While I will forward the formal letter version of this post to the corporate headquarters of Southwest Airlines, I want to extend my sincere appreciation to you for your actions last week. Thank you again Yvonne for helping me get my two cousins on the plane from Phoenix, AZ to St. Louis, MO.
The departure time was to be 7:20 am. We finished checking in with you at 7:02 am. As I proceeded quickly to the gate, I had my cousins and my own two children in tow. When I witnessed the snaking line that you expect when travelling early on any Friday morning in a major city there was an immediate sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach that these girls were not going to make it.
Out of nowhere you appeared. You escorted all five of us to the front of the first check-in line, called the gate to hold the plane, helped us get through the second security check-in and ultimately made it possible for the girls to catch the flight. In an effort to enhance my son’s social graces, I gave him all of the cash I had in my pocket and instructions to go give it to you and say thanks. In a way only he could do it, he plopped the money on the counter, quietly mumbled something and was quickly headed back in my direction. Unfortunately, you stated that you couldn’t accept the gratuity.
I was disappointed you could not gain personal benefit for your actions. With that said, I am certain you did receive personal benefit by helping a family that was in need. Something told me you got just as much satisfaction getting two strangers to their grandparents as I did and they were strangers to you.
I am a manager at arguably the world’s best known customer service centric retailer. I have high expectations and usually most experiences leave a lot to be desired. Your actions that morning were exemplary. I wanted to tell you how much I appreciated it and how much I love Southwest Airlines largely because of employees like you.
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Hi David!
Thank you so much for writing such a wonderful blog post about one of our wonderful Employees. It’s always heartwarming to hear stories like these–and working at Southwest, we hear a lot of them! I forwarded your post on to people in our Executive Office that will make sure it gets to Yvonne in Phoenix. Thanks again for taking the time to write such a heartfelt thank you, and for flying the LUV Airline!