Southwest’s CEO says he picks up trash and serves snacks when flying and shares advice from the airline’s legendary cofounder

Leadership·Airline industrySouthwest’s CEO says he picks up trash and serves snacks when flying and s advice from the airline’s legendary cofounderBY Jason MaBY Jason MaWeekend EditorJason MaWeekend EditorJason Ma is the weekend editor at Fortune, where he covers, the economy, finance, and housing

SEE FULL BIOSouthwest Airlines CEO Bob Jordan during the company's investor day on Sept. 26 in Dallas

Sam Hodde—The Washington Post via Getty ImagesBob Jordan revealed his own flying habits, including where he s to sit and what he prefers wearing, and talked further Southwest’s recent decisions to upend its seating and checked-bags policies

Southwest Airlines CEO Bob Jordan tends not to wear suits when flying so he can give the flight crew a hand

In a wide-ranging interview with the New York Times, he revealed his own flying habits, talked Southwest’s recent decision to end long-standing policies, and d advice he got from legendary cofounder Herb Kelleher

Jordan said he prefers the window seat, but sits in the aisle when flying for so he can get up, talk to the flight attendants, and move the cabin. “I serve snacks

Then I go sit in the cockpit and talk to our pilots,” he told the Times. “I don’t want to be crawling over people, so I tend to sit on the aisle so I can get out and do stuff. ” In fact, he seldom wears a suit when flying and usually wears a vest or polo shirt because he wants to work with the crew

Suits are typically reserved for visits to Washington, D. , and meetings with lawmakers or other officials

Jordan even suggested his helpful habits extend to the ground crew. “I want to go downstairs and unload bags

It’s super hard to unload bags and get in the belly of the aircraft with a suit on,” he said

The CEO also discussed reactions to Southwest’s decision last year to end its famous open-seating policy and begin charging for premium seating as well as its pivot earlier this year to sharply scale back its “bags fly free” policy. “I know we have some that are not happy—and we have many, many, many that are happy,” Jordan said. “You have to keep talking because sometimes people don’t understand what you’re doing

What I find is that once folks know where we’re headed, they’re very excited

I think you just have to play through this period of change because change is hard. ” He acknowledged that Southwest has to play “a bit of catch-up” with other airlines by transitioning to the new policies in a matter of months and not years

But he denied the changes were driven by activist holder Elliott Investment Management, which sought a shakeup at the airline

The airline revamped its board last year but kept Jordan as CEO

Jordan was also reminded that he started at Southwest in 1988, when Kelleher was the CEO, and said they met on his first day

That was an outgrowth of wanting to be efficient

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