Southwest Airlines and Its Operational Code of Ethics - Essay Example

Southwest Airlines and its Operational of Ethics Details: al Affiliation: Southwest Airlines and its Operational Code of Ethics Organizations the world over often set forth certain operational guidelines governing the internal working dynamics towards planned objectives. Among the areas prioritized is the identity/image of the organization projected to the greater public; a positive uniqueness that helps in breaking the jinx of a competitive world where businesses compete in terms of superiority of services rendered to customers. Cultivating that desired identity is the Code of Ethics that demarcates/defines the principles of operational conduct and behavioral expectations required of every individual employee while interacting with colleagues internally as well as their engagements with the external community, which includes but not limited to the business partners. The organizational code of ethics sums up a working culture that binds individuals from different backgrounds into delivering the core mandate of an organization to its clientele. The Southwest Airlines is one of the companies that has provided a structured, coded guidelines of conduct to its workforce as a way of ensuring that it offers quality services to the satisfaction of its customers, with eyes set on the ultimate prize of cultivating a mass of loyal customers (Kelly, 2008). With a slogan that that reads “Doing the right thing,” Southwest Airlines has tailored its code of ethics towards ensuring that honesty, integrity, and personal responsibility prevails in all of its services rendered by its employees and/or its co-partners. The binding codes of conduct and behavior guarantees above board engagements with customers and government officials with explicit conformity with the laws the land and those of international trade/business governing its operations (“Code of Ethics”). The code of ethics also clearly states the controls that regulate how individual employees are expected to respond to the different situations encountered while on duty. A law abiding company, Southwest Airlines recognizes the supremacy of the law, and as such gives it outright weight in situations where its code of ethics incidentally conflicts with the latter (“Code of Ethics”). In its endeavors to comply with Laws, Rules, and Regulations governing its operations, Southwest Airlines overtly prohibits insider trading, particularly the use of non-public information [valuable company information/asset] in gaining personal benefit either directly or indirectly. The company thus expects a high degree of responsibility from its employees in protecting information that relates to the company, its workers and those of the coworkers. Indeed, it is unethical to benefit from the company procedurally. Soliciting funds and/or favors from customers as well as using the company’s classified information only serves to stretch unethical behavior to the extremes that borders illegality. In its efforts geared towards doing the right things, Southwest Airlines strives to outperform other players in the market fairly and honestly. The company employs a number of strategies that include minimizing its total cost outlays, fairly low fare pricing coupled with superior Customer Service, all of which are divorced from unethical/illegal practices. Additionally, the company advertises itself through simple, straightforward adverts, and avoids agreements with competitors and/or suppliers with marks of impropriety. In a report titled ‘southwest cares,’ Gary Kelly (2008), the CEO of Southwest airlines, strongly echoes the above strategies stating that: “Not only do we work hard with what we call a Warrior Spirit, we work smart. That means being as productive as possible without wasting either efforts or materials.” It is indisputable that the company has unmatched commitment in doing the right thing not only to its client, but also to the people it employs as it dispense justice to the planet earth. The company operates with modern, fuel-efficient fleets with the objective of cutting down their Greenhouse Gas Emissions, which is a causative agent of global warming. Accordingly, the company has initiated programs such as ‘efficient fight profile speeds, aircraft specific performance monitoring with a subsequent installation of winglets on their 300 fleet to achieve the objective of lessening the effect of global in the air. On the ground is comprehensive, regular engines wash programs alongside ground support towards the same objective. On the cost minimization front, the company marshals every effort within its reach to minimize its energy and water, and does commissions recycling efforts both in its aircrafts and in their operations on the ground. The company’s involvement in the different programs not only helps the company to achieve its ultimate goal businesswise, but it is also the right thing to do. The installation of winglets on 69 of the 90 aircraft, for instance, saved the company approximately 3.5 million gallons of fuel in the year 2008 alone. Indeed with more fuel reduction as a result of the implementation of the APM (Aircraft Specific Performance Monitoring) and efficient flights among other programs initiated to cut costs, one cannot agree more with Garry Kelly that, "the good stories about Southwest Airlines are but because of interactions people have with the company staff” (Mueller, 2009). Their mission statement where “dedication to the highest quality of Customer oriented Services with a sense of warmth, friendliness, individual pride, and Company Spirit’ only make the stories go viral for a wider customer base compared to their competitors. As stated in its code of ethics, unwarranted payments to governmental officials in countries where Southwest Airlines operates is unethical, and more so a violation of the formulated company policy and the law itself (“Code of Ethics”). Indeed an evidence of fair competition, the company makes it clear that it does not tolerate acts of corruption, which obviously threatens the very commitment of the company to deliver quality services to the fulfillment of its customers. The company’s commitments in different programs to do the right thing in all aspects notwithstanding, Southwest Airlines has had a fair share of violations of rules and regulations that governs its working code of ethics. As Ahlers (2009) reports, the company did approximately 60,000 flights in 2008 without completing the mandatory safety inspections before flights. Accordingly, the company was slapped with a penalty of $7.5 million in the year 2009 by the FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) for their violation of airlines operational guidelines that put at risk thousands of lives of people who uses the company’s services. It is undeniable that the fine and the wide media coverage affected much of the delivery of services of Southwest Airlines that had been touted as unmatched; an expose that went far and wide off its own code of ethics. To be certain, the negative publicity did affect its operations. However, the company has since bounced back with more widened coverage plans extending its flight into even more countries. The carrier launched a ground breaking construction of a new international terminal at William P. Hobby Airport (HOU) worth $156 million to be able to offer its services to customers travelling to Mexico, the Caribbean as well as the northern cities of South America (Southwest Airlines, 2013). Southwest decision to buy AirTran gave the company even more capacity in establishing its presence in cities like Boston, New York and Atlanta. The settlement agreement with the FAA, which included 13 safety-related steps, such as increasing the number of its onsite technical representatives performing major maintenance on its aircrafts, allowing greater access for FAA inspectors to ensure compliance, among other measures helped the airline address the hitherto lingering safety lapses and strengthened its resolved to adhere more to its own code of ethics. There is no doubt today more than ever that Southwest Airlines offer services that will help it build a loyal following even in decades to come. With a slogan that never fails, “doing the right thing,” the company cultivates a culture capable attracting clients in different parts of the world, to which opportunity still remains to be exploited. Of course, the number one priority of any operating airline is to ensure the personal safety of clients and employees. Beyond the safety of airline’s aircrafts, “The Golden Rule” of doing the right thing through a “Warrior Spirit, a Servant’s Heart, and a Fun-LUVing Attitude” must remain intact if Southwest airlines harbors any ambition of overtaking American, Delta and United Airlines. References Ahlers, M. (2009). Southwest settles with FAA for $7.5 million. Retrieved from http://edition.cnn.com/2009/US/03/02/southwest.faa.settlement/ Kelly, G. (2008). Southwest cares. Retrieved from Mueller, T. (2009). Southwest Airlines CEO Kelly on LUV, Leadership and Employee and Customer Satisfaction. Retrieved from http://www.today.mccombs.utexas.edu/2009/10/southwest-airlines-ceo-kelly-on-luv-leadership-and-employee-and-customer-satisfaction Southwest Airlines. (2013, Sept. 30). Southwest Airlines Breaks Ground At Houston Hobby. Market Watch. Retrieved from http://www.marketwatch.com/story/southwest-airlines-breaks-ground-at-houston-hobby-2013-09-30 Southwest Airlines Co. Code of Ethics. (n.d). Retrieved from http://public.thecorporatelibrary.net/ethics/eth_14186.pdf Read More