Dee-Lightful Landing for Southwest Flight Attendants

by Mike Hall, Aug 24, 2007

We have a dee-lightful follow-up to bring you. After flight attendants at Southwest Airlines staged a unique video protest—a clever take off on Cole Porter’s standard “It’s De Lovely”—over airline management’s move to place supervisors in crew slots normally reserved for trainees, known as “D” slots, Southwest said they would cease and dee-sist.

The video, performed by the Night and Day Trio of Washington, D.C., riffed on Porter’s “It’s delightful. It’s delicious. It’s delovely” lyrics, singing about Southwest’s actions, “It’s demeaning. It’s deceptive. It’s despicable.”

The flight attendants, members of Transport Workers (TWU) Local 556, said the move to replace trainees on some flights with management personnel was a possible safety risk, violated the bargaining agreement and confused passengers—and with negotiations for a new pact just around the corner, a way for the airline to eavesdrop on or intimidate flight crew members.

The unique protest drew a great deal of media coverage; and just a few days after it hit the headlines, newscasts, websites and blogs, Southwest decided to back down. In a letter and e-mail to flight attendants last night, the airline said it was immediately ending the program.

Now that’s “De Lovely.”

		Become a Fan on Facebook			Follow Us on Twitter			Subscribe to YouTube			Subscribe to Blog RSS

Print This Article | E-Mail This Article |Comments (1)