Honoree: Enterprise – Transportation Industry

Company Overview

In its 49th year of service, Dallas-based Southwest Airlines continues to differentiate itself from other air carriers. Their exemplary customer service is delivered by more than 59,000 employees to a customer base topping 130 million passengers annually. With an extensive network, Southwest serves 101 destinations throughout the United States, Mexico, and the Caribbean. Combined, they operate more than 4,000-weekday flights. At the heart of their business, Southwest has built a foundation of giving back to the community and our planet. From creating community partnerships to repurposing and reusing obsolete materials and reducing emissions, Southwest is committed to conservation.

Sustainable Business Strategy

Southwest is dedicated to being a leader in corporate citizenship and with that, comes an important focus on conservation. They continuously strive to reduce their environmental footprint, have a positive impact on society, and cultivate partnerships to develop better communities. Southwest takes pride in their reputation as the airline with heart, and that naturally extends to a passion for championing their communities and respecting natural resources. They also recognize the importance of being good environmental stewards and prioritize their commitment to doing the right thing, including looking for ways to consistently improve their conservation efforts.

Environmental Stewardship

Southwest is proud to have a multi-tiered, cross-functional framework to guide and implement their conservation initiatives. Guided by an executive-level steering group, three groups of senior leaders that represent various departments within the organization design strategies to help Southwest realize their vision of being a corporate citizenship steward. The initiatives cover many areas of daily operations and strive to promote conservation, its measurement, and the awareness of its benefits.

Tactical groups, such as the Repurposing Team, affect programming and processes that conserve numerous resources. Robust resource conservation would not be attainable without their employees, who come up with innovative ideas and help implement them with an entrepreneurial spirit. Through synergistic collaborations, these groups help the company conserve resources, reduce costs, promote engagement, and be better neighbors. Underlying it all, Southwest’s unique culture encourages collaboration across teams, fostering success and promoting an advanced collective for their conservation efforts. 

Conservation Programs

Repurpose with Purpose

First launched in 2013, Repurpose with Purpose is a Southwest initiative that upcycles, downcycles, and recycles discarded items/materials into useful products with the help of partner organizations. The initial phase of Repurpose with Purpose began with the Evolve aircraft seat retrofit program, which replaced Southwest’s leather aircraft seat covers at that time. The latest phase of the program launched in 2017 with the goal of repurposing seat covers and other discarded materials like blankets, life jackets, aircraft engines, and billboard vinyl. Since 2016, Repurpose with Purpose has repurposed more than 1 million pounds of discarded material, reducing the amount of waste Southwest sends to landfills. In 2018, Southwest recycled 3,000 tons of cardboard, paper, plastic, and aluminum. Since 2014, Southwest has refurbished and recycled 745 tons of electronic waste.

By working with their various partner organizations, Southwest helps generate social and economic opportunities for veterans, people with disabilities, senior citizens, survivors of human trafficking, and other marginalized communities throughout the United States. Repurpose with Purpose allows Southwest to continue their commitment to living responsibly, while creating a catalyst to make transformative change in communities throughout the world.

For example, in their Repurpose with Purpose program, Southwest has partnered with organizations like Dallas-based nonprofit, Dallas Designing Dreams (DDD), to support skills and training programs for youth, people with disabilities, senior citizens, and other disadvantaged populations in the community. Through this program, DDD has produced a line of items including golf club covers, jewelry, backpacks, and luggage tags from Southwest leather seat covers and old Southwest employee uniforms. DDD provides employment, volunteer opportunities, and training in a creative space to individuals with “dreams or broken dreams.” Selling one-of-a-kind art and handmade products online and in the local marketplace, Dallas Designing Dreams offers alternatives to the mainstream shopping experience while connecting customers with local producers.

Energy Management

Southwest is committed to continued industry leadership in emissions reductions through fuel efficiency. Southwest supports the Airlines for America’s commitment to voluntarily reduce GHG emissions. Since 2002 Southwest has also invested more than $600 million in fuel efficiency improvements. These improvements include routinely performing engine washes, utilizing ground electric power while aircraft are parked at airport gates, and reducing ground idle speeds for aircraft in their fleet. 

Community Outreach

For over 40 years, Southwest has connected people and championed communities. Whether in the air or on the ground, they believe giving back to the community is at the heart of what they do. Some of the community contributions include:

• Southwest donated more than 369 million airline tickets since 2009
• Over $185 million in corporate monetary, in-kind, and ticket donations since 2009
• They support over 4,000 charities annually
• Over 190,000 employee volunteer hours logged in 2018
• More than 34,000 students participate in their Adopt-A-Pilot program to educate students on aviation-related topics in science, math, and geography taught by more than 600 “adopted” Pilots throughout the country.

Building a Sustainable Future

Southwest believes what works for their company can also work for the planet. Teamwork has always been at the heart of Southwest, and they believe that conservation should be a collective and collaborative effort as well. Looking to the future of conservation requires a multi-faceted focus. To achieve this, they take a holistic approach to the challenges and issues they face regarding their citizenship efforts. When it comes to promoting conservation, their employees reinforce their corporate values by working alongside other like-minded individuals and organizations to help preserve and protect the planet we call home.

Similarly, they believe that what works for Southwest, could also be a model for other companies and organizations around the globe to advance their conservation initiatives. For decades, Southwest has been studied by a multitude of organizations for their cultural attributes and how they promote prosperity. Importantly, their culture is also a critical force driving all their conservation efforts. It promotes doing the right thing and treating others the way they wish to be treated, but it also drives them to do right by their environment. As Southwest continues building relationships with organizations around the world, they hope to share their framework and experiences so that other businesses can also effect change within their operations, joining Southwest in preserving the planet’s resources for future generations.

Texan-Led Conservation

As a Dallas-based company, Texas has a huge place in the Southwest heart, and they are dedicated to supporting communities all around the state. With more than 16,000 active employees based in Texas, Southwest has aided in creating more than 113,000 jobs throughout the state and has contributed roughly $10 billion to the Texas Gross Domestic Product (GDP).  They work hard at empowering communities to thrive and are proud of the positive impact their company has had in Texas.

Southwest’s purpose is to connect people to what’s important in their lives through friendly, reliable, and low-cost air travel. Their point-to-point network of 101 destinations allows them to live their purpose, serving customers on more than 4,000 flights per day during the peak travel season. They continue to differentiate their brand from other air carriers with exemplary customer service delivered by more than 59,000 employees to a customer base topping 130 million passengers annually.