Don’t lose the LUV
I have flown Southwest Airlines every year since the company started flying in 1971. It has been a fun journey and I always got where I was going.
More importantly, I valued the LUV factor that was present from Day One. Southwest team members cared, they smiled, they went the extra mile. The ease of flight changes and adjustments and free baggage was part of the package. And, the seating plan worked.
I traveled my whole career and was also top tier for decades on other airlines, so I knew there were options, but those airlines did not have the LUV factor or, for the last 30 years, the near-universal positive employee attitude. Southwest earned passenger loyalty and they kept it.
Now, activist investors want to turn Southwest into just another airline. Very likely there will be seat charges, potentially baggage charges, less flexibility and less LUV. I am a capitalist and respect shareholder value, but I am also a Southwest stakeholder as a customer and know that the same policies and the same decisions as the other airlines will likely ruin the LUV factor and crater loyalty.
So, what’s next? I can assure you what will be next is less loyalty and less LUV.
Beware the calls for change that may raise the share price for a bit. Those same calls will herald the downhill slide of a great airline. It takes leadership and reinforcement to build a positive culture. That culture can turn negative quickly with bad leadership and everything focused on the bottom line.
Beware the short-term mindset.
Jack Rubin, North Dallas
Find a solution
Re: “It’s only make-believe — Presidential candidates are promising goodies paid for with unicorns, but no one is talking about debt,” by Abby McCloskey, Sunday Opinion.
McCloskey said the real driver of our federal budget problems is Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and interest payments on the debt from these entitlements.
Neither party has taken steps to fix the programs, and she suggests eliminating them. The majority of seniors couldn’t survive without these programs, which they have paid into their entire working years.
Health care spending, both per person and as a share of GDP, continues to be far higher in the United States than in other high-income countries. And their coverage is from cradle to grave. The U.S. is the only developed country that doesn’t have universal health care. Why can’t we find a solution?
Louise Calvillo, Dallas
Trump’s failings not mentioned
The national debt is a serious issue and not to be dismissed. But even more than that is the quality of our current presidential candidates. It is difficult to believe McCloskey avoids mentioning the integrity void of former President Donald Trump, the insurrection of Jan. 6 and the threat to our country that he represents.
It would be encouraging to many former Republicans like myself to see a serious discussion of the quality and integrity by Republican commentators such as McCloskey. In this instance, the first question should not be the public debt, but about integrity.
There is an elephant in the room, Mrs. McCloskey. In reference to the budget, it is a matter of record that Trump’s first term resulted in an additional $8.4 trillion to the debt. Just saying ...
Robert Burns, North Dallas
Tackle our debt
Thank you, Abby McCloskey, for addressing the elephant or “unicorn” in the room. It is frightening the amount of debt our country has. If our personal households held this amount of debt to earnings we would be facing bankruptcy and foreclosure.
I call on our elected representatives in political office to have these difficult conversations and that the American citizens understand that proposed programs come from our pockets. We need to be fiscally responsible and understand we will need to pay for them, regardless of income level.
We were told by President Joe Biden that we would need to tighten our belts to help out Ukraine when gas prices increased at the beginning of the war. I suggest we tighten our belts to help alleviate our country’s debts and make cuts instead of proposing new entitlement programs. It’s not a popular conversation but a reality for the sake of our country’s future.
Amy Nelson, Dallas
Rumors don’t help Springfield
The people accused of eating dogs in Springfield, Ohio, have roots in an island nation ravaged by corruption, crime and poverty. Haitians by the thousands have fled their homeland seeking safety and opportunity in the U.S.
One of those opportunities appeared in Springfield where factory closings years ago forced residents by the thousands to leave and seek opportunity elsewhere. When revitalization efforts created lots of new jobs, there weren’t enough workers to fill them. Haitians, living legally in other parts of the country, moved to Springfield ready to fill those openings.
Now the city is struggling to meet the needs of a population rapidly outpacing resources. The good people of Springfield and their leaders need good ideas, time and money to solve the problem. What they don’t need is politically motivated rumors, clever memes, a national news spotlight and Proud Boys roaming the streets.
Walt Davis, Dallas
Dallas ought to do better
Re: “Still waiting, still at risk — Residents left with unfinished work, questions after city ends $2.3M program to remove lead from homes,” Sunday news story.
This is a story that depicts a 100% perfect bureaucratic bungle. What ludicrous actions, and what a sad situation for these citizens to not have the promised lead removal. They were walked on simply because their city government was able to walk on them.
This is not a good look for the city’s government, or for any government for that matter. We ought to be able to do better. Much better.
Dan Siculan, Royse City
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