Southwest Airlines Discrimination Case
Recently, a Southwest Airlines discrimination issue surfaced resulting from comments expressed by a Southwest pilot during a private conversation. The two minute conversation transpired on March 25, 2011 and was inadvertently broadcast over a Federal Aviation Administration air traffic control frequency in the Houston, Texas area during a flight from Austin, Texas to San Diego, California. According to the accusations, the comments were perceived as demeaning and derogatory with regard to the Southwest Airlines flight attendant employee group.
The intent of this paper is not to determine guilt or malice, but instead to present the facts presented from both sides of the argument. The legal definition of discrimination will be explored as well as opinions and views from several sources familiar with the accusations. Potential legal ramifications resulting from broadcasting non-essential transmissions over a FAA air traffic control frequency will also be presented. Furthermore, statutory, regulatory, and judicial activity with regard to this issue will be explored.
The incident stemmed from comments made by an unidentified Southwest Airlines pilot
who filled a FAA air traffic control frequency with a two minute open microphone rant of
potential discriminatory swearing and anti-gay slurs. Included were complaints regarding the
lack of attractive flight attendants available for potential dating. In addition, the pilot stated the
Southwest Airlines flight attendant workforce in general was a collection of gays, grannies, and
‘grandes’, referencing overweight, older women.
The two major players in this case are the Southwest Airlines Flight Attendants Union
...
... middle of paper ...
...3). Flight Attendants' Union May File Charges Over Pilot's Rant. Retrieved from http://abcnews.go.com/US/flight-attendants-union-file-charges-pilots-rant/story?id=13911994
EEOC.gov. (2011). Age Discrimination. Retrieved from http://www.eeoc.gov/laws/types/age.cfm
EEOC.gov. (2011, July 1). Code of Federal Regulations. Retrieved from http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/CFR-2011-title29-vol4/xml/CFR-2011-title29-vol4-part1604.xml
Findlaw. (2011). 18 U.S.C. § 1464: Broadcasting obscene language. Retrieved from http://codes.lp.findlaw.com/uscode/18/I/71/1464
Justia.com. (2011). 29 C.F.R. § 1604.11 Sexual harassment: Title 29: Labor. Retrieved from http://law.justia.com/cfr/title29/29-4.1.4.1.5.0.21.11.html
Towleroad.com. (2011, June 23). Southwest Flight Attendants May Sue Airline Over Pilot's Anti-Gay, Sexist Rant. Retrieved from http://www.towleroad.com/2011/06/sw.html
Simones, A. (1995). Lecture on FCC v. Pacifica Foundation. October 27, 1995. Constitutional Law, Southwest Missouri State University.
The company’s cultural change, which is still ongoing, may lead to a decrease in employees’ morale. As AirTran’s employees continue to embrace Southwest Airline culture, the issues emerges from this organizational change remain priority.
Brown, D. (2012). An invitation to profile: Arizona v. united states. International Journal of Discrimination and the Law, 12(2), 117-127.
“Our people are our single greatest strength and most enduring long-term competitive advantage,” reports CEO Gary Kelly on the Southwest Airline website (https://www.southwest.com/html/about-southwest). The company works hard to hire great individuals and then rewards and supports them to make satisfied, productive employees (Ross & Beath, 2007). In fact, Southwest Airlines has received repeated recognition as a great place to work (“Southwest Corporate Fact Sheet,” n.d.). As a result, Southwest Airlines is able to provide a low-cost, fun-cultured experience with excellent customer service (Ross & Beath, 2007). This has allowed the company to build its final strength in this evaluation: a strong brand
In the United States, racial discrimination has a lengthy history, dating back to the biblical period. Racial discrimination is a term used to characterize disruptive or discriminatory behaviors afflicted on a person because of his or her ethnic background. In other words, every t...
If the short haul passenger was the backbone of Southwest Airlines success, then their 737s were the lifelines that supported it. By choosing the 737 as the airplane for all of Southwest's flights, the company saved time and resources in training its employees. The crew could be easily substituted for one another due to the extensive training on the 737. Low costs and, therefore, low fares are an enormous competitive advantage, when combined with their high-quality and loyal workforce. A very unique culture was found at Southwest Airlines among all of its employees.
Even though Southwest offers no-frills, there is still a high degree of customer satisfaction that continuously builds customer loyalty for the company. As mentioned, Southwest offers low prices on their airplane tickets. Also, Southwest is renowned in the airline industry for its short turnaround time on arrivals and departures. And since people's biggest concern nowadays is money and time, having low price airline tickets to cater their traveling needs in a shorter period of time will surely satisfy them. Moreover, aside from the low prices offered, what attracts to customers is Southwest’s way in dealing with them. The employees of the airline treat their customers well and really listen to their needs.
Primarily, the employee was in violation of federal laws, which protect employees regarding slanderous or racially remarks. According to Title VII, it is...
Southwest's philosophy of "Service for Smiles and Profits" encourages employees to treat customer service as the most important aspect of their job. It appears that when employees strive for this high level of service, the rest takes care of itself and success is inevitable (Amanor-Boadu, 2007). Southwest Airline's management structure is designed to carefully direct the activities of employees while still maintaining the spirit of "fun" that is the cornerstone of the airlines' customer service success (Lancaster, 1999). The fundamental concept of management at Southwest is the notion of a "loose-tight" design. Within the context of tight rules of conduct, employees are encouraged to take a wide degree of leeway. For example, the company encourages employees to make their own customer service decisions. Employees are encouraged to try new things, knowing that they will not be punished for innovation as long as they do not violate safety standards, endanger crew or passengers, or keep a plane from taking off or landing on time; this allowed not only to increase the speed of service but it allowed to increase the quality of it too.
Deregulation for 16 years (1978) has resulted in an icnrease of domestic carriers from 36 in 1978 to 100 in 1985.
With the advent of larger aircraft, such as the Boeing and Ford trimotors, came stewardess service. Boeing Air Transport employee, Steve Stimpson, took the suggestion of nurse Ellen Church. He proposed that nurses serve coffee and sandwiches and minister to the comfort of apprehensive flyers.
Case 5.3: Getting the Message (Northouse, 2013) demonstrates an example of situational management. In summary, Ann Calbera is a program manager of a college campus radio station (WCBA). The radio station has a strong pipeline of student workers who value the media experience from working at the station. As a program manager, Ann is well respected, takes great pride in developing relationships with the student workers and allows them to be creative which the students respond positively to leadership style. However, the student workers have a lack of understanding on how their behavior negatively impacts the station and violates FCC rules by which the station is governed by. Even though Ann provides the students with a detailed policy and procedures handout, FCC violations still occur on a regular basis which result in illegal practices and consequences.
The mission of Southwest Airlines is a dedication to the highest quality of service delivered with warmth, friendliness, individual pride, and company spirit (Mission…, 2007). The company also provides opportunities for learning and personal growth to each employee. Creativity and innovation is very important and highly encouraged, for the purposes of improving effectiveness. Employees are to be provided the same concern, respect, and caring attitude within the organization that the employees are expected to share with the customer. Southwest Airlines was initially created to be a low-cost alternative to high price of intra-Texas air carriers (Freiberg, 1996). Southwest’s fares were originally supposed to compete with car and bus transportation. It was a little airline, and it would withstand the test of time. As a discount, no-frills airline, it would provide stiff competition for larger airlines. Their strategy was to operate at low cost, offering no food, no movies, no first class, and no reserved seats. They created their own market and provided increased turnaround times at the gate, by avoiding hub-and-spoke airports and opting for short-haul, direct flights. Through this market approach, Southwest has a majority of market share in the markets they serve.
Airline travelers believe that discriminatory screenings violate the constitutional protection of equality for everyone, nevertheless, very few travelers will inconvenience themselves to ensure that everyone waiting to get on an airplane receives equal treatment.
Head, Tom . "Radio Censorship." About.com Civil Liberties. About.com, n.d. Web. 10 Dec. 2013. .