Motivation, Ethics, and Conflict Management
Southwest Airlines has come a long way since its start in 1971 with only about 30
employees. Southwest now employs over 30,000 employees. The company has put
customers first from the very beginning and many believe that this is the reason for
Southwest great success.
To entice customer loyalty, Southwest was the first airline company to begin a frequent
flyer program to reward customers for the amount of miles flown. Since starting this
program, many other airlines have followed suit. In addition to the frequent flyer program,
Southwest has also introduced several other unique programs for their customers. These
programs include senior discounts, fun packs, fun fairs, and ticketless travel.
In addition to being known for excellent customer service, Southwest Airlines is also
known for being a great employer. Southwest has a unique approach to motivating their
employees. Because of this, Southwest was ranked second in Fortune top 100 companies
to work for and also Fortunes top 10 admired companies. The secret to Southwest success
is simply caring about the employees and treating them as though they matter, because
they do.
One of the biggest perks to being an employee of Southwest airlines is free airfare.
Southwest gives free airfare to employees, spouses, parents, and children of employees. It
is a simple, yet effective benefit to employees. It allows for frequent reunions or getaways.
Another benefit to being a Southwest employee is the profit sharing plan. Southwest
Airlines has maintained a profit for the last 32 years. Therefore, profit sharing is very
