Speeches and Presentations from Southwest Leaders

Donna Conover, Executive Vice President Customer Operations with Southwest Airlines, was in Boston recently to speak at the “A Great Place to Work Conference.” During her time at the podium, Conover captivated the gathering with her special brand of “Southwest” humor while conveying the “secrets” to Southwest’s success.

Conover shared that the secret to Southwest’s success is “our people and our costs.” It started more than 35 years ago with Rollin King and Herb Kelleher having a cocktail while discussing Rollin’s idea for an airline that would fly between three Texas cities. Today Southwest is the largest domestic carrier in terms of passengers carried, serving 62 cities in 32 states with 31,000 Employees.

While Southwest continues to be a low frills / low fare airline, Conover pointed out that serving cokes, peanuts and pretzels onboard is now a frill. In addition, she relayed that the Southwest Employees understand the company’s goals.

“We take care of our Customers and Employees, with the Employees coming first. The Employees work at Southwest for less than they could make somewhere else, because of the environment. At Southwest, we work hard and play hard. We celebrate and recognize our Employee’s accomplishments. All Employees are valued members and part of the team. Southwest hires for attitude and trains for skill. Southwest’s success is dependent upon us making the right hiring decisions and investing in people who have the attitude and ability to move the company forward,” she said.

As Conover summed up her comments she reminded the group that “the airline industry is in transition and changing and it will continue to be. At Southwest we will manage through the changes by being true to ourselves.”

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