the editor talks with you

High on my list of maverick over-achievers I wish I had interviewed is Herb Kelleher of Southwest Airlines. What he achieved in 87 years on earth is amazing. What’s even more amazing is that as a chain-smoking, Wild Turkey-drinking, Harley-riding lawyer, he lasted this long. You may know little about Herb unless you are a student of business strategy or the American airline industry.

Herb was a south Jersey boy who won a job on the Campbell’s Soup assembly line where he came to appreciate hard workers and productivity over paper work. He earned a law degree, moved to San Antonio and met Rollin King, who proposed they start a low-cost airline. Their goal was to help people like those he had worked with on the Campbell’s Soup assembly line. They were people who could not afford to fly. They would offer them affordable flights in minutes across Texas distances that took hours in a bus, car or truck.

Herb drew a business plan on a cocktail napkin. It showed Dallas, Houston and San Antonio as the 3 hubs of the venture they would call Southwest Airlines. They used only Boeing 737s to save time and money on maintenance and training. They partnered with #2 airports where traffic was lighter and they could load and unload faster to keep their flights on time. Southwest was truly egalitarian. No fancy first and business class seats. Everyone sat together and you picked your seat. There were no frills. If you wanted to eat on board, bring your own sandwich. And you didn’t have to pay extra fees to change flights or check your luggage.

Their managers would make employees happy in the belief that happy employees will make passengers happy, too. They did goofy things to have fun. Pilots and attendants told jokes and sang songs on the intercom. It was a refreshing deparute from humorless airline crews. Kelleher created a sense of family. He remembered Southwest employees’ names and birthdays and showed concern for them and their families. He encouraged them to show initiative and solve their passengers’ problems. Hiring was done in groups. You had to convince them that you had the sense of fun as well as the skill to work with them.

In a moving tribute to Herb, Southwest paid for a full page advertisment in the Wall Street Journal. It pictures Herb in a photo he probably loved. He was dressed in a brown suit, brown tie and biege shirt. His hair was silver, his eyes carried their own luggage and his smile suggested he had just delivered a joke’s punch line. “Dear Herb,” it opened. “Thanks for always remembering our names, for keeping our airline flying high and our spirits higher, for always being there. “For being the hardest worker and the life of the party, for turning a company into a family. We will be forever in your debt and we will aspire to keep your spirit alive.” How would you feel about your family and friends honoring you like that?

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