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Southwest Airlines Employees Show Their LUV for President Colleen Barrett With a Song, Gift, Video Tribute, and the Sound of Cowbells

Written by thomas · Filed Under Commercial 

July 16, 2008

thomas

The Most Influential Woman in Aviation Steps Back from Management Role –
Company Throws a Good Old Fashioned Surprise Party!

DALLAS, July 15 /PRNewswire/ — The clamoring of cowbells and a
rendition of a Willie Nelson song is not what you would expect to hear in
the lobby of a Fortune 500 company; but then again, Southwest Airlines is
famous for doing the unexpected! Southwest Executive Colleen Barrett, who
leaves her role as President effective today, was honored by Employees in
Dallas with a surprise tribute to show appreciation for her years of
Servant Leadership. (Colleen will remain a fulltime Southwest Employee
through July 2013.) The monumental event was centered on hundreds of
Southwest Employees cheering for a woman the Company LUV built
affectionately calls its “Queen of Hearts.”

“Well, we all know that Colleen doesn’t like surprises! But, we also
know that Colleen can’t be totally surprised that her Southwest Family
wanted to make this day a little extra special for her,” said Southwest CEO
Gary Kelly. “The transition from an extremely hardworking President to an
extremely hardworking Southwest Employee is a huge milestone. From the
34,000 Southwest Family Members — job well done, Colleen Barrett — we’ll
see you tomorrow!”

As Colleen’s Southwest Family gathered at Corporate Headquarters to
mark her last official day as President, the Employees celebrated the
milestone exactly the way Colleen’s mother would have wanted — with the
ringing of cowbells. The ringing of cowbells is a tradition that dates back
to Colleen’s childhood in Bellows Falls, Vermont. Her mother used to ring
“that darn cowbell,” as Colleen would say, every time she or her brothers
would accomplish a significant goal or celebrate a colossal moment in their
lives. In fact, the distinctive sound of “that darn cowbell” marked many
historic milestones for Colleen, and today was no exception.

Video footage/photos of the celebration and Colleen Barrett can be
found at the following links:

—  Online celebration video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7BZw_TDCfek
—  Additional video footage:
http://gallery.swamedia.com/videos/value=open/type=video
—  Photos: http://gallery.swamedia.com/photos/kw=SWApeopleOfficers

About Colleen Barrett:

Prior to joining Southwest (in 1978), Colleen Barrett worked for
several years as an Executive Assistant to Herb Kelleher (Southwest’s
Founder and former Executive Chairman) at his law firm. For Southwest
Airlines, she has served as Secretary of the Corporation since March 1978;
and served as Vice President Administration from 1986 to 1990; Executive
Vice President Customers from 1990 to 2001; and President from 2001 to
present.

Colleen has been named one of the “World’s 100 Most Powerful Women,” by
Forbes.com (2005, 2004); one of the “50 Most Powerful Women in Business,”
by Fortune (2003, 2002); and one of the “100 Most Influential Women in
Aviation,” by Women in Aviation International (WAI) (2003); in addition,
Colleen has been presented the Horatio Alger Award (2005); Texas
Trailblazer Award (2005); Tony Jannus Award (2007); IWF Woman Who Makes A
Difference Award (2004); and she was inducted into the International
Pioneer Hall of Fame as a Woman in Aviation, (2005).

http://www.southwest.com

SOURCE Southwest Airlines

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