I'm very disturbed by allegations relating to Southwest's maintenance program and inspections. CNN's story about wistleblowers alleging that Southwest requested that a specific government inspector be reassigned (http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/04/02/southwest.faa.inspection/index.html) is particularly disturbing.

I am very, very uncomfortable about flying yet I do so regularly for my work in Texas. Southwest has always been my first choice in flying because until that incident in Chicago, the airline had never had a fatality. I originally attributed this to Southwest's commitment to quality and safety. With the latest allegations, I wonder whether it would be more appropriate to attribute Southwest's safety record to luck.

It is time for Southwest's "Tylenol Moment." Southwest needs to get out in front, say "We screwed up; we took our eye off the ball, forgetting that our greatest assets are our employees and our customers (particularly their trust and loyalty). In a time where the airline industry is facing unprecedented challenges due to fuel prices, we cannot allow ourselves to forget our core values and responsibilities. We deeply regret this episode but will work to ensure that we learn from it and are thankful that no one was injured as a result of this lapse. Southwest is committed to providing high quality service at reasonable prices and safety is an important part of that service."

Now get out there and say it. Stop saying "Yes, planes went out without inspections but no one was at risk and no one got hurt so don't worry about it." If a person shoots a gun in the air and it doesn't kill anyone when it comes back down, that doesn't excuse the person who fired the gun recklessly.

SWA has done unreversable damage to their reputation by trying to save a few dollars at the expense of public safety. They will now blame this on a few "rogue" employees and claim to have remedied thier problem.

A former loyal customer

Dear Southwest,

As an American air traveler, I have been increasingly concerned with the safety of the nation's "economy airlines" as the economics of flying have seemingly decreased profit margins over the last 10 years (higher gas prices, lower market rates). It has been my fear that in an effort to sustain themselves, airlines have been pressured to increase the numbers of flights they operate per day, meaning less attention would be paid to inspections and matters of safety. This was not a confirmed fact, but simply a suspicion I had based on my observations as a frequent flyer. The flying experience has seemed increasingly more frenzied and less professional for some time now and it only seems to get worse. I have never been a huge fan of flying, but in the past 5 years or so, my anxiety level increased dramatically. My trust in the thoroughness of airplane pre-flight inspections erroded as it appeared to me that more importance was being placed on churning out as many flights as possible, rather than taking time to ensure quality and safety. The findings of the FAA regarding your disregard of Federal Regulations has confirmed my suspicion and I am completely and utterly disgusted by your disregard for the safety of your customers and personel. This is probably the most potent example of corporate greed I have ever witnessed and I think it will severely impact your company's credibilty, even among your most loyal customers. I know that personally I have a trip scheduled with Southwest coming up next week and I will be cancelling it immediately and flying United instead. I will not be flying with your airline again unless I am convinced by your actions that you are committed to sweeping change amongst your organizations safety policies. I cannot trust a company that has, apparently, so little regard for human life.

- Stephanie

Nice going SWA,
Who can we trust anymore? If you think about it, it's sad that we even need the FAA to watch out for our safety. What would SWA or others get away with if the FAA were not there??? Now FAA employees Bobby Bourtris and Douglas Peters
have to enter the federal whistle blowers program because they chose to do the right thing? Hey Herb and Gary (Chairman/CEO SWA) is it really worth it to have our blood on your hands, for money? would you really enjoy your retirement if a plane had gone down due to maintenance violations? I will only fly my family on SWA when Herb and Gary step down in shame. It's one thing to defraud old ladies of their life savings like some spineless CEO's, but to play with my family's lives for money? SWA has lost it's way.......

Former Customer,
Cary Il.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/04/02/southwest.faa.inspection/index.html

I am sad to say that even though I have a flight booked on Southwest in April, I will be cancelling it and booking on a different airline. I know that I will forfeit some money, but I don't know who to trust here and I don't feel like dealing with the stress of wondering.

John,
If you go to the press release that I linked above and then click on the attachments link in the release, it will have part of Herb and Gary's written testimony. Also, if the Committee staff follow their usual pattern for this hearing, the full written testimony will be posted on the Committee's web site under hearings. Scroll down and click on the witnesses' name for the written testimony. You can also watch the oral testimony on the site.
Brian

I will never fly your airline again.

How dare you try and circumvent rules and regulations that exist for a reason?

How dare you put the lives of so many people -- me included -- at risk?

How dare you threaten the brave individuals who came forward and reported your behavior?

Do not insult my intelligence with your "safety was never compromised" schtick. I have a terminal degree in the sciences, and I *know* that's not true. Saftey was compromised and you know it.

You've lied and you've cheated. You are unworthy of my business.

As a business traveler in the 90s, I did whatever I could to avoid flying SWA, even for short-haul flights (e.g. LAX to OAK), preferring to fly the majors.

But your on-time records, extensive number of flights, and easy access through regional airports eventually won me over. By the mid-90s, I completely altered my airline preferences and traveled extensively on your airline, accumulating numerous free flights through your rewards program.

Your immoral and cavalier attitude towards passenger safety shattered that loyalty in 5 minutes -- the time it took to read the devious and underhanded maneuvers your corporation from the highest executive levels to thwart standard safety protocol. I will no longer fly SWA for any flight - for any reason.

I am forwarding the article to all of my business colleagues and friends who are currently SWA enthusiasts to persuade them in choosing other airlines as well.

You have a daunting challenge ahead to win back passenger loyalty. You may buy back the budget-conscious travelers with your famous low fare specials. But you're going to need unprecedented mea culpas and other efforts to win back your business travelers -- travelers whose families depend upon their livelihood and mortality -- travelers who cannot and will not gamble with their lives for cheap fares.

Sincerely,
T. Olson

I have been watching the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee's
hearing on airline safety and oversight. All I can say is, "SHAME ON YOU,
SWA." Every employee of SWA should be embarrassed to be a part
of this company.

An announcenment to: Herb, Colleen and the other management sleaze balls that make up your team:

"You are now free to move about your jail cells."

I can not fathom the decision making that Southwest engaged when it decided to fly planes that were not properly inspected. I have flown my last Southwest flight.

Shame on you Southwest. How DARE you jeopardize the saftety of millions of people just so you can be thought of as the most "on-time" airline? How DARE you? People trusted you and put their lives in your hands assuming that you valued those lives. I have an upcoming flight on your airline, one that is too late for me to cancel and make new arrangements. But I will not be flying SWA again. How DARE you? And rest assured, had one of these uninspected airplanes gone down, you would have started blaming and pointing fingers and trying to take down any entity you could to avert the consequences of your GREEDY actions. How DARE you? Maybe when you get some time you should read your "Safety Commitment"

I am appalled and disgusted. For years, Southwest has positioned itself as the "Luv" airline, and the irreverant "were not like everyone else" alternative to the other guys.

Now, it seems, you're just like everyone else. You cut corners, put your passengers at risk, and engage in improper, unethical behavior. Your marketing team and ad agency must be working overtime spinning this one. Herb Kelleher's chain-smoking must be on overdrive right now.

And what about Gary Kelly? And Colleen Barrett? Forget the folksy ruminations, and the claims that Gary loves freight. What Gary loves is hardball tactics and bending the rules. Like Gary, I'm the CEO of a company, and if we did what Southwest did, I'd expect to lose my job, and rightfully so.

I'll keep flying the airline, because of where I live, but don't think I respect the organization like I once did, and I'm fairly certain the damage is permanent.

Tell me how you're going to prove me wrong.

No Santa Clause, no Easter Bunny, no SouthWest as we all imagined it. Hope you lose a bundle. From one of your customer who only flew SW whenever he could. No more.

Just booked 8 round trips in July. Booking more tomorrow. Southwest will make it through this rough time. You guys are awesome. Tell your staff to hang in there.

Okay- it's now 6:35 and I am glued to my computer screen. Herb and Gary have testified. I can say this: If Bill O'Reilly wanted these two on his show, it would have to be re-labled "Spin Zone"...
I was truly looking forward to Herb "cutseying" his way out of this- but he has lost his touch. Between the constant hacking and ill-timed, patronizing jokes about the whole situation, he has not helped one bit. Herb actually stated that "only a small part of the aircraft was not inspected- just a little piece...". That's reassuring- and he was called on it immediately.
Gary Kelly...a numbers man, no doubt. Nice guy, indeed. But a numbers man...first and foremost. When asked if SWA MX officials "pressured" FAA inspectors to not report the findings, he could not give a straight answer.
Now we are starting every sentence with "To my recollection..." and "I don't recall..." as if we are in a pseudo-Alberto Gonzalez hearing. Sad day, indeed.

Yes, there was a lack of communication pertaining to the Airworthiness Directive but anyone who knows anything about aircraft knows that though SWA flew those planes past the date stated on the AD, it wasn't in any danger since it hadn't surpassed the year and a half given until the airplane was in danger. What people don't remember are the multiple catastrophic accidents that the other airlines (United, American, Delta, Northwest, AirTran/ValuJet) while Southwest's record remains spotless. Those who claim that they will never fly Southwest are only kidding themselves because everyone know that people aren't going to spend $500.00 to fly from Florida to Washington when you can fly Southwest for $200.00 ad have a better chance to be ontime. As far as jeopardizing the safety of the American public, what about every single person out their that talks on their cellphone while driving or the times when you all had a drink or two and you claimed you were OK to drive home? So basically everyone claiming that they are shocked and distrubed by the "FACT" that Southwest knowlingly put everyones lives in danger, you are all complete idiots!! If they were so unsafe than why doesn't there record show dozens of fatal accidents like al the other airlines. Enjoy flying the friendly skies, for those of you claiming they will never fly Southwest, in a 25 year old DC-8 or some POS that has its maintenance done in some shack down in Honduras.

Shame on you Southwest Airlines. Your behaviors do not align with your marketing. I hope that your stock drops like a rock thereby causing stockholders to insist that heads roll. Don't even try to spin it as an FAA problem - just because they have their own problems does not get you off the hook.

Is SWA going to do any kind or reimbursement for passengers who have flights in the next upcoming weeks. We're going to FL. and I do not feel comfortable whatsoever. The airline said that I cannot get any kind of refund, not even a credit. What can I do.

I posted the first comment a while ago when this story broke and commented that I did not believe you. Looks like I was proven right.

The first rule of managing a corporate crisis is getting all the bad news out at once so it doesn't dribble out and make you look untrustworthy. I'm sure there will be more after public and congressional pressure forces the FAA to complete truly independent investigations.

Get in front of it, apologize completely and convincingly, provide full transparency and figure out how to capture the public's trust again. There, just saved you $100k in crisis consulting fees.

I think most of you have overlooked the fact that it was SWA who brought to FAA's attention of what was discovered during one of it's "own" inspections back in March of 2007. When SWA reported the AD violation, FAA told SWA that it is "okay" to continue to fly these aircrafts while the inspections were being conducted. Now, the questions is, did SWA maliciously and intentionally flew these aircrafts unsafe? I doubt it. Their mistake was, and lesson learned, was to have not followed the FAA's recommendation to continue to fly these aircrafts and instead should have taken the initiative to ground them until all inspections were completed. As Mr Kelleher said, he apologized for making this mistake and it is one lesson that SWA's management have duly noted.
I truly believe, that SWA has the safety of all it's passengers and employees in mind hence why all these are happening right now. If it weren't for their own "discovery" of these said "ADs" that were violated, where would we be now? The safety record of this company is "stellar" and proves that SAFETY is it's first priority and will always be!

I feel so betrayed by your company. I will go out of my way to not travel on SouthWest Airlines ever again, and I fly frequently. I realize that other airlines are likely guilty of compromising safety to save a buck, but I really thought SW was different.

I used to defend SW when friends criticized the "bus in the air". Bye bye SW. I feel sorry for your employees.

As a frequent SWA passenger I am shocked and very disturbed at your actions or lack of actions. I have always promoted SWA to my friends and other business people, never again. How much money did you save? Did the Ã

I'm appalled at the amount of "SWA Hate-mail" posts in this article. Southwest Airlines has always strived to be the safest airline out there, and I believe they still are. I still think at no point were any of those aircraft with the original cracks on them unsafe. This may be an old issue, but all this "Southwest isn't safe", and "Southwest has no regard towards safety," buisness has erupted from it.

I would be really interested to see what the pilots have to say about this. Being someone who is currently earning a pilots license, I know that I would never jump in an airplane knowing that it might not bring me back safely. I'm sure the pilots at this company feel the same way.

Loyal Southwest customer for life,
Tucker

I am failing to see a real problem here. SWA gets nailed once for maintenance problems and gets rail roaded for doing for what every other airline has done... Self Disclosures... ALL Airlines have this to happen. I mean reall. These inspections are NOT that big of a deal, American just had some similiar issues.. and out of the news, United just anounced that it is redoing some inspections... Very little news. Quanta's (classified as the safest airline in the world, SWA is number 2 in the world, #1 in the US) just self disclosed that 55 airplanes had passenger Oxygen system serviced wiht Nitrogen... Nitrogen is deadly. You breath 100% Nitrogen at 30-50,000 feet and you are DEAD.. But NO NEWS. Why is SWA being singled out for their first offense, which is really not a safety issue here. I think that if we look deep enough that there is a political issue going on here. Maybe SWA stepped on a politicians toes some how... LOL, I would like to step on some of their toes actually.

Every airline has this kind of problem... Why not pick on them. SWA self disclosed all of the above and now is being rail roaded because of it.

I support SWA in what ever they do here, because I know that they will do the right thing to keep the Flying Public safe! We are all only human and we make mistakes.... I hope CNN is near some of these critizers here whey they make a mistake!

I realize many of you are upset with what you heard on the news reports. But really! Is "low life murders" and "burn in hell" really necessary? Have you read the written testimony from Gary and Herb? In case you have not, here's an important excerpt:

"Contrary to some suggestions, we did not miss an inspection. We conducted the required inspections. But, we inadvertently omitted a small area (0.6% of the skin surface) that ordinarily should have been specifically inspected under the AD. The "missed" area continued to be inspected by our other regular and routine inspections, as well as by an additional AD that called for crack inspections along a line that ran within 0.7 inches of the short length of the "missed" area."

If you take the time to read the testimony and exhibits, you'll see that it is not 'spin' to say we we never flew an unsafe flight.

WASHINGTON - The whistleblowers who exposed maintenance and inspection problems at Southwest Airlines told Congress their jobs were threatened and their reports of noncompliance were ignored for years.

Southwest, you should be ashamed of yourselves.

BOYCOTT Southwest NOW. Who knows, your life might depend on it!

Coupling the above with the 8 hours I have spent waiting on the phone for someone to help me with my sw booked ata flight....are you kidding me! Are you trying to lose customers. To bad... a competent company turned useless husk on its last leg.

I wonder how many of you posting all the venomous comments actually would ever put the keyboard aside long enough to actually read ALL the information available? Do so, then make an informed statement, as opposed to adding fuel to the media hype machine that is being perpetuated. No wonder sensationalist journalism is so prevalent. The vocal majority feeds on sound bites and partial information. If the facts are examined from Boeing, FAA, (not just disgruntled whistleblowers), independent experts(whose opinions are always taken as gospel when the opinion is bad), and information that Southwest is freely exposing, then if you wish to condemn and fly one of the other carriers, go right ahead.

Southwest Airlines - social media history in the making...

Southwest Airlines and the FAAÂ

Yeah, yeah. Everyone's suddenly an aviation-maintenance expert.

I'm sticking with SWA.

You get exactly what you pay for.....SWA is a low cost airline--and that means cost cutting....I hope that SWA gets a MAJOR FINE to shock the entire industry and forces the industry to conduct more HARSH SAFETY MEASURES...The entire story is completely shocking.

What you people posting these comments don't realize is that every major airline grounded planes in a hurry because they were not inspected properly. The inspection process is really different than you think if you would accually listen to all of the facts from both sides of the story like you would any thing else you might learn something. Go to (http://www.airsafe.com/airline.htm) this will maybe change your mind. or even this web site (http://www.ntsb.gov/Aviation/Paxfatal.htm) tell me where southwest is? Or what about your favorite airline are they on that list? Is that just a lucky 37 years? How many people do you know who have been lucky for 37 years? If you even listen to that Oberstar guy he said air travel is safe and he is the one who is making the big deal about everything.

There's a certain number of people that if you told them the sun was shining they'd complain that it was too bright outside.

I'm satisfied with the company's response. They seem to be taking it seriously. The blame should be shared by the company, employees, and FAA, and that seems to be what we're seeing play out.

Is this a way of forcing SWA to stop offering lower fares so the other airlines won't go out of business, in the wake of higher fuel prices? Or is it a way of SWA to keep from going out of business, in the wake of higher fuel prices? Seems odd that its happening now, when the price of fuel is so high.

First and foremost I have been a loyal SWA customer for years and WILL continue to do so. I watched the hearings and was very impressed with Herb & Gary's testimonies. SWA's safety record speaks for itself....who else can say that? Gary Kelly is the genius who implemented fuel hedging do you think he would really turn his head on inspections....c'mon! Apparently they still have a lot of loyal supporters ....I flew twice this week and the southwest terminals were slammed.

Southwest should have taken it seriously in 2007, not 2008.
Kelleher's constant giggling demonstrated how not serious he considered it.
What's the over/under on how soon after Douglas T. Gawadzinski is fired by the FAA, that Southwest hires him?
What's the odds that Douglas T. Gawadzinski was paid under the table by Southwest to ignore violations?
But seriously, one item that was found to be true, and not addressed by Southwest or its Koresh-type loyal fans - Why did Southwest complain about Boutris? Which as we know now, was found to be utterly and completely baseless.

Jim said:
"However, as crack-prone as a 737 fuselage apparently is, it seems like criticism for not following Ã

wow. The ignorance of some people. They follow the media and nothing else, they don't think for themselves. They let the NBC Nightly news do their thinking. Didn't your parents ever teach you to not believe everything you hear or read???

"murderers"???? What the heck? Do you know how DUMB you sound?

It is awesome to see the intelligent bloggers come out of the woodwork once the idiots leave.

I love Southwest, and will continue to use them!!!!!!!!!

To the Executives, Managers, and Supervisors: Clean house by starting at the top, Resign. have at least that on your record.

You would fire employee caught doing what you have done. No inspections?

Do we need a Grand Jury to state the obvious?

CharlieS said:
"Since you have so much information that the rest of the public doesnÃ

Safety is job 1, paramount, sacred for an airline. There is no excuse for this Southwest. Any failure of management or management systems is the responsibility of the CEO and the board. One accident because of failed management systems, failed safety processes especially if induced by greed at the bottom is an unacceptable price to pay.

Just as there are criminal penalties for drunk pilots, there must be criminal penalties for senior managers who compromise customer and public safety for greed.

This is a shocking lapse in standards and perhaps a lengthy jail sentence would send the right signals to other airline management teams.

Sorry to be tough but it is that important.

SWA has proven their safety by their history of safe flying. I'm happy that you narrow minded people that have become SWA haters are leaving. The flights will be more pleasant without you. If you believe that no other airines have put your lives in danger, then you are completely misguided. Everyone makes mistakes and SWA will be paying an excessive amount for theirs. Unfortunately, they were the airline that was chosen to make an example out of. I'm sure the other airlines are just as guilty, otherwise why would they have grounded their airplanes for safety inspections - DUH!

GO SWA - your the best and your employees are too!!!!!

To CharlieWest1219 and my fellow SWA supporters here:

There is an old expression about "preaching to the choir" that may be appropriate here. Some of us try to accumulate as many facts about a situation as possible, add in our own personal observations, mix in a healthy dose of common sense, and arrive at a conclusion that is supportable. Some people take the smallest shred of information possible, fail to verify its truthfulness or question any possible hidden agendas or motives or timing in the release of that information, and then go to extraordinary lengths to make assumptions and presumptions about someone's behavior or intentions.

If you read the majority of the blog posts on all of the inspection-related threads here from the last few weeks, they fall into one of two camps. The first is the name-calling, accusatory, inflammatory and threatening rhetoric, such as: "...how DARE you do this to my family...", "...murderers...", "...giant conspiracy...", "...I feel so betrayed...", etc., etc., etc. The other is from Southwest supporters who weigh the facts, review who has supplied the facts, search for facts not being reported and add in the indisuputable safety record of Southwest and conclude that this is becoming an emotionally-charged and lopsided issue for far too many people.

The likelihood of you, CharlieWest, or me, or any of the others who fall into that second camp, being able to get the people in the first camp to take a deep breath and give some more thought to what they are being fed by the media is, unfortunately, fairly low. The devotees of Chicken Little are legion, and will jump at any opportunity to run around predicting the rapid descent of the upper levels of our atmosphere. If you doubt the interest in conspiracy theories and digging for the "inner secrets" of people's most inherently sinister motives, just go to the book store. I guarantee you can find dozens of books by so-called experts who can "prove" to you exactly what happened in Dallas on November 22, 1963, and why it happened.

You and I know that not one single Southwest plane has fallen out of the sky and that the company is run by people who truly take their responsibilities seriously and conscientiously. But, we'll likely never convince the naysayers that Southwest is not just a collection of greedy and selfish people who take every chance to endanger their passengers and own employees just to pad the bottom line.

But, I still appreciate you and Luvin SWA and Tbone and Patrick and palespring and swaluver and Ryan and Bert Stevens and Julie and John C and Tucker and JD and the other people who support Southwest Airlines trying to be the voice of reason amidst all of this feeding frenzy. In time, I am convinced that Southwest will be recognized for their leadership and commitment in the area of safety, and until then, we'll just weather the storm.

Kim
External Blog Boy and just one of the many people who still LUV and support SWA :)

Kim,

We can see the latest example of what you describe a couple of posts above yours in one from Frederick S. Simonie, M.D. The good doctor mentions: "I have heard about the lack of maintenance on SWAÃ

Personal observations from an RDU ramper.

Very busy weekend, with Carolina fans going to San Antonio for the Final Four basketball tournament, public school kids coming home from spring break week and the sudden shut-down of Skybus Airlines, meant that a lot of people were scrambling for the few available seats that were left. Definitely need to look into a massage therapist to work out the kinks after a weekend like this one. The point is, with everything happening this weekend, the overwhelming number of passengers traveling this weekend experienced no inconveniences, they were able to check-in, board their flight and arrive at their destination in a timely manner. The majority of these travelers I'm sure felt as though they received good value for their money.

The media wants to focus on the things that can and do go wrong with air travel and with the complexities of heightened security requirements, increased air traffic, high fuel costs, etc. there certainly are many opportunities to "point the finger", as it were, and claim the system is broken. The fact remains that ticket prices for the most part remain very reasonable for domestic travel (which is a big part of the reason for the majors focusing more on international routes) and despite all of the "hype" surrounding missed inspections and broken equipment, we are still in the safest stretch of accident-free commercial travel in aviation history. I am not arguing that the end justifies the means, but frequently when dealing with the Federal government, one must realize that many of their mandates are not based on any "real-world" estimation of exactly how long it takes to inspect 500+ aircraft and not cancel hundreds of flights in doing so (witness the American, Delta and Northwest fiascoes as they played catch-up last week).

The airlines certainly are not without culpability in the current turn-of-events. Poor communication with their customers regarding canceled flights, oversales, equipment failures and unfavorable weather conditions continue to feed the perception of an uncaring, disconnected megastructure, that has apparently forgotten the basic tenets of taking care of the customer. Downsizing, pay cuts and the continued deterioration of societal mores in general, have resulted in the most disturbing levels of bad customer service behavior among front-line employees at a time when the need for quality care is higher now than it has ever been. The public taste for getting more for less is also not based in reality and certainly ignores the basic economics that are currently going on in this industry. Everyone needs to wake up and acknowledge the fact that we are in the midst of a period of turbulent change and we will have to adjust our thinking accordingly.

Southwest Airlines 35 years ago established a reputation for providing basic transportation at a fair price. No frills, no in-flight movies, no fancy meals, just the basics of what you want from an airline, safe, comfortable point-to-point transportation at rates that everyone could afford. As the pressure to remain profitable has increased, the talking heads in Dallas have started to drift from that business model and started making some of the mistakes that others have before them. Despite all of that, despite the mistakes that have been made, the airline still runs the safest, most efficient and yes, most profitable operation in the industry. It is my belief that the answer lies in a return to the basics, that as price points from increased fuel costs continue to put pressure on the industry, the successful player will be the one that can maximize safe, timely performance and minimize overhead expenses. We cannot allow ourselves to sacrifice our core values and ultimately become like "all the rest".

Putting Your Trust in Southwest Airlines
Many of you know that Southwest Airlines has received a lot of media attention recently regarding the safety and inspections of our aircraft. I acknowledge that recent events may have caused some of you to doubt the trust you place in us, and for that I am very sorry.

When you step on one of our airplanes, it is a matter of trust that you will arrive safely at your destination, and we consider that trust to be sacred. Let me assure you, that no company is more passionate about the safety of our Customers and Employees than we are. While this space precludes a lot of detail, I want to take a few moments to highlight our Safety Culture and what we are doing to make a safe airline, even safer.

Since our inception, Southwest Airlines has safely transported the population of the United StatesÃ

Gary,
Thank you very much for choosing to add the Blog to the list of places where you are trying to explain your side of this issue. Coming here to address the people who are interested enough in the situation to be a part of the SWA Blog will hopefully read your words with an open mind and will believe what you've said.

Your remarks represent just one more example of how the Southwest management is being transparent and very visible during this time of public scrutiny. My concern is that as I discussed in my post a few posts above yours, those who supported SWA before still will, but those who didn't probably won't be swayed by your remarks. I'll predict that by tomorrow, there will be lots of replies below yours that will challenge what you've said and question your truthfulness.

But, it needed to be said, and I'm glad you did. You guys are still awesome in my book and for many people throughout the United States who KNOW the true Culture of Southwest.

Keep up the great job,
Kim
External Blog Boy

Holy cow, I'll never fly your airline again.

For all of you that stated you would NEVER fly SWA again....How did you like being stranded at the airport when your American Airlines flight has been cancelled for the past 2 days. Hope you all are happy now! If you would have flown good ole SWA..you would be there!!!!!

They're now saying 900 AA cancellations for Thursday 4/10... Ouch!

Hey Herb--

Why don't you take a bold step here? Announce a new commitment to be the safest airline ever. Hire those guys from the FAA as your new safety inspection leaders and give the press free access to them as they audit all your internal safety practices. Show us just how committed you are and you can win us back.

But this recent history of deny, deny, deny is teaching a whole new generation of people the lessons your generation learned from President Richard M. Nixon. Remember, in case you forgot: the cover-up is almost always worse than the original crime.

Greg
New York City

For those of you who say that all SWA employees should feel ashamed and embarrassed to be a part of this company:

I have been a PROUD employee for over 6 years. At this moment, I am very PROUD of my company. I will feel truly BLESSED to be a part of this company for many more years to come.

I am a PROUD SWA Flight Attendant and have NEVER worried about my safety or the safety of our wonderful passengers.

Those of you who remain loyal to SWA, we LUV you!

Just wondering, how does Gary, Herb, and all Southwest fanatics and employees feel about the two SWA whistleblowers?

Funny, still can't get an answer from anyone on the the SWA complaint about Bobby which the Inspector General found to be completely baseless.

Very cowardly by SWA.

People, the entire airline industry is probably infected with the bad behaviour many of you are attributing to SWA. Switching airlines doesn't seem like too smart a move. Demanding and receiving honourable service as a repayment for loyalty seems like a better way. Let's see how SWA resets itself.

I am so glad to hear from employees also I have NEVER