Your people come first, and if you treat them right, they'll treat the customers right.

If you create an environment where the people truly participate, you don't need control. They know what needs to be done and they do it. And the more that people will devote themselves to your cause on a voluntary basis, a willing basis, the fewer hierarchies and control mechanisms you need.

It is my practice to try to understand how valuable something is by trying to imagine myself without it.

It takes nerves of steel to stay neurotic.

Keep costs low and spirits high, and the people of Southwest Airlines will keep LUV in the air.

If the employees come first, then they're happy. A motivated employee treats the customer well. The customer is happy so they keep coming back, which pleases the shareholders. It's not one of the enduring green mysteries of all time, it is just the way it works.

The people of Southwest have always been my pride, my joy and my love. Their indomitable dedication and esprit de corps have taken Southwest from a three-airplane dream to a 500-airplane reality.