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HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
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WHEREAS, Southwest Airlines is celebrating its 40th |
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anniversary on June 18, 2011, providing a welcome opportunity to |
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celebrate the success of this signature Texas company and its |
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cofounder, Herb Kelleher; and |
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WHEREAS, In the mid-1960s, businessman Rollin W. King |
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conceived of a new kind of airline that could fly passengers |
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inexpensively and quickly across short distances; in a meeting with |
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his lawyer, Herb Kelleher, at the St. Anthony Club in San Antonio, |
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he used a napkin to illustrate his idea, drawing a triangle with |
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points labeled San Antonio, Houston, and Dallas; this simple sketch |
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would go on to become a symbol of the infant company's ethos and to |
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form the basis of its initial route map; and |
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WHEREAS, Southwest Airlines was chartered as a Texas |
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corporation, and on June 18, 1971, the company began commercial |
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flights with three Boeing 737 airliners and fewer than 70 |
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employees; since then, thanks in large part to the dynamic |
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leadership of Mr. Kelleher, who served as the company's chairman, |
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president, and CEO from 1982 until 2001, Southwest has become one of |
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the most respected names in the industry; now under the direction of |
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Gary Kelly, nearly 35,000 employees schedule, maintain, and fly |
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more than 500 Boeing 737s between 72 cities in 37 states; the |
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airline operates 3,400 flights a day, making it the largest U.S. |
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carrier of domestic passengers as of September 2010; moreover, the |
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airline has turned a profit for 38 years in a row; and |
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WHEREAS, Southwest has regularly earned top rankings in |
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safety from the International Airline Passengers Association, and |
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it has consistently received the lowest ratio of customer |
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complaints per passenger boarded of all major U.S. airlines |
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according to data from the U.S. Department of Transportation; and |
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WHEREAS, This impressive record of customer satisfaction is |
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no doubt linked to Southwest's approach to employee relations; in |
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1973, the company initiated the first profit-sharing program in the |
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U.S. airline industry, and it has never laid off or furloughed a |
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single employee; among its many honors, Southwest is often |
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recognized as one of the best places in the country to work; in |
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addition, it was recently named the "greenest airline" by the |
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nonprofit group Climate Counts, and it has been repeatedly ranked |
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as one of the most admired companies in the world by Fortune |
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magazine; and |
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WHEREAS, Over the last four decades, the percentage of |
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American adults who have flown on a commercial airliner has risen |
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from 15 to 85 percent, a result that is often referred to as the |
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"Southwest Effect," and on the occasion of this special |
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anniversary, Mr. Kelleher, Mr. Kelly, and the employees of |
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Southwest may indeed take great pride in their enormous |
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contributions to the mobility of Americans and to the culture as a |
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whole; now, therefore, be it |
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RESOLVED, That the 82nd Legislature of the State of Texas, |
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1st Called Session, hereby commemorate the 40th anniversary of |
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Southwest Airlines and extend to Herb Kelleher, Gary Kelly, and the |
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entire Southwest family sincere best wishes for continued success; |
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and, be it further |
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RESOLVED, That an official copy of this resolution be |
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prepared for Southwest Airlines as an expression of high regard by |
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the Texas House of Representatives and Senate. |
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Craddick |
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Parker |
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Darby |
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Anchia |
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| Straus |
Gonzales of Williamson |
Morrison |
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| Aliseda |
Gonzalez |
Munoz, Jr. |
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| Anderson of Dallas |
Hancock |
Orr |
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| Anderson of McLennan |
Hardcastle |
Otto |
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| Beck |
Harper-Brown |
Patrick |
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| Bohac |
Hernandez Luna |
Pena |
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| Burkett |
Howard of Fort Bend |
Pitts |
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| Burnam |
Howard of Travis |
Price |
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| Button |
Huberty |
Quintanilla |
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| Callegari |
Hunter |
Reynolds |
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| Christian |
Keffer |
Schwertner |
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| Coleman |
King of Parker |
Scott |
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| Cook |
King of Taylor |
Sheets |
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| Craddick |
King of Zavala |
Sheffield |
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| Creighton |
Kleinschmidt |
Shelton |
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| Crownover |
Kolkhorst |
Simpson |
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| Darby |
Kuempel |
Smith of Harris |
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| Davis of Dallas |
Landtroop |
Smith of Tarrant |
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| J. Davis of Harris |
Larson |
Smithee |
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| S. Davis of Harris |
Laubenberg |
Solomons |
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| Driver |
Legler |
Taylor of Collin |
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| Dukes |
Lewis |
Taylor of Galveston |
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| Farias |
Mallory Caraway |
Veasey |
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| Frullo |
Martinez Fischer |
Weber |
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| Giddings |
Miller of Comal |
Zedler |
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| Gonzales of Hidalgo |
Miller of Erath |
Zerwas |
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______________________________ |
______________________________ |
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President of the Senate |
Speaker of the House |
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I certify that H.C.R. No. 20 was adopted by the House on June |
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21, 2011, by a non-record vote. |
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______________________________ |
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Chief Clerk of the House |
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I certify that H.C.R. No. 20 was adopted by the Senate on June |
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28, 2011, by a viva-voce vote. |
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______________________________ |
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Secretary of the Senate |
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APPROVED: __________________ |
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Date |
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__________________ |
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Governor |
