What is Southwest to do?
Daniel Slim/Getty
Let’s start with the good news.
Customers still prefer Southwest Airlines. Well, relatively speaking.
The airline has canceled a lot of flights this year, but in the new J.D. Power 2022 North America Airline Satisfaction Study, Southwest remains the absolute favorite of economy class travelers.
For comparison, United Airlines ranked seventh. American Airlines, Ninth.
It has often been felt that Southwest, because of the airlines, is not only a good airline to fly, but a good company to work for.
Currently, it is desperately trying to hire as many people as possible considering the expanding excitement of travel. For this, 10,000 more personnel, including 1,200 more pilots, are needed.
Then you’d think that a lot of people want to work for Southwest.
It seems that they do. However, there is a small problem. It’s a problem that clearly plagues Southwest’s management and has a significant impact on the airline’s ability to provide customers with the service they want to enjoy.
and why Southwest would accept, the wall street journal informed of, That between 15% and 20% of what it employs just doesn’t turn on? always.
Of course you must have heard about ghosts. Of course you have online dating.
Yet the ghost of employment is reaching a particular epidemic proportions. Does every interviewer these days look at every potential employee and think: “Will you come too?”
There seems to be a lot of people who don’t bother. Which is outrageous, but would also lead to speculation as to why the practice is now so prevalent.
Perhaps they already have several offers. Perhaps they are getting better offers after accepting Southwest’s offer. Still, ghosts do not make a person good.
However, I fear there is another dynamic, which puts companies in not such a good light.
How many times have you heard job seekers say they never heard from a potential employer for weeks – or sometimes not at all?
So why do employers get so upset when the practice is turned on them? And hasn’t technology led us to the immediate dismissal – as well as the immediate desire – of anything and everything? Often without communicating that dismissal?
Potential employees have also learned that most companies now see them as completely dispensable. They can tell them they need and love them, but the moment the company’s quarterly profits drop slightly, the body has a knee-jerk reaction to leave. They make it sound like an obvious move.
Therefore, the potential relationship between employer and employee tends to be tarnished before it even begins.
The airline industry has a reputation for being among the worst. During the pandemic, airlines were quick to say goodbye to employees, as well as taking billions from the government.
Perhaps, then, they have built a reputation as exclusively trading places to work. Should a recession hit the gate, employees know they’ll be canceled swiftly.
Still, 15-20% of the ghosting you do may indicate that you need to be more careful. Perhaps you need to adjust your pattern, or your salary.
I wonder if Southwest takes care of those who don’t – just in case their names come up in the future. No, not on the airline manifest, but on future job applications.
Again, imagine the scene if an airline employee is on a flight and recognizes someone who didn’t come on their first day.
This will be an interesting conversation.
