Southwest Regrets

Fred Taylor Jr. is not officially the "chief apology officer" for Southwest Airlines, but he might as well be, reports Terry Maxon via McClatchy/Tribune News (8/24/10). Fred, along with two assistants, sends brief emails of apology to passengers when something goes wrong. Usually it’s relatively routine stuff, like delays. But sometimes it’s kind of crazy, like the time a female passenger started chewing on a seat cushion, and then doffed her top and ran down the aisle.

In such cases, Fred’s apology goes something like this: "On behalf of Southwest Airlines employees, I extend my apologies for any disconcerting feelings you may have had as a result of the bizarre behavior or one of your fellow travelers. Certainly, your patience and cooperation while the local authorities responded to the situation and conducted their respective investigation is greatly appreciated — I imagine the wait was a bit of a hassle as well, and I’m sorry for the inconvenience."

Such apologies are normally sent within 24 hours of the incident, and are accompanied by some kind of gift, "usually a voucher in dollars that can be used on their next Southwest flight." Southwest has been apologizing like this for 10 years and it helps. According to the U.S. Department of Transportation, "American, Northwest Airlines, US Airways and United Airlines all have complaint rates more than five times as high as Southwest’s," which has the industry’s lowest complaint rate. Delta’s is more than nine times higher than Southwest’s.