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February 09, 2007
Southwest's blog effect
Bill Owen of Southwest on the effects of a company blog:
This has, in all honesty, been quite an eye-opening experience for us in Schedule Planning. While our goal has always been to maintain between 120 and 180 days of bookable inventory, as I explained in my last post, we have on numerous occasions dropped down into the 90’s (the last time being for the Summer 2005 schedule) and, frankly, we’ve never gotten a lot of negative feedback about it. Of course, that was pre-blog! So, because we have heard the opinions of our Customers (man, oh MAN have we heard you!) on this subject, going forward we are going to much more strictly maintain a minimum of 120 days of inventory...we’re learning that even information that may change can be better than no information at all.
That last part is as true online as it is on an airplane or a gate filled with customers.
Other blogs that reference Southwest's blog effect:
I'm not sure they "got it". After a number of critisms to the above referenced post Bill said this:
Rob,
You are fully entitled to your opinions. I have no intention of debating them here–except to say that all of our procedures and policies, whether they pertain to the booking inventory or to our email policy, are designed to strike the best possible balance between the needs of the Customer and the needs of the Company.
However, I will respond specifically to one of your comments. This Schedule Planning Lead Planner has *not* engaged in Blogging at the expense of my “real” job. You (and everyone else) should know that all of the Southwest Bloggers participate in the Blog voluntarily and on our own time. Want proof? Short of showing you my timecards, please look through the 200 plus responses to the post on the “WHY CAN’T….” thread and note how many of them were done in the evening–rather late at night, in fact–or on the weekends. Take this response as case in point–it’s way after dark on a Saturday night. Participating in this Blog is not part of any of our job descriptions–rather, it’s a labor of love that allows us to give anyone that cares to read it some first-hand knowledge of what goes on here, as well as a glimpse into the real people that make up Southwest Airlines (our work lives *and* our private ones). Working at Southwest isn’t a job; it’s a mission, and one that many of us (me, for one) take very seriously. While I am eager to share my enthusiasm for my Company (and, frankly, to write about what it’s like to live the “life of Bill”) as well as the joy I get from working here, it in no way diminishes my duty to do what the heck I get paid to do. Period.
Frankly, this is our first foray into interactive internet communication, and while I take to heart your criticism of not offering either email or toll-free phone lines for Customer feedback, cheap shots at me and my work ethic serve to diminish your argument as well as the validity of these types of communication venues.
*Sigh.* There. I feel better.
Keep responding, guys, Southwest is listening. But like all of our mamas told us….play nice.
Bill
Posted by: Bill Owen | February 10, 2007 at 8:28 pm
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Tom E. Snyder
With all due respects, Tom, you are taking Bill's comments out of context, and it is disingenous to protray this as "not having learned a lesson" or not wanting to engage in dialogue. Bill was responding to some rather personal comments from one poster who went so far as to state that the reason the schedules were late is because Bill was posting on Southwest time.
If you look at this post and the associated posts in their entirety, you will see Bill interacting with the commentors on a regular and effective basis.
Brian
