DALLAS, Nov. 17, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Southwest
Airlines Co. (NYSE: LUV) today is highlighting several new
benefits for Southwest® Business Customers as the
carrier continues the journey of making it easier to book, manage,
and service business travel on Southwest Airlines®. The
airline also today revealed it is beginning work on an
industry-leading self-service travel portal designed to bring more
efficiencies and add more tools travel managers, travel decision
makers, and travel management companies need to better manage their
respective travel programs with Southwest.
Travel Portal
Built on Salesforce, the global
leader in customer relations management, this self-service travel
portal will become the primary location for travel managers and
travel management companies to keep up to date with their
Southwest-managed travel programs. The travel portal will provide
quick access to reporting dashboards, Southwest news and updates,
and much more.
"Managing business travel shouldn't be complicated and that's
why we are continually investing in enhancements that make it
easier to manage your travel program," said Dave Harvey, Vice President of Southwest
Business. "This one-stop-shop offers many of the tools travel
decision makers, travel arrangers, and travel management companies
need in one location."
"We're thrilled to see the power of Slalom bring an
industry-leading travel portal to life for Southwest Business
Customers," said Ryan Gilmour,
Managing Director, Slalom Consulting. "Our teams are already
working together to design an easy-to-use product that'll make
flying and managing business travel on Southwest that much easier
than it is today."
"Today, every company needs to rethink how they connect with
their customers with rich, actionable data and now is the time to
focus on increasing customer loyalty through easy-to-use tools and
processes," said Scott Barghaan,
Vice President and General Manager for Travel, Transportation and
Hospitality for Salesforce. "Salesforce, in partnership with
Slalom, is proud to be helping Southwest Business bring its
customers these new self-service options, and further cement its
place as a revered brand in corporate travel."
The Travel Portal is expected to be available by mid-2022.
Concur TripLink
Southwest also announced today
that it joined the Concur TripLink Network, continuing the
airline's efforts to be available in the Customer's booking channel
of choice and making it easier to book and manage business travel.
Through the integration with Concur TripLink, Southwest Airlines
Rapid Rewards® Members will be able to link their
SAP® Concur® accounts, and will have the
ability to see their company's applicable discounted rates and
certain other contractual benefits while booking travel on
Southwest.com or via the airline's mobile app. Once an itinerary is
booked, the Customer's data flows automatically to the SAP Concur
solutions, allowing for a streamlined experience with
Concur® Travel, Concur®
Expense, duty of care, and other travel reporting needs.
Charlie Sultan, COO & SVP of
Strategic Planning, SAP Concur shared, "we are very excited to have
Southwest Airlines joining the Concur TripLink network, giving our
mutual customers the ability to manage more of their corporate
travel bookings and reduce spend that is not immediately visible to
a travel manager."
SWABIZ Goes Mobile
Southwest today also
announced it is putting the power of booking a business trip in the
hand of the traveler. Southwest Business Customers who utilize the
airline's free managed travel tool, SWABIZ®, can now
book and manage aspects of their trips on their mobile devices.
Customers can visit SWABIZ.com, Southwest.com, or the Southwest
Airlines app on their preferred device to book and manage their
travel. This functionality is available on Apple iOS products and
anticipated to be available on Android devices by the end of
2021.
To learn more about utilizing these new enhancements or learn
how Southwest can be a trusted travel solution, visit
Southwest.com/AboutBusiness
Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking
Statements
This news release contains forward-looking
statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act
of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act
of 1934, as amended. Specific forward-looking statements include,
without limitation, statements related to the Company's
expectations and goals related to its enhancement of corporate
travel options, including associated benefits. These
forward-looking statements are based on the Company's current
estimates, intentions, beliefs, expectations, goals, strategies,
and projections for the future and are not guarantees of future
performance. Forward-looking statements involve risks,
uncertainties, assumptions, and other factors that are difficult to
predict and that could cause actual results to vary materially from
those expressed in or indicated by them. Factors include, among
others, (i) the Company's dependence on third parties, in
particular with respect to its corporate travel enhancements, and
the impact on the Company's operations and results of operations of
any third party delays or non-performance; (ii) the Company's
ability to timely and effectively implement, transition, and
maintain the necessary information technology systems and
infrastructure to support its operations and initiatives; and (iii)
other factors, as described in the Company's filings with the
Securities and Exchange Commission, including the detailed factors
discussed under the heading "Risk Factors" in the Company's
Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the fiscal quarter ended
Sept. 30, 2021, and in the Company's
Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended Dec. 31, 2020.
ABOUT SOUTHWEST AIRLINES CO.
Southwest Airlines
Co. operates one of the world's most admired and awarded
airlines, offering its one-of-a-kind value and Hospitality at 121
airports across 11 countries. Celebrating its 50th
Anniversary in 2021, Southwest took flight in 1971 to democratize
the sky through friendly, reliable, low-cost air travel and now
carries more air travelers flying nonstop within the United States than any other
airline1. Based in Dallas and famous for an Employee-first
corporate Culture, Southwest maintains an unprecedented record of
no involuntary furloughs or layoffs in its history. By empowering
its nearly 54,0002 People to deliver unparalleled
Hospitality, the maverick airline cherishes a passionate loyalty
among as many as 130 million Customers carried a year. That formula
for success has brought industry-leading prosperity and 47
consecutive years3 of profitability for Southwest
Shareholders (NYSE: LUV). Southwest continues to develop tangible
steps toward an environmental sustainability goal of achieving
carbon neutrality by 2050. Learn more at
Southwest.com/citizenship
https://www.southwest.com/html/southwest-difference/southwest-citizenship/index.html?clk=GFOOTER-ABOUT-DIFFERENCE-SOUTHWEST-CARESabout
how Southwest Airlines leverages a unique legacy and mission to
serve communities around the world.
1) U.S. Dept. of Transportation most recent reporting of
domestic originating passengers boarded
2)
fulltime-equivalent active Employees
3)
1972-2019 annual profitability
View original
content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/southwest-airlines-brings-more-enhancements-to-business-travelers-and-travel-managers-301426848.html
SOURCE Southwest Airlines Co.