In the hot seat: Wally Devereaux, Southwest Airlines Cargo

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Wally Devereaux, managing director of cargo and charters, Southwest Airlines


How did Southwest Airlines Cargo adapt to the trials of last year?

Southwest Airlines Cargo had very solid results in 2020 despite the very challenging environment. We had an excellent plan going in to the year that had to be altered a bit as time passed, but I’m excited and incredibly proud of the team’s efforts and achievements. Despite the rapidly changing work environment, the Southwest Cargo team was able to make significant progress on many of the important initiatives we had set our sights on. Our folks also did an incredible job moving cargo around our system despite reductions and regular changes in our flight schedule. I couldn’t be more thankful for the incredible work across our organisation taking care of our customers and each other!

SWA recently rolled out a cargo tracking feature, how has this been received?

We were proud to launch a new commodity tracking system for Cargo in 2020 that provides piece level scanning of shipments as they’re being loaded on/off the aircraft, thus providing a confirmed on board status for all shipments across our system. This information is invaluable to shippers and has been very well received.

What do you expect SWA to achieve by the end of 2021?

2021 will continue to be a challenging environment no doubt. Despite that, I do expect our Cargo business to continue to perform well and I’m excited about the plan we have in place. Providing excellent and reliable service to our customers, taking care of our Southwest Airlines People, and executing our plan are my priorities for the year.

What is one thing that has kept you sane throughout the chaos of the past year?

My family, although I’m sure working virtually from home has probably driven them insane at times!