If it Isn’t Broke, Don’t Fix it. Southwest Airlines: It’s Broke, so Fix It!
Southwest Airlines was a highly admired company not long ago: low fares, joking flight attendants, and even the bags flew free. The bags aren’t flying during the holiday week – and neither are their customers. “System failure,” “meltdown,” “alarm,” and “cancellations” are terms associated with Southwest online. Southwest Airlines must now contend with massive rebookings, reimbursements, government investigations, reputational damage, and the inevitable lawsuits.
The immediate cause is old IT infrastructure. But how did a company go so wrong so fast? Here are a few reasons with implications for your business:
- Insufficient investment in IT over time. Small patches (or staff forced to do workarounds) instead of significant upgrades. Kick the cans down the road (or tarmac).
- Ignore warnings: There have been previous problems – warning signals ignored. Southwest Airlines pilot and flight attendant unions warned for years that the company’s rickety computer systems left the airline vulnerable.
- Lack of backup: if (when?) systems go down, how will the company keep operating?
- Complacency with “the cloud.” The cloud helps some things but does not cover poorly designed, outdated systems, software, or staff competencies.
Market pressures push Management to keep expenses down and profit up. Southwest is a painful reminder of the consequences. IT and Management don’t always communicate well. Even so, funding for IT should not be considered a pesky cost – it is an essential investment to keep your business afloat.
A company in IT crisis mode can begin with the steps below.
- Find and apply short-term bandages quickly.
- Identify immediate causes and other limitations of existing and legacy systems.
- Identify the IT needs of the company you envision for five years from now. Prioritize, sequence, and fund these needs.
- “All hands on deck”? No, the right hands-on deck. Get supplemental resources with relevant experience.
Companies should take a hard look at their IT infrastructure if they plan to succeed in 2023. Southwest Airlines is a vivid example that an ounce of prevention is worth a ton of cure. What Bob Jordan does in the coming months will determine his legacy as CEO of Southwest Airlines – and maybe the company’s future. How far are you kicking the can?
CJ Network Systems is a veteran-owned, Black-owned small business that provides IT services, including system support, diagnostics, installation, and repair. Contact Us
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