Southwest Airlines is working to recover from its horrible operational meltdown over the holidays, which is anticipated to cost the airline up to $825 million. Not only is the airline reimbursing passengers for expenses incurred as a result of cancelations, but the airline is also awarding 25,000 Rapid Rewards points to passengers who were impacted by operational issues.
While customers were no doubt horribly impacted by all this, I can’t help but also feel terrible for Southwest’s frontline employees — this wasn’t at all their fault, and they’ve suffered a lot from this mess too. Many have been curious what the airline would do to regain trust among employees, and we’re now seeing the first example of that.
Southwest giving employees 25,000 SWAG points
As reported by The Dallas Morning News, on Friday, Southwest Airlines revealed an initiative internally intended to compensation employees for the operational issues they had to deal with. As a gesture of goodwill, the airline will be giving all 66,000 active employees 25,000 SWAG points, which will be deposited on Monday.
SWAG points are different than Rapid Rewards points — this is an internal points currency that can be redeemed through the company’s employee store. Points can be used for travel, Southwest merchandise, gift cards, and Visa debit cards. 25,000 SWAG points can apparently be redeemed for roughly $400 worth of gift cards.
This announcement was made by Southwest CEO Bob Jordan, who apologized, acknowledging that management let workers down. Jordan wrote the following, in part:
“We let you down, and I’m sorry. I’m sorry for the physical and emotional toll. I’m sorry for the loss of time and memories that can never be replaced. Most of all, I’m sorry about the damage to your confidence and trust.”
My take on Southwest’s gesture for employees
Communication from Southwest management has been horrible throughout the meltdown, so it’s nice to see management finally apologizing to employees, and providing some material gesture.
Assuming these 25,000 SWAG points are worth ~$400, that means this gesture could cost the airline somewhere around ~$26.4 million. That’s only a small percentage of the overall cost of this meltdown to the airline, though it’s also not insignificant.
I can’t imagine many Southwest employees feel like they’ve been made whole through this gesture alone, though hopefully it’s the first of many moves by Southwest management to fix things.
Interestingly in mid-2021, Southwest celebrated its 50th anniversary, and for the occasion the airline gave all employees 50,000 Rapid Rewards points. On the surface that was higher value, though Rapid Rewards points aren’t quite as flexible as SWAG points.
If you ask me, what the airline should most be apologizing to employees for was the “state of emergency” it declared in Denver. The airline threatened to terminate ramp employees for a variety of reasons, in a way that can only be described as cruel.
To be honest, I suspect Southwest will easily be able to recover from this in terms of customer perception, as people are quick to forget these kinds of things. The much bigger question is if Southwest can regain trust among employees.
Historically Southwest’s corporate culture has been a real competitive advantage, and I wonder if that will continue to be the case. At the moment I don’t think many employees at Southwest find their jobs to be “Just Plane Fun.”
Bottom line
Southwest is finally doing something for employees following its meltdown. The airline will award all employees 25,000 SWAG points, which is the carrier’s internal points currency. These points can be redeemed for roughly $400 in gift cards.
It’s nice to see Southwest apologizing to employees, though management has a lot of work to do to restore faith among them, in my opinion.
What do you make of this goodwill gesture for Southwest employees?
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