DALLAS — Colleen Barrett, who was responsible for establishing much of Southwest Airlines' corporate culture and customer service focus, has died at 79.
Barrett is credited with establishing several key tenets of Southwest’s business and company culture including the brand’s signature heart, a nod to her commitment to showing love to both employees and customers, the company said in a press release Thursday.
She was president emeritus with Southwest Airlines and served in several leadership roles during her tenure, including vice president of administration and executive vice president customers.
Barrett went on to serve as president, chief operating officer and finally president of the airline from 2001 to July 2008. She was the highest-ranking woman in the commercial airline industry at the time, according to the release. She also served on the Southwest Airlines Company Board of Directors from 2001 to 2008.
The Golden Rule, “Treat others how you would want to be treated,” was a guiding principle in Barrett’s life, prompting her to put employees first and encouraging them to deliver great customer service, the release states. She shared her mantra “Treat people the way they want to be treated and the rest will follow, including profitability and shareholder satisfaction” widely.
She co-authored a book with Ken Blanchard called "Lead with LUV: A Different Way to Create Success." In 2021, Southwest Airlines established the Colleen C. Barrett Institute of Cultural Excellence & Customer Service to honor her legacy with the country.
"Colleen's legacy is the Heart of Southwest Airlines and everything that it stands for, the Golden Rule, hospitality, serving others and most of all, LUV!" Southwest President & CEO Bob Jordan said in a release. "Colleen's fingerprints are all over Southwest Airlines, and she cherished her Southwest Family. She taught us how to lead with our Hearts, but she was also one of the toughest people I've ever known, leading the charge on many battles and coming out victorious through them all.
"Her passion and commitment to ensuring that our employees provided legendary customer service has made Southwest Airlines famous for our hospitality, Gary Kelly, executive chairman of the Board of Directors at Southwest Airlines said. “As Colleen is famous for saying, 'We are in the Customer Service business, we just happen to fly airplanes.' Her love for our Employees was undying and unending, and we loved her right back.”
Barrett is survived by her son and daughter-in-law, Patrick and Melodie Barrett; her beloved grandson, Evan Daniel Barrett; and her brother, Pat Crotty and his family.
The family is asking for donations and other expressions of remembrance to honor her life and legacy to be directed to the Southwest Airlines Employees Catastrophic Assistance Charity, Ronald McDonald House Charities, the Visiting Nurse Association (Meals on Wheels), or the Dallas Hearing Foundation.
Details of funeral services, visitation, and obituary will be released soon, according to the release.