[puckerman]

This has been a hell of a week for deaths. Out of all of them, possibly none of them impacted people's lives as much as Herb Kelleher. He was a lawyer and a business leader. He helped create Southwest Airlines.

Kelleher once noted that in 1966, only about 15% of Americans had flown an airline. Today that percentage is reversed. This was definitely due to the efforts of leaders like Kelleher.

Unlike about 90% of corporate CEO's, Kelleher was mostly interested in serving customers and taking care of his employees. This is totally different from the others, who are mostly focused on lobbying for regulations which restrict competition and for government handouts.

We lost a great man.

https://www.dallasnews.com/business/sout..._zUxMmSaDk

[jordypip23]

(01-05-2019 11:25 AM)puckerman Wrote:  

This has been a hell of a week for deaths. Out of all of them, possibly none of them impacted people's lives as much as Herb Kelleher. He was a lawyer and a business leader. He helped create Southwest Airlines.

Kelleher once noted that in 1966, only about 15% of Americans had flown an airline. Today that percentage is reversed. This was definitely due to the efforts of leaders like Kelleher.

Unlike about 90% of corporate CEO's, Kelleher was mostly interested in serving customers and taking care of his employees. This is totally different from the others, who are mostly focused on lobbying for regulations which restrict competition and for government handouts.

We lost a great man.

https://www.dallasnews.com/business/sout..._zUxMmSaDk

RIP Herb Kelleher. I always had surprisingly pleasant experiences flying with the budget carrier, Southwest Airlines. I think the Southwest leadership team truly pioneered point-to-point routing as well as hedging fuel prices in advance to cut down on costs. Furthermore, I appreciate the fact that their fleet is standardized & comprised of generally updated Boeing 737 jets. Often times the highly standardized class of service on a Southwest flight (and the seating) is more comfortable than the economy class on the larger carriers. No crappy puddle jumpers, turboprops or codeshares with unheard of little airline operations.

[texas]

I started reading about this guy after I met his pool guy. He seemed to have a great attitude and a similar pool.

[chicane]

"The Love Airline". And the stewardesses wore hot pants. It would be so politically incorrect these days.

[edlefou]

He was an innovator and one of a kind. He'd dress up as Elvis for promotional stunts. He liked his whiskey too.

After founding Southwest in 1967, they had to wait four years before starting to fly because incumbent airlines tied them up in legal red tape. He took it all the way to the Supreme Court to get the right to fly in Texas.

[dicknixon72]

Relevant...

Cute girl, hotpants, loud low-bypass turbofans spewing out black smoke...lovely

[Praetor Lupus]

I have a feeling he gets a mention in my copy of Think and Grow Rich, which is an edition that includes commentary on contemporary figures.

I'll have to look into his story.

[Praetor Lupus]

I've just gone through this Forbes article on Kelleher that anyone else wanting to know more about him will probably enjoy.

20 Reasons why Herb Kelleher was one of the most beloved leaders of our time

My favourite quote:

Quote:

We have a strategic plan. It's called doing things.