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Southwest Airlines is the single most successful American business in the last 25 years. Yet the airline industry is considerd one of the least profitable and most difficult in which to operate. Southwest is a case study in good business. I always fly Southwest when I can. Flights are rarely canceled and rarely late. Seats are comfortable. The flight attendants are hilarious, usually cracking jokes throughout the flight. I like the seating procedures too. They save time boarding, you can sit far away from the screaming babies if you want, and if you have a group traveling together you can always get seats together if you get there early enough.

Southwest was a godsend to me on a recent vacation when I dislocated my knee on the way to the airport and missed my scheduled flight. They happily put me on a later flight at no extra charge, had an attendant there to meet me when I arrived at the airport, expedited our check-in, took me right on the plane in a wheelchair and gave me the whole front row so I could elevate my leg. I know I would never have gotten such good treatment from any other airline.

I work in an industry that is notorious for high-turnover and low morale. The photocopier industry. Everybody hates photocopiers. They are always broken down, due in large part to people not knowing how to use them properly. So sales and service people alike in this industry are exposed to constant negativity about their product.

In a way, copiers are like the airlines. Everything can work perfectly but if there is one paper jam, the customer wants the machine out in the street. In the same way, a longtime customer of one airline might jump to another airline over some lost luggage or a bad experience at the ticket counter.

BTW, when your flight experience is perfect, do you ever call the airline to thank them? It's the same with copiers. We can put out a copier that runs perfectly for a year and never hear anything from the customer. Then when it breaks down (and all copiers break eventually), it suddenly becomes "that #($#*$% machine that hasn't worked since Day 1."

SO that all said, it really does come down to attitude. In my company, we stress the positive attitude and in a way, we are the "Southwest" of the copier industry. As a result, it is a fun place to work We never had to lay anybody off, our turnover is low and we are profitable year after year.

The Southwest model can be applied to any industry.