Leaked Southwest Airlines Memo Asks HQ Employees to Help Get Flights on Track An internal message requested Southwest Airlines headquarters employees to voluntarily work in scheduling rather than their normal jobs.

By Steve Huff

Around the World Photos | Shutterstock
Southwest airlines passenger planes at terminal at Portland International Airport (PDX).

Southwest Airlines is working so hard to right its corporate ship that it is enlisting Dallas HQ employees as volunteers on shifts helping with crew scheduling.

Citing a leaked memo sent on Wednesday, Business Insider reported that the shifts would be eight hours long and run around the clock. The airline also wants employees to take a break from their regular positions and make the temporary switch.

Southwest told Insider that additional employees are lending a hand. However, the memo did not mention extra pay for anyone answering the call.

New hires in crew scheduling reportedly undergo extensive training. The memo said untrained corporate employees would be trained using a "train the trainer" approach — essentially shadowing schedulers to learn the ropes on the fly. Crew schedulers handle logistics to ensure Southwest flights have correctly scheduled cabin crew members who know their flight assignments.

The call for scheduling volunteers appears to be related to the airline's disastrous Christmas weekend. Thanks partly to a "once in a generation" winter storm, more than 9,000 flights — over 91% of domestic flights alone — were canceled between Sunday and Wednesday.

The storm wasn't entirely to blame, as Insider reported that Southwest is running on out-of-date software, though an airline rep indicated a system upgrade might happen in the near future. The rep said that in Southwest's "desired state," the airline "will have automation that can handle crew reassignments quickly and efficiently."

Late Wednesday, the New York Times reported that over 2,300 Thursday flights were already canceled and that the airline said "it could be days until normal service resumes."

Steve Huff

Entrepreneur Staff

Want to be an Entrepreneur Leadership Network contributor? Apply now to join.

Business News

Your Old Apple AirPods Can Soon Act as an Over-the-Counter Hearing Aid, According to the FDA

The new software is compatible with the Apple AirPods Pro and accessible through iOS — for free and now FDA-authorized.

Social Media

AI Is Transforming the Workplace — Including Social Media Marketing. Here's How Businesses Can Actually Use It.

Artificial intelligence is transforming social media management for small and medium-sized businesses, helping them enhance scalability, improve cost efficiency and build stronger customer relationships.

Business Ideas

70 Small Business Ideas to Start in 2025

We put together a list of the best, most profitable small business ideas for entrepreneurs to pursue in 2025.

Business News

'Unprecedented in Our 53-Year History': Southwest Airlines Announces Its First Mass Layoffs Ever

The airline is eliminating 15% of its corporate workforce, including many in senior leadership positions.

Side Hustle

This 30-Year-Old's $6,000-a-Month Side Hustle Started Making Money 'Immediately' — But He's Not Quitting His Day Job

Derrick Mathy works in orthopedic surgical device sales and is on a mission to bring people together in real life.

Business News

Elon Musk's xAI Claims Its New Grok 3 AI Is Better Than ChatGPT and DeepSeek: 'Seeing the Beginnings of Creativity'

xAI debuted the new AI on Monday, claiming it has 10 times the computational power of Grok 2.