Southwest Airlines says employees should receive the same care and respect they are expected to show customers. That employee-first principle is set out in a written promise and reinforced, in the company’s own account, through shared values, employee programs, and profit sharing. The financial element is significant: it links at least some employee compensation to company results, though the contribution can vary by year.
What “employees first” means at Southwest
Southwest’s official About Southwest page states its Employee Promise: “Employees will be provided the same concern, respect, and caring attitude within the organization that they are expected to share externally with every Southwest Customer.” In practical terms, the promise describes reciprocity: the consideration expected in customer service should also be present in the company’s treatment of its employees.
This is more specific than a general claim that employees matter. It is a stated standard for how the organization should treat its workforce. It remains a corporate commitment, however, rather than proof that every employee experiences it in the same way.
How the idea became part of Southwest’s story
Southwest’s company history credits Herb Kelleher and Colleen Barrett with shaping the airline around the principle that taking care of employees is the essential first step in taking care of customers. That origin story explains the company’s intended link between employee experience and customer service; it should be read as Southwest’s account of its philosophy, not independent evidence that the approach produces the same outcome in every interaction.
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How Southwest puts the philosophy into practice
A shared set of values
In its 2024 One Report, Southwest says its nine company values form the foundation of its culture. The report also describes employee experience, culture, and engagement efforts. Values give the employee-first idea a broader framework, while programs are the structures through which the company says it seeks to express that framework.
Programs, recognition, benefits, and safety
Southwest’s current People and Culture page describes hospitality, employee programs and benefits, and safety as a core value. Its Careers culture page also presents the company’s culture and employee milestones. These are useful indicators of what Southwest publicly emphasizes, but the company materials do not establish how consistently particular programs or benefits are experienced across roles and employee groups.
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Profit sharing and a financial connection
Profit sharing is the most tangible financial expression of the culture described in Southwest’s history. The company says it established the program in 1973, after first turning a profit. Its history describes an original design in which 25 percent of an individual employee’s profit share was earmarked for stock purchase. Southwest also reported that employees owned 6.9 percent of the company as of May 2020; that is a dated figure, not a current ownership estimate.
A more recent figure appears in Southwest Airlines Co.’s 2025 proxy statement: for the 2024 plan year, the company described a contribution of approximately 1.16 percent of each employee’s eligible compensation. This is the reported contribution for that plan year, not a guaranteed rate for future years. Profit sharing therefore connects compensation to company results, but its value is not a fixed annual amount established by these figures.
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What the evidence can—and cannot—show
Southwest’s public materials document a clear employee-first philosophy, formal values, employee-oriented programs, and a long-running profit-sharing plan. They support describing what the company promises and reports doing. They do not establish that all employees share one experience or that the culture is uniformly successful. The materials cited here are primarily company-produced, and they do not provide an independent, representative measure of current employee sentiment.
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