Posted on by Californiacontrarian

LUV ?

Has there been a change in Southwest Airline (SWA) since its inception? Its stock ticker is LUV, because it is based at Love Field in Texas. This is an ingenious double meaning as it implies that SWA loves its customers as well as its employees. However, did the values of Southwest’s founder, the late Herb Kelleher, and his right-hand woman, President Emerita Colleen Barrett, change after they died?

I moved to California over forty years ago and for many many years I have been a faithful Southwest customer. This was mainly because it flew to the destinations that I travelled to, but also because SWA treated me nice. As an aside, it also appeared to me that its employees seemed happy … perhaps, they were truly “loved!” However, years ago, when I read about how SWA treated Charlene Carter, I was dumbfounded. How could the LUV company treat one of its employees so poorly?

At this point one might ask, “Who is Charlene Carter, and what’s her story?

From The Epoch Times:

The airline fired Carter on March 14, 2017, for expressing pro-life views via social media. She had worked for Southwest for nearly 21 years. She had become a staunch opponent of abortion for a very personal reason: She suffered lifelong regret and physical damage after terminating a pregnancy when she was 19. Carter later became a mother of two and an outspoken advocate for the unborn.

In July 2022, Carter’s wrongful termination suit went to trial.

A federal jury in Dallas found that Southwest violated Carter’s right to religious speech and union criticism. The jury also found that her union, Transport Workers Union of America Local 556,  violated its duty to represent her best interests. A union leader worked with company officials to get Carter fired.

Late last year, Judge Brantley Starr ordered Southwest to return Carter to her job. Starr ruled that she is entitled to back pay, damages, interest, and “reasonable” attorneys fees. The total amount, to be split between Southwest and the union, approaches $5 million.”

After being retrained Charlene Carter returned to work as a SWA stewardess last week.  Carter said experiences with her fellow trainees have restored her faith that the values of Southwest’s founder, the late Herb Kelleher, and his right-hand woman, President Emerita Colleen Barrett, are still alive

“The love in that classroom was amazing. That was the real ‘heart culture’ that Colleen and Herb instilled in us,” Carter said. “And I told every one of them in that class, at the very end: ‘Herb and Colleen would be so proud to know that you are representing Southwest and going out there and being that heart of the ‘LUV’ Airline.’”

I wonder whether love will return to SWA.

4/5/23

128 Replies to “LUV ?”

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