82S10872 JGH-D
By: Craddick H.C.R. No. 20
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
WHEREAS, Southwest Airlines is celebrating its 40th
anniversary on June 18, 2011, providing a welcome opportunity to
celebrate the success of this signature Texas company and its
cofounder, Herb Kelleher; and
WHEREAS, In the mid-1960s, businessman Rollin W. King
conceived of a new kind of airline that could fly passengers
inexpensively and quickly across short distances; in a meeting with
his lawyer, Herb Kelleher, at the St. Anthony Club in San Antonio,
he used a napkin to illustrate his idea, drawing a triangle with
points labeled San Antonio, Houston, and Dallas; this simple sketch
would go on to become a symbol of the infant company's ethos and to
form the basis of its initial route map; and
WHEREAS, Southwest Airlines was chartered as a Texas
corporation, and on June 18, 1971, the company began commercial
flights with three Boeing 737 airliners and fewer than 70
employees; since then, thanks in large part to the dynamic
leadership of Mr. Kelleher, who served as the company's chairman,
president, and CEO from 1982 until 2001, Southwest has become one of
the most respected names in the industry; now under the direction of
Gary Kelly, nearly 35,000 employees schedule, maintain, and fly
more than 500 Boeing 737s between 72 cities in 37 states; the
airline operates 3,400 flights a day, making it the largest U.S.
carrier of domestic passengers as of September 2010; moreover, the
airline has turned a profit for 38 years in a row; and
WHEREAS, Southwest has regularly earned top rankings in
safety from the International Airline Passengers Association, and
it has consistently received the lowest ratio of customer
complaints per passenger boarded of all major U.S. airlines
according to data from the U.S. Department of Transportation; and
WHEREAS, This impressive record of customer satisfaction is
no doubt linked to Southwest's approach to employee relations; in
1973, the company initiated the first profit-sharing program in the
U.S. airline industry, and it has never laid off or furloughed a
single employee; among its many honors, Southwest is often
recognized as one of the best places in the country to work; in
addition, it was recently named the "greenest airline" by the
nonprofit group Climate Counts, and it has been repeatedly ranked
as one of the most admired companies in the world by Fortune
magazine; and
WHEREAS, Over the last four decades, the percentage of
American adults who have flown on a commercial airliner has risen
from 15 to 85 percent, a result that is often referred to as the
"Southwest Effect," and on the occasion of this special
anniversary, Mr. Kelleher, Mr. Kelly, and the employees of
Southwest may indeed take great pride in their enormous
contributions to the mobility of Americans and to the culture as a
whole; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, That the 82nd Legislature of the State of Texas,
1st Called Session, hereby commemorate the 40th anniversary of
Southwest Airlines and extend to Herb Kelleher, Gary Kelly, and the
entire Southwest family sincere best wishes for continued success;
and, be it further
RESOLVED, That an official copy of this resolution be
prepared for Southwest Airlines as an expression of high regard by
the Texas House of Representatives and Senate.