I was reminded of last year’s Christmastime adventures when I heard that Southwest had agreed to pay a $140 million fine for the nightmares that they created for so many of us, last holiday travel season. Last year, Southwest, thankfully, at least got my family to our destination (the day after Christmas) to Texas. We were travelling to Texas for my mother-in-law’s funeral. Unfortunately our returning flights were abruptly cancelled by Southwest. There were no alternative flights available until well into January, so my husband and I, and our four adult children (all who needed to get back to work, school and our individual lives), took turns driving the 18 hour drive back to Florida, in a rental car. Our case wasn’t the worst case scenario. There were stories of people missing weddings and cancer treatments and other major events. I remember being so utterly relieved to have gotten to Texas in time for the funeral, as so many flights around us were being cancelled. These cancellations had nothing to do with weather or mechanical issues on planes or sicknesses of crews. It turns out that Southwest had let their scheduling technology become outdated and at risk, and many of us paid the price for that error.
But do you know what? I don’t have any beef with Southwest. I would fly with them again in a heartbeat. They made a horrible mistake. They were terribly negligent with updating their technology. Southwest messed up in a big, big way. But what I noticed from the get-go, is that they owned their mistake. Their CEO and executives owned up to their egregious mistakes from the very start. We have never been so quickly refunded and compensated for our expenses, by a company, in our entire married life. Southwest took accountability immediately. They did not try to excuse themselves, cover things up, nor blame others. They accepted the consequences and they are making amends. Honestly, this experience of fully owning one’s mistakes, is such a rare occurrence in today’s world, that I might put Southwest up there with one of the companies I feel most loyal to, because I trust them. I trust them.
We all make mistakes, individually and as entities. But how many of us wholly take ownership of our mistakes, apologize sincerely, and then make appropriate amends? This is rare. This is called integrity and in my experience, Southwest showed true integrity in the way that they handled this atrocious mess. As their mottos says, “Low fares. Nothing to hide.”
Are you passing on love or are you passing on pain? Heal your pain and pass on love.