Devoted to Managers and those that seek to improve their management skills

"Will Southwest Airlines expand internationally?"

Kelleher was asked this question doing an interview before a live audience.

His response was so good because it showed that he always remained true to the core values of Southwest Airlines (LUV).

He said: "It's a question of priorities. You only have so many airplanes. They're very expensive, and you try to send them where they'll do the most good for our people's job security within the shortest period of time -- and do the most good for the profit sharing."

This is something that he always talked about no matter what the particular issue raised about the company. The reason was that everything was filtered through those values. If something didn't line up with them, it wouldn't be entered into by Kelleher.

He also mentioned concerning the same question that he was always asked why Southwest didn't have a flight from San Antonio to Mexico City. He always responded saying, "You don't understand. In order to do that, we have to train 35,000 people."

The point was people asking the question didn't know the way Southwest was run. They looked at it as simply loading up a plane and flying to Mexico City and then getting off. For a passenger that may be the experience, but for Southwest workers it was far from as simple as that.
 
Another thing he said at the time was Southwest had only 10 percent of the domestic market. Why would they start to think internationally when they had 90 percent of the American market they didn't serve?

Kelleher refused to get Southwest ahead of itself, and maintained the discipline to grow and expand at a rate the company could handle. He knew to go into the international market would be a huge drain on the resources of the company, and could hurt his people if he went ahead and did it.

His refusal to do it shows that he knew the industry he served and the place the company had within it. He wouldn't budge off of that reality and kept the company profitable year-after-year in an industry that very few companies turned a profit in.

Other Herb Kelleher Sources:

Special Event

Leadership: The Essential Herb Kelleher

The CEO as Brand Guardian

Herb's way

Speeches and Presentations from Southwest Leaders

Southwest Airlines: The Hottest Thing in the Sky

Have Fun, Make Money

Remember to Sign up for my feed, bizzbite and digg this!