The “Thank You For Flying Southwest” Song Greets Arriving Passengers in Phoenix

I flew from Austin to Phoenix on Southwest, it was a typical flight with happy crew who announced a bachelorette party traveling on the plane. Everyone wished the bride to be a life filled with LUV. Southwest, which launched at Dallas’ Love Field, is the love airline. Their original self serve ticketing machines were even known as ‘quickies’.

When we arrived in Phoenix, as passengers started disembarking, a voice came on the PA and started singing, welcoming everyone and thanking them for flying Southwest. I reached for my phone and started filming. And the song just kept getting better and better.

It was sung to the theme from Golden Girls (“Thank You For Being a Friend”) the voice sang, “Thank you for flying Southwest.” And it promised we wouldn’t get dragged off the flight.

You won’t be dragged off our plane today, no matter who you are if you’re on you’re on to stay.

I looked around and didn’t see who was singing. At first I assumed it was a flight attendant, but it was the airline’s agent who came on to meet the flight.

southwest airlines agent scott in phoenix
Scott Sings for Southwest Airlines in Phoenix

When I made it onto the jetway from row 11 I ran into Scott. He was the one singing. Scott tells me he came up with the song the day after David Dao got dragged off a United Express flight. And he wanted to promise everyone they’d be treated better, and thank them for their business. Scott is why after all these years it’s like co-founder Herb Kelleher said, “at Southwest Airlines we have fun!”

About Gary Leff

Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel - a topic he has covered since 2002. Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »

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  1. Sorry, but all the gate attendants-singing-songs, FAs-lounging-in-overhead-bins, and other “fun” can never make up for the lack of seat reservations, the absence of biz class, and the cattle call that is Southwest.

  2. Scott also belted out “Some Kind of Wonderful” after he worked a flight of mine the other day. Sounded better over the PA than the original recording by the Soul Brothers Six.

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