Southwest

Are you looking for a challenge? Southwest Airlines, the Grinch who stole Christmas for tens of thousands of Americans, is scouting for a PR advisor.

The airline that canceled 15,000 flights around Christmas due to winter storms and an outdated crew-scheduling system wants a PR person who will develop messaging that is inspirational and entertaining, according to Southwest’s post on LinkedIn.

The person must demonstrate comfort and confidence with public speaking and presenting in front of senior-level leaders and external audiences.

Southwest was deservedly criticized for “going dark” during the early days of its crisis.

After coming under fire by customers, the media and Transportation Secretary Pete Burttigieg, Southwest provided an update on Christmas Eve about its efforts to fix its system.

It then went three days before posting a video apology by CEO Robert Jordan and finally addressed the media on Dec. 29, promising that operations would return to normal on Dec. 30.

“In order to restore that relationship with their customers, Southwest is going to have to not only make them financially whole, but find a way to really rebuild trust and confidence,” Buttigieg said on “Good Morning America."

Southwest’s PR advisor will have a lot on his or her plate.

Why bother, Kev? Do you really want to deal with nutjobs like Matt Gaetz, Lauren Boebert, Andy Gibbs, Kevin Hern, Paul Gosar and Bob Good.

They plan to tie Congress in knots during the next two years and make life completely miserable for you.

Gaetz has already promised Kevin McCarthy that if he does become Speaker he'll have to wear a “straitjacket” made by the lunatics of the Republican right-wingers.

An editorial in The Wall Street Journal hit the nail on the head. It said the problem facing McCarthy and any other Speaker of the House is that the GOP isn’t interested in holding power.

From the WSJ: “They’re much more comfortable in opposition in the minority, which is easier because no hard decisions or compromises are necessary. You can rage against “the swamp” without having to do anything to change it. This is the fundamental and sorry truth behind the Speaker spectacle and the performative GOP politics of recent years.”

Gaetz has said if you want to drain the swamp, you don’t put the biggest alligator in charge of the exercise.

Nice meaningless soundbite, Matt.

Steal this idea. Prior to the COVID-19 outbreak, PR firms were notorious for holding meetings. Every office had staffers walking the halls with their laptops heading for the next strategy session.

As PR workers trickle back to the offices in 2023, managers should take a cue from ecommerce site Shopify, which wants to end the never-ending cycles of meetings.

COO Kaz Nejatian called meetings a bug that needed a fix.

He tweeted: “To start 2023, we’re canceling all Shopify meetings with more than two people. Let’s give people back their maker time. Companies are for builders. Not managers.”

Shopify has banned all meetings on Wednesdays and ruled that any meetings of more than 50 people can only be scheduled for Thursdays from 11 to 5.

The company estimates it will save more than 75,000 hours of meeting time this year, a move that it hopes will boost productivity and customer service.

PR firms should follow Shopify’s lead.