Southwest and AirTran Employees Celebrate Back-to-School by Volunteering More Than 2,500 Hours at Schools Nationwide
(3BL Media) Dallas, TX — August 27, 2012 — Employees from Southwest Airlines and its wholly-owned subsidiary, AirTran Airways, celebrated back-to-school season by volunteering more than 2,500 hours to help prepare schools for returning students and teachers in more than 50 cities nationwide. Employees pitched in to create an environment where kids would be excited to learn. Participating Southwest and AirTran Employees competed by location for the chance to give back even more to the school where they volunteered their time with a $500 donation and four roundtrip tickets. Below are a few stories where Employees made a positive difference, including the winning location.
Arthur Elementary in Oklahoma City did not have glamorous needs; they simply needed help packing classrooms and moving to their new wing. Southwest Employees went above and beyond and painted a mural of the United States on a wall in the new wing. Visit the NUTS About Southwest blog to find out how our Oklahoma City Employees surprised Arthur Elementary with a $500 check and four roundtrip tickets.
In Dallas, Southwest Employees found a new use for paint and resources that otherwise would have been thrown away to help beautify the playground at Obadiah Knight Elementary School. The result was a new playground for the children to enjoy not just at their end-of-year festival, but for years to come.
After being struck by a tornado last August, Oaklawn Elementary in Wichita, Kan., was never quite able to recover from the $280 million in damages it sustained. AirTran Employees rolled up their sleeves to repair the playground and improve the entryway to make the school more welcoming.
Southwest Airlines and AirTran Airways are committed to giving back to the communities in which their Employees work and live. In 2011, Southwest Employees volunteered more than 114,000 hours, which is enough time to fly from Baltimore/Washington to Los Angeles 24,516 times.
ABOUT SOUTHWEST AIRLINES CO.
In its 42nd year of service, Dallas-based Southwest Airlines (NYSE: LUV) continues to differentiate itself from other low-fare carriers by providing a reliable product with exemplary Customer Service. Including wholly owned subsidiary AirTran Airways, the Company now serves 97 destinations in 41 states, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, six near-international countries, and employs more than 46,000 People. Visit southwest.com/citizenship to read the Southwest Airlines One Report™ and see how Southwest is doing its part to be a good citizen while underscoring a commitment to the triple bottom line of Performance, People, and Planet.
Southwest Airlines
Southwest Airlines, one of the most honored airlines in the world, is the nation's largest carrier in terms of originating domestic passengers boarded. Southwest currently operates more than 3,200 flights a day and serves the communities around 76 airports in Southwest’s network of domestic destinations. To book a flight, visit southwest.com.
AirTran Airways
AirTran Airways, a wholly owned subsidiary of Southwest Airlines Co., has been ranked the top airline in the Airline Quality Rating study three times in the past five years. AirTran offers coast-to-coast and near-international service with nearly 700 flights a day on North America's newest all-Boeing fleet. The airline's low-cost, high-quality product.
