Southwest Airlines Honored as One of the Top 50 Best Places to Work in 2012, a Glassdoor Employees' Choice Award

DALLAS, Dec. 14, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- When it comes to great Employers, the Employees know best. Glassdoor, a jobs and career community where people share workplace insights, has announced its fourth annual Employees' Choice Awards, revealing this year's top 50 "Best Places to Work," based on surveys collected from U.S.-based employees in 2011. Southwest Airlines (NYSE: LUV)has been recognized as one of the top 50 Best Places to Work, a significant achievement, as nearly 150,000 companies are rated by their employees on Glassdoor.

"Glassdoor's employees' Choice Awards recognize stand-out companies that have retained the support and commitment of their employees despite the tough economic climate," said Robert Hohman, co-founder and CEO of Glassdoor. "Through anonymous employee reviews and surveys, Glassdoor offers a unique look into the top U.S. employers and some of the factors that make employees at these companies more satisfied with their jobs. For companies on the list, we typically get positive feedback on the company culture, benefits and open communication practices while we also tend to see competitive pay packages and high opinions of the chief executive."

Glassdoor's Employees' Choice Awards rely solely on the input of employees, who provide constructive feedback on their work environment and senior management throughout the year via an anonymous survey. The survey addresses eight key workplace factors that include work/life balance, career opportunities, communication, compensation and benefits, fairness and respect, employee morale, recognition and feedback, and senior leadership. The ranking of the top 50 list was determined by each company's overall Glassdoor rating, which is the cumulative average rating from employees who elected to participate in a 20-question survey between Dec. 1, 2010 and Nov. 23, 2011.

"Here at Southwest, every ONE matters.  We have the best workforce in the aviation industry and we are not afraid to show it.  For the past 40 years, our Employees have surpassed our goals and have made Southwest Airlines the largest and the best domestic carrier, "said Jeff Lamb, Southwest's Executive Vice President, Chief People and Administration Officer. "At Southwest, our Employees are filled with passion; we work hard and we learn from our mistakes. This makes us a stronger as a Company and the best place to work."

The complete list of the Glassdoor 2012 Top 50 Best Places to Work can be found here: http://www.glassdoor.com/Best-Places-to-Work-LST_KQ0,19.htm.  A complete copy of the Glassdoor survey along with additional information about the Best Places to Work methodology may be requested via email to: BestPlacestoWork (at) Glassdoor (dot) com. To receive regular updates from Glassdoor, visit the blog (http://www.glassdoor.com/blog/) and follow the career community on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn .

About Glassdoor
Glassdoor is a free and anonymous jobs and career community offering an inside look at companies and access to millions of job listings. Glassdoor helps employees, job seekers, employers and recruiters find and share detailed information on nearly 150,000 companies, such as Facebook, Google, Chevron, J.Crew, NIKE and PricewaterhouseCoopers.  This proprietary user-generated content includes salary data, company reviews, interview questions and reviews, office photos and CEO approval ratings. Glassdoor was founded in 2007 and launched its website in 2008. Headquartered in Sausalito, Calif. Glassdoor has raised $22.2 million from its founders, Benchmark Capital, Sutter Hill Ventures and Battery Ventures. More information about Glassdoor can be found on its blog, and by following the company on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.

About Southwest Airlines
In its 40th year of service, Southwest Airlines continues to differentiate itself from other low-fare carriers--offering a reliable product with exemplary Customer Service. Southwest Airlines is the nation's largest carrier in terms of originating domestic passengers boarded. Southwest serves 72 cities in 37 states and is one of the most honored airlines in the world known for its commitment to the triple bottom line of Performance, People, and Planet. To read more about how Southwest is doing its part to be a good citizen, visit southwest.com/cares to read the Southwest Airlines One Report(TM). Based in Dallas, Southwest currently operates more than 3,400 flights a day and has more than 37,000 Employees systemwide.

Earlier this year, Southwest Airlines completed the acquisition of AirTran Holdings, Inc., and now operates AirTran Airways as a wholly-owned subsidiary. AirTran serves 63 cities in 30 states and currently operates more than 790 flights a day. Additionally, AirTran serves seven international destinations in the Caribbean and Mexico. AirTran employs more than 8,500 Employees across the country.

SOURCE Southwest Airlines