Self-confessed "PR lover" and Southwest CEO Greg Kelly said:
"From a Company who really loves PR, touche to you Kyla! Some have said we've gone from wearing our famous hot pants to having hot flashes at Southwest, but nothing could be further from the truth. As we both know, this story has great legs, but the true issue here is that you are a valued Customer, and you did not get an adequate apology. Kyla, we could have handled this better, and on behalf of Southwest Airlines, I am truly sorry. We hope you continue to fly Southwest Airlines. Our Company is based on freedom even if our actions may have not appeared that way. It was never our intention to treat you unfairly and again, we apologize."
Southwest also took this opportunity to launch something called "Mini-skirt fares." Not kidding. Being serious.
]]>@GothamCityProject: God, thank you! Couldn't have said it better. Everyone needs to chill out and stop analyzing every little thing. So what they used a bit of humor and irreverence? Oh my god, NOT THAT! I personally find it refreshing. Go JetBlue!
]]>Dear amateur stripper-
We're sorry that you chose to come on-board our flight, just to flash your cooch to everyone. We also apologize for embarrassing you in front of a flight full of people. You should have been embarrassed to dress that way in the first place.
]]>If you want a better example of a "non-CEO type" communication, look at Steve Jobs' letter after the iPhone price cut. It cut right to the chase without, explained what happened, thanked the early adopters, and gave a clear solution to the problem.
Even more importantly, he put it out immediately, before the story could blow up beyond the blogs, instead of twiddling his thumbs for over a week like SWA did.
]]>I think this is great. I also think that this type of attitude is why SW has been, and continues to be, one of the very few major airlines that turns a consistent profit, instead of begging for govt. bailouts.
]]>as someone who enjoys clevage, and legs, i'll never fly there again! lol. whats the point if i can't sneak a peak. <-- ok i apologize to all the women for that one. lol
]]>its all a publicity stunt. i'll never fly with them again, however i do fly northwest, i hop they are not affiliated.
]]>@magus_melchior: I agree.
]]>Yeah he totally should have left out everything before "The true issue here is...". The jokes are a)condescending at best and b) horrible.
]]>Never ascribe to malice what can be sufficiently be explained by incompetence.
]]>What is needed is a serious statement that Southwest is going to change and assure that nobody is judging women's clothing as part of allowing them to board a plane. The attendant that did this should be fired.
]]>That's just condescending. Way to sound like a jackass. If you want to be "funny" (and I agree with Spinachdip, if you look like you're trying to be funny, that shit ain't working), then poke fun at yourself, not at the person you're apologizing to. Jackass.
]]>For the first time ever, I'm actually so deeply offended by something a moronic CEO says that I am never giving his company a penny. I don't care if his cattle cars of the sky charge ten cents a flight; we have an obligation to each other to excise this kind of antediluvian thinking from our lives. There's no better way to do that than with our pocketbooks, the only thing that matters to someone like this.
]]>That said, the actual apology, from "...but the true issue here...", is fine. It's exactly how an apology should sound - it's unconditional, says what the company did wrong, and indicates willingness to improve. But what preceded it is condescending and a little bit creepy.
]]>... the airline is quirky ... or likes to think it is; you know, the flight attendants sometimes sing on the loudspeakers, do other goofy things. This apology was in that spirit.
I'd much rather see an apology like this, than the couched half-apologies that most companies grudgingly make.
]]>I take the CEO's apology to be sincere. He's also trying to use humor to show that his company is not a stodgy corporate congolmerate.
]]>Also, a day earlier Colleen "the waffle" Barrett said sometime completely different.
"During a talk in Dallas Thursday, Barrett said the airline wasn't likely to apologize to Kyla Ebbert.
"I just can't do that to the customer service supe (supervisor)," Barrett said during the talk. "He handled the situation discreetly and with patience, and he did not deny her boarding." "
]]>I need to go bathe in some Lysol now.
]]>His flippant tone makes it clear that he means to trivialize the woman's experience. He must be accustomed to dealing with SouthWest customers, because the "great-legs" remark didn't go over anybody's head.
What a slimeball.
]]>It's nice to see that southwest finally apologized. It's also nice to see that the CEO took it in stride and turned a bad thing into a good thing with the mini skirt fares :).
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