Fight hierarchy and bureaucracy as hard as you possibly can. Don't ever let it become the master; always remember it's the servant.
— Herb Kelleher
I love battles. I think it's part of the Irish in me.
A motivated employee treats the customer well. The customer is happy, so they keep coming back. It's not one of the enduring green mysteries of all time; it is just the way it works.
You want to show your people that you value them, and you're not going to hurt them just to get a little more money in the short term. Not furloughing people breeds loyalty. It breeds a sense of security. It breeds a sense of trust.
What's important is that a customer should get off the airplane feeling, 'I didn't just get from A to B. I had one of the most pleasant experiences I ever had, and I'll be back for that reason.'
My suggestion is that if you need someone outside your company to prepare a mission statement for you, then you really don't know what your mission is, and you probably don't have one.
I've been asked a number of times what was my proudest accomplishment when I was still very active in the day-to-day affairs of Southwest Airlines. I always said job security for our people.
In 1996 - when, for the fifth year in a row, we had the best record among major airlines for on-time performance and for baggage handling and the fewest complaints for the number of customers carried - we dedicated an airplane to all of our 25,000 people. We put all their names on the outside of the overhead bins.
Southwest isn't a 'This is my job, that's your job' kind of company. Being successful is our job, and we're willing to do whatever it takes to achieve that.
I'd say my mother made more of a difference to me than anyone else did. I know that's a conventional and perhaps mundane answer, but my family was blown apart at the start of World War II.
The clear, unmistakable sign of a bureaucrat is somebody who worries about whether he has a window.
You can't have a mid-life crisis in the airline industry because every day is a crisis.
I think my greatest moment in business was when the first Southwest airplane arrived after four years of litigation, and I walked up to it and I kissed that baby on the lips and I cried.
When I started working on Southwest Airlines, I kid you not, only people flying on business and very wealthy people ever flew.
The people of Southwest have always been my pride, my joy and my love. Their indomitable dedication and esprit de corps have taken Southwest from a three-airplane dream to a 500-airplane reality.
Our people know that if they are sick, we will take care of them. If there are occasions of grief or joy, we will be there with them. They know that we value them as people, not just cogs in a machine.
I've always said manage in good times so that you're ready for the bad times.
Culture is intangible. It's spiritual. You can't buy it.
Nothing kills your company's culture like layoffs.
I want to see Texas remain an entrepreneurial powerhouse in the United States.
I just always have felt that people should be natural in their behavior, that they should be able to derive enjoyment from whatever they do. When they derive enjoyment, they tend to work together better; they tend to be more productive.
I don't really have any peeves, and I fly other carriers a good bit. My experience has been good in terms of getting on the airplane expeditiously and getting to my destination as need be, on time, with my bags - which I carry on.
You can have parties without spending enormous sums of money.
Keep costs low and spirits high, and the people of Southwest Airlines will keep LUV in the air.
I tell my employees that we're in the service business, and it's incidental that we fly airplanes.
It is my practice to try to understand how valuable something is by trying to imagine myself without it.
I've found that many of the greatest ideas surface in bars because that's where many people cultivate inspiration.
I forgive all personal weaknesses except egomania and pretension.
Power should be reserved for weightlifting and boats, and leadership really involves responsibility.
Your employees come first. And if you treat your employees right, guess what? Your customers come back, and that makes your shareholders happy. Start with employees and the rest follows from that.
Most people think of us as this flamboyant airline, but we're really very conservative from the fiscal standpoint.
We will hire someone with less experience, less education, and less expertise than someone who has more of those things and has a rotten attitude. Because we can train people. We can teach people how to lead. We can teach people how to provide customer service. But we can't change their DNA.
We've always operated on the thesis that a company can have a personality, that people can be themselves, and be very successful in business at the same time.
Anybody who seeks wealth as an end in itself is always going to be disappointed. What you really should be doing is seeking excellence in achievement.
As far as value is concerned, the principal reason that I moved to Texas from New Jersey many, many years ago was because I recognized that Texas was a much more entrepreneurial state than New Jersey, that the opportunities to start things were greater in Texas. And my vision was fortunately fulfilled.
We turned our planes around after landing and got them off again in 20 minutes back in the early days; 15 minutes in many cases. That gave us a huge cost advantage because we could do more flying in a day with a single plane than anybody else.
I think flying is kind of an emotional experience.
Who says a lighthearted approach to business is incompatible with success?
One piece of advice that always stuck in my mind is that people should be respected and trusted as people, not because of their position or title.
Just because you don't announce your plan doesn't mean you don't have one.
Wild Turkey whiskey and Philip Morris cigarettes are essential to the maintenance of human life!
The spirit of Southwest Airlines is exuberant, it's caring, it's dedicated, it's diligent, it's fun, it's rewarding, it's a joy.
I guess the worst moment I ever had in business was the fear that Southwest Airlines wouldn't get off the ground.
A company is stronger if it is bound by love rather than by fear.
