Halloween at SWA

Before I started with SWA, Halloween was just another minor holiday. It was mostly uneventful, except for the occasional great costume party. But since coming here, it's skyrocketed to one of my favorite days of the year. Here's why.

Every year, Southwest Airlines headquarters here in Dallas essentially shuts down, except for those folks who are critical for the operation to continue, like dispatch and crew scheduling. Nearly every department gets in on the fun in one way or another. Most either do a walk-through haunted house or carnival; the rest do full-on production shows. They're amazing.

And on top of that, nearly everyone dresses up in costume, hopping from show to show. People bring their kids. It's a hoot. I love watching new people watching the chaos, completely wide-eyed. It's certainly a celebration of fun and of all the hard work put in throughout the rest of the year.

When I first got here 6 years ago, Technology's skit was just pathetic. We tried to do a variety show based on TV shows. We thought it was pretty good, but then we got a peek at the one the Executive Office was doing and theirs was Broadway compared to our high school quality skit.

The next year, the gauntlet was thrown and we brought it on!

We finally figured out that the winning shows required a lot of musical productions. Believe me, none of us can sing worth a hoo-ha, but man, this group of computer geeks can really get the enthusiasm of the crowd going. For 4 years running we won first prize among all the skits.

Last year was especially hard with many huge projects going on, so we only put together a walk-through. It didn't win a darn thing.

After a year's hiatus, the Technology musical skit is back; this year titled, "Not Another Southwest Airlines Technology Department Halloween Musical!" And yes, it's filled with campy musicals and wit. And men in drag.

Men in drag? Yes, it's true. Some of them(straight and gay) manage to find a way to get in drag every year which should set off some kind of alarm, don't you think? Around here, it's almost second nature. Scary, isn't it? I mean, if Gary Kelly, our CEO as Edna Turnblad in Hairspray last year, can do it, why can't everyone!?

The lineup this year includes quite a variety from favorite musicals (SWA-fied of course) past and present including:

Grease (something about fuel hedging)

Airspray (a song from Hairspray)

West Side Story ("I like to be on American")

SWAmma Mia (mine)

Rocky Horror Picture Show (yes, it includes pelvic thrusts!)

High School Musical finale including a well choreographed basketball sequence

Parts of it are hilarious. Others are just meh, but the ending should be enough to get the audience full participation. It builds well and the costumes are really going to rock this show.

I can't wait to tell you more as the week progresses and hopefully post some pictures shortly afterwards.