Colleen Barrett, Industry Pioneer and Southwest President Considered ‘the Heart and Soul’ of the Airline, Dies at 79

Colleen Barrett, an airline industry visionary who is credited with giving Southwest Airlines its heart as well as its grounding in customer service, died on May 8 at the age of 79.

Ms. Barrett served as the legal secretary to Southwest co-founder Herb Kelleher and airline president from 2001-2008, and is credited with many of the carrier’s signature strategies, many still in use today.

She started her career with Southwest Airlines in 1978, and was appointed president and COO in 2001 before stepping down seven years later. She is the recipient of the National Aeronautic Association’s 2016 Wright Brothers Memorial Trophy, for public service of value to aviation.

Ms. Barrett, Southwest Executive Chairman Gary Kelly said, was “the heart and soul of Southwest from our earliest days.”

“We tell our employees from day one that we are in the customer service business,” Ms. Barrett told Frequent Business Traveler and The Travelist in an interview in 2004, and was famous for often saying, “[W]e are in the customer service business. We just happen to fly airplanes.”

“Colleen passionately guided generations to do the right thing, and often cited The Golden Rule – insisting that everyone treat each other in a way they would hope to be treated,” the company said a statement. “She widely is credited with giving Southwest Airlines its heart because of her strong belief in employees showing love for each other, as well as to our customers. That foundational tenet defines the Southwest culture more than half a century since the founding of the airline. She lived her life as an example for all to follow.”

One example of her legacy is Southwest’s apology program, which reflected her unusual personality. She was known to favor floral print blouses and wore her naturally gray hair in a ponytail, appearing quite unlike most top female executives.

Under Barrett, the airline fired off what some might term homespun apology letters, many authored by Fred Taylor Jr., dubbed the carrier’s chief apology officer by some during his 15 years in customer service there, who famously wrote to customers on a flight from Las Vegas to San Jose that “[D]uring the return, a customer became ill and apparently ‘decorated’ three rows of seats –  and perhaps a few customers,” adding that there had been “[N]o word on how Linda Blair is doing.”

Ms. Barrett publicly made fun of some of her mistakes including the introduction of bereavement fares when the airline only offered short-haul flights and a flight between Dallas and Houston cost $40.  She said that she had spent weeks creating rules for the airline to offer bereavement fares, but once launched she received over 125 fax messages from employees begging her to end the program because every customer was coming up to the ticket counter saying he had a funeral to attend.

Ms. Barrett was born in 1944 in Bellow Falls, Vermont and attended a Catholic school through eighth grade. Her father’s alcoholism caused him to be mentally abusive, she told the Horatio Alger Association several years ago, and she sought refuge at school.

After high school, she attended the Worcester campus of Becker College, which she graduated from in 1964 with a two-year degree qualifying her to become a legal secretary.

Her first marriage ended in divorce and her only son, Patrick, her grandson, Evan Daniel Barrett, and her brother, Pat Crotty, survive her.

During her term as president of Southwest, she was diagnosed with breast cancer, which was successfully treated with surgery and radiation therapy.

Years later, she donated $1 million to her alma mater to create a center for innovation and entrepreneurship.

After leaving the position of president, Ms. Barrett became president emeritus and continued to work in customer-service positions for many years. She only stopped going to the office several days a week in recent months.

(Photo: Accura Media Group)