March 18, 2007

How Southwest apologise

Johnnie Moore

I’m Johnnie Moore, and I help people work better together

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How Southwest apologise

Nice article from the NY Times: Airlines Learn to Fly on a Wing and an Apology

No airline accepts blame quite like Southwest Airlines, which employs Fred Taylor Jr. in a job that could be called chief apology officer.
His formal title is senior manager of proactive customer communications. But Mr. Taylor — 37 rail thin and mildly compulsive, by his own admission — spends his 12-hour work days finding out how Southwest disappointed its customers and then firing off homespun letters of apology.

Southwest seems to get the value of using a recognisable human voice for what might otherwise be rote apology letters.

Thanks to Stanley Moss for emailing me this.

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How Southwest apologise

Johnnie Moore

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