Many airlines nowadays offer discounted air tickets to their employees (as a perk). One such airline is Southwest – which, as a matter of fact, has some of the best discounted flights terms for its employees. Notably, Southwest Airlines goes beyond just giving discounts on air tickets to its employees. It also gives its employees opportunity for free travel, subject to just a few terms and conditions. Thus, Southwest Airlines employees have opportunity for such free flights, besides the discount on flight tickets. Let’s dig deeper, to understand how the whole thing works.

The workings of the discounted flights scheme for Southwest Airlines employees

The discounted flights scheme for Southwest Airlines employees is quite straightforward. It is a scheme where people who are Southwest Airlines employees (as well as their eligible dependants) get a chance to pay less airfare than they’d otherwise have paid if they didn’t work for the airline. There is actually a bureau within the airline, commonly known as the Southwest Airlines Pass Bureau, which coordinates the said discounted flights. The discounted flights are typically on ‘space-available’ terms, and the applicable discounts are often so huge that they are worth the trouble. Important to note is the fact that there are other airlines which are regarded as ‘Southwest Airlines partners’, and these too offer similar discounts to the employees of Southwest Airlines. This is to say that you (as a Southwest Airlines employee) may still be able to access the airfare discounts, even if you are not traveling on a Southwest Airlines flight. This would happen if that other carrier happens to be ‘committed or registered partner’.

The workings of the free flights scheme for Southwest Airlines employees

The free flights scheme for Southwest Airlines employees is also offered under ‘space available’ terms. The most remarkable thing about United Airlines’ free flights scheme for its employees is in the fact that the employees are eligible for the scheme right from their very first day of employment. One therefore doesn’t have to have worked for Southwest Airlines for a given number of months or years to be eligible for the free flights. And it is not just the employees who are eligible for these free flights, but also their spouses and dependant children who meet a certain eligibility criterion.

Other discounts available to Southwest Airlines employees

Southwest Airlines is a well respected brand. On account of this fact, there are many places, including at car rental companies, hotels and recreational parks where Southwest Airlines employees are eligible for significant discounts. The employees get such discounts simply on the basis of the fact that they work for Southwest Airlines. These ‘external discounts’ too can be regarded as being part of the Southwest Airline employee discounts. This is thanks to the fact that the employees access them on the basis of their employment at Southwest Airlines.

Links

Southwest Airlines website:

https://www.southwest.com/

Southwest Airlines careers page/section:

https://www.southwest.com/html/about-southwest/careers/

 

Many airlines nowadays operate online portals for their employees. These are portals where the employees can find various types of information related to their employment. Prior to the establishment of these portals, airline employees would often have to visit their respective HR offices, whenever they needed various types of information related to their employment. For instance, one would have to visit the HR office whenever they wished to ascertain the benefits available to them. One would also need to visit the HR office whenever they wished to update the information on their dependants for benefits administration purposes.  In cases where the airline employees were unable to visit their HR offices in person (like, for instance, when traveling), they would have to call the HR offices on phone, to obtain the necessary information. This often turned out to be inconvenient. With the advent of the Internet, airlines have endeavored to make things easier for their employees: hence the establishment of the airline employee portals.

Information that is typically found on airline employee portals

Airline employee portals typically provide access to payroll/financial information. Thus, through these portals, the employees are usually able to find out how much they have earned in specific periods of time. Through the portals, the employees are usually also able to ascertain the deductions made to their salaries. Further, through the airline employee portals, the airline employees are usually able to see the accounts through which they are likely to receive their salaries (direct deposit accounts).

Beyond the subject of salaries, most airline employee portals also provide work schedule information. Thus, through the portals, the airline employees are usually in a position to figure out when they are expected to be at work and when they are expected to be off work.

There is also the aspect of taxation: whereby we see most of the airline employee portals providing access to tax information, various tax forms… and so on.

Most of the airline employee portals also provide information on benefits. This means that through the portals, the airline employees are able to ascertain the various benefits available to them.

Functions that can typically be performed on airline employee portals

Most of the airline employee portals go beyond just providing information to the employees. The portals also make it possible for the employees to perform certain functions for themselves, on a self-service basis. This is where, for instance, on most of these portals, the employees are able to change their direct deposit information, as well as to update information related to their dependants (for benefits administration purposes). Further still, on most of these portals, employees are able to request for days off, and to send emails to the HR officers about various issues that happen to be bothering them.

How airline employee portals are typically accessed

Most of the airline employee portals are usually password protected. This is to say that the airline employees normally have to log in, so as to be able to access their accounts on the portals. As a matter of fact, for most of these portals, the home pages tend to double up as the login pages.

Links:

Examples of airline employee portals:

American Airlines employee portal:

https://jetnet.aa.com/

Delta Air Lines employee portal:

http://dlnet.delta.com/

Southwest Airline employee portal:

https://www.swalife.com/