Almost all new airlines try to learn from Southwest Airlines. Why can’t they copy Southwest’s success?
You attribute Southwest’s success to its ability to use extraordinary productivity to keep unit costs down despite job rewards being comparatively high — and almost all new entrants try to learn from Southwest. Why has it been such a difficult model to emulate?
It’s a difficult model because in some respects it’s a bit anti-American in terms of management style. American managers are usually expected to come in and be in control, be entrepreneurial and organize operations. They typically don’t think they need to really engage employees in the ways that we’re talking about. They certainly don’t think they need to engage unions.
I think that’s part of the culture of American management, and I think we have to get over that. I think we have to see employees and their representatives — if they choose to have representatives, union or otherwise — as partners, and we have to hold them accountable. That doesn’t mean that we just look for “labor-management cooperation.” Yes, we have to have more cooperative, high-trust workplace environments, but we also have to engender collaboration in much more managerial ways. Employees have to join managers in working through problems and looking for mutual solutions that are consistent with the company’s business model, that can help drive productivity and that help improve service quality to customers.
And company leaders have to create an environment in which employees can say, “Gee, I’m finding this a really engaging, motivating place to work, and I’m being treated fairly.” If leaders do that, then we can get the kind of mutual gains we’re talking about — on the cost/productivity side and on the wage side. But that requires a management philosophy that’s sorely lacking in our country, and it’s not reinforced in our labor policies or by the transportation department or the justice department when they look at mergers. And those are the kinds of changes that we’re going to need if we’re going to see this collaborative workplace model spread widely.