Two days ago (Thursday January 13) we were on our way to Deer Valley, Utah for a few days of skiing before the kids had to go back to school. With a crazy travel and work schedule, none of us had skied for quite a while (not counting local stuff, which is like going down a hill in your backyard) and were really looking forward to the trip.

On the way to Salt Lake City on Southwest Airlines, we had to touch down in St. Louis. While we were sitting on the plane waiting to take off again, we turned our cell phones on to check messages, etc., and unfortunately found out that there was a death in my wife's family. Bye bye ski trip - hello funeral home. (Sometimes I think we are just a little too "connected" these days.)

The doors were just about to shut, so I pushed the flight attendant button and two smiling faces rushed over to make sure we weren't trying to report a passenger smuggling nose hair scissors or something of great importance. When told of the situation, they immediately sprung into action and acted as if this were a matter of great international intrigue.

Once in the terminal, the agents worked in a flurry of phone calls and walkie talkie messages to get us back to Baltimore as soon as possible, which turned out to involve running through the airport like O.J. Simpson (before he didn't kill his wife) and rushing on to a waiting plane as they quickly shut the doors behind us. As an added bonus, we got to stop in Cleveland for a few minutes. Wow!

Our luggage was much luckier - it got to make the trip to Utah before coming back home, arriving at BWI sometime in the middle of the night. We arrived home a few hours earlier, having a serious case of jet lag without actually going anywhere!
Going to the luggage office to explain our situation, we were told that it would be taken care of and that we should just go home and attend to our business. Sure enough, the doorbell rang the next morning and all six pieces of our overstuffed luggage were delivered right to the house, with Southwest Airlines picking up the tab for delivery. All in all, a very sad and disappointing experience was made much better by Southwest Air.

Now I know what you're thinking - a big star like me should have a private jet, or at least always fly first class instead of taking the cattle call on SWA. Sorry - no private jet, and even though I have enough frequent flyer miles to "bump up" to the front of the plane on most occasions, there are just some times when Southwest has the most convenient schedule.

But besides that, I was incredibly impressed by the way we were treated every step along the way of this complicated situation. Every single employee of Southwest treated us with courtesy, professionalism, and most of all, had a big friendly smile on their face when doing so. It's easy to see why they are so hated by the other airlines. Sure - it's easy to say that they have changed the industry with their "peanut" fares and no reserved seating, forcing other airlines to cut their prices. They are practically putting US Airways out of business (better use those frequent flyer miles before it's too late!) All the other airlines seem to whine and complain about not being able to compete with Southwest. So what do they do? Get rid of meal service, lower their fares, and change some routes around. But one thing they can't seem to do is to get that Southwest Airlines "can do" attitude going.

Now I certainly don't know much about the operations of a major airline. But I do know that despite the low fares, SWA remains the only carrier in the US to turn a profit year after year. And I am convinced that a big part of that is the culture they instill among their employees. They are consistently friendly, helpful, and well informed - knowing how to settle any situation without going to five other people, and usually getting things right. How incredibly powerful is it to hire people with great attitudes and empower them to do their jobs correctly and efficiently? If it can work in a cutthroat multi-billion dollar industry, can it work in yours? You better believe it. So when you take your office on that "retreat" to the Four Seasons or Ritz Hotel to teach them about customer service, you may want to consider flying Southwest. They are not "high end," but they do seem to have an uncanny way of getting things right the first time and doing it with a smile.

Hope to see you soon - at one of our one day seminars, maybe at the Chicago Midwinter Meeting, and especially at TBSE 2005 in New Orleans!

Rich