proud of its recognition as an Employer Honoree on the 2023 American Opportunity Index, a ranking that measures the effectiveness of companies in developing talent to drive business performance and advance individual Employees’ careers. Southwest® ranked as the top airline on the Index for the second consecutive year.

“From our first flight in 1971 until today, it’s our People that make Southwest the airline with Heart,” said Elizabeth Bryant, Senior Vice President & Chief People Officer at Southwest Airlines. “My Southwest journey began 26 years ago as a Training Instructor, and I’ve loved supporting various Teams and diversifying my career in ways I never imagined since then. Southwest’s dedication to fostering an environment that celebrates and empowers Employees creates continued learning and growth opportunities across all stages of careers.”

Southwest Airlines® encourages its People to pursue their passions by leveraging the carrier’s resources to achieve their career aspirations. Southwest’s Career Mobility Center offers Employees a place to explore internal career opportunities, discover new roles, or prepare for a promotion through services like career advising sessions, resume review, interview preparation resources, and more. The airline also provides numerous career growth and development resources to diversify skill sets, including in-person or virtual courses, mentorship programs, and more.

The American Opportunity Index is a joint project of the Burning Glass Institute, Harvard Business School’s Managing the Future of Work Project, and the Schultz Family Foundation. The Index is the only measure of employer quality that evaluates Employees at America’s largest employers over time, assessing how well companies manage their most important asset—their people. The Index’s results aren’t based on corporate surveys but on an independent analysis drawn from how Employees reported changes in their work history on social media and online resume platforms, as well as comprehensive salary and job-posting data.

Southwest Airlines is operating our normal schedule on Friday, Dec. 30. We appreciate the dedicated work of the Southwest Team to restore our schedule, and we anticipate minimal disruptions for the weekend.

Once again, we value the continued patience and support of our valued Customers, and we apologize for the inconveniences of the past week. If needed, we offer several methods for Customers to seek support from us:

Customers affected through the operational disruption can find additional assistance at: https://www.southwest.com/traveldisruption/.

Those specifically needing assistance reuniting with baggage can find information here: https://www.southwest.com/baginfo/

We look forward to the opportunity to address any needs of our Customers over the coming days as we strive to return to our previous level of Southwest Hospitality and reliability.

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CORPUS CHRISTI, TX – Southwest Airlines and the Corpus Christi International Airport (CCIA) are pleased to announce direct flights from Corpus Christi to Denver, Colorado, from September through October 2022.

Passengers flying from the Corpus Christi (CRP) Airport to Denver will stop at Houston Hobby Airport (HOU), but with direct flight service, they will not have to change seats, get off the airplane, or deal with a layover.

“A new direct flight to Denver, Colorado, with Southwest Airlines is exciting news for Corpus Christi. CCIA has showcased their diligent work towards expanding Corpus Christi’s air service options via their “Fly Local Pledge” and other initiatives that encourage new partnerships with existing and potential new airlines to provide more direct and non-stop flight options for our region,” Mayor Paulette Guajardo said.

The Southwest Airlines direct flights to Denver are on a limited schedule and are available Monday through Friday.

To book your next flight to Denver, please visit https://www.southwest.com/.

For media questions, contact CCIA Marketing Manager Vianni Otterson at 361-826-1290 or email VianniO@cctexas.com.

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Jack Carleson, a student at Arizona State University, has been building custom LEGO models for over 10 years now, coming up with the designs and ordering custom parts all by himself. Drawn to our bold, unique color scheme, Jack took on the challenge of creating a custom model of a Southwest 737-800 in 2020! Three months and hundreds of parts later, Jack’s masterpiece was finally finished, complete with a full interior of seats and Passengers, a beltloader, functioning flaps and spinning engines!

Southwest Airlines offers an array of branded credit cards, the same as the other major U.S. airlines. But because Southwest operates differently from other carriers, its cards are different, too. Most notably:

• Southwest doesn’t charge most flyers for checked baggage, so a Southwest card isn’t going to save you money on bag fees. You don’t get priority boarding on every flight, either.
• Southwest doesn’t operate a network of airport lounges, so there is no high-end card with lounge privileges.
• Southwest does not offer a no-annual-fee credit card.

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Southwest Airlines is offering 40 percent off select fall flights during its most recent three-day sale this summer.

Customers booking with the low-cost carrier can save when they use promotion code FALL40 on select bookings made by midnight CT on Thursday, June 9 for travel taking place from August 16 to November 5, 2022.

Sample savings include nonstop from Baltimore (BWI) to Boston (BOS) for as little as $60 one-way and $120 roundtrip or nonstop between Los Angeles (LAX) and Las Vegas (LAS) for just $36 one-way or $72 roundtrip. Travelers can also score awesome international deals this week such as nonstop from Fort Lauderdale (FLL) to Nassau, Bahamas (NAS) for as low as $72 one-way.

Discounts even apply to interisland Hawaii travel. For instance, Southwest customers can fly from Honolulu (HNL) to Kahului (OGG) for as little as $31 one-way and $62 roundtrip.

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This is a story about Southwest Airlines, a 19th-century French economist, and a simple way to build a better and more profitable business.

It starts with an observation — one I won’t be the first person to make. It’s that there are really only two business models in the world:

• The first is bundling.
• The second is unbundling.

Simple, right? Imagine you’re an entrepreneur. You try to create things for customers. You gather and improve, over and over, in order to increase your value proposition. You bundle it all together.

Read more by By Bill Murphy

Southwest Airlines’ new CEO, Bob Jordan, has taken on the task of guiding the carrier out of the Covid pandemic after two bruising years.

Jordan, 61, who took the reins Tuesday, has 34 years of experience working at Southwest, overseeing a host of initiatives including Southwest’s network expansion and the airline’s acquisition of AirTran. His career has spanned paper tickets to mobile boarding passes.

He replaces Gary Kelly, becoming the Dallas airline’s sixth CEO in its five-decade history. Kelly, 66, is staying on as executive chairman after more than 17 years as CEO, completing a succession plan unveiled last June.

Read more by Leslie Josephs@lesliejosephs

DALLAS — Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE: LUV) today is highlighting several new benefits for Southwest® Business Customers as the carrier continues the journey of making it easier to book, manage, and service business travel on Southwest Airlines®. The airline also today revealed it is beginning work on an industry-leading self-service travel portal designed to bring more efficiencies and add more tools travel managers, travel decision makers, and travel management companies need to better manage their respective travel programs with Southwest.

Travel Portal
Built on Salesforce, the global leader in customer relations management, this self-service travel portal will become the primary location for travel managers and travel management companies to keep up to date with their Southwest-managed travel programs. The travel portal will provide quick access to reporting dashboards, Southwest news and updates, and much more.

“Managing business travel shouldn’t be complicated and that’s why we are continually investing in enhancements that make it easier to manage your travel program,” said Dave Harvey, Vice President of Southwest Business. “This one-stop-shop offers many of the tools travel decision makers, travel arrangers, and travel management companies need in one location.” 

“We’re thrilled to see the power of Slalom bring an industry-leading travel portal to life for Southwest Business Customers,” said Ryan Gilmour, Managing Director, Slalom Consulting. “Our teams are already working together to design an easy-to-use product that’ll make flying and managing business travel on Southwest that much easier than it is today.”

“Today, every company needs to rethink how they connect with their customers with rich, actionable data and now is the time to focus on increasing customer loyalty through easy-to-use tools and processes,” said Scott Barghaan, Vice President and General Manager for Travel, Transportation and Hospitality for Salesforce.  “Salesforce, in partnership with Slalom, is proud to be helping Southwest Business bring its customers these new self-service options, and further cement its place as a revered brand in corporate travel.”

The Travel Portal is expected to be available by mid-2022.

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Southwest is giving away limited-time Companion Passes on Thursday for just the cost of one round trip flight, but the deal won’t last long.

To score a two-month companion pass — one of the best deals in travel — travelers simply have to register, enter their Rapid Rewards number, and then book a round trip flight or two one-way flights by 11:59 p.m. CST on Sept. 9 for travel by Nov. 18, according to the airline. Qualifying flights include both domestic and international travel in any fare class.

Once someone earns the promotional Companion Pass, they will be able to designate one person to fly free with them from Jan. 6, 2022, through Feb. 28, 2022. The companion passenger must pay taxes and fees, which start at $5.60 each way, according to Southwest.

“Say yes to this incredible offer and enjoy the privileges of Companion Pass,” Southwest wrote of the promotion. “Then take off with your favorite plus-one whenever you fly.”

Read more By Alison Fox