Three things I never wanted to see at work: Hannibal Lector reminding me of the time he had a friend for dinner…with some fava beans and a nice Chianti!; Jason from the Friday the 13th movies swinging his machete at me when I walked by; and Gary Kelly’s Executive Assistant, Gillian Kelley (no relation) wearing a full beard.

Well thanks to our amazing holiday partnership with Spirit Halloween Superstores this year, I got to see all that and so much more!  And honestly, seeing all those things just made one of SWA’s favorite holidays more spectacular than ever before.

You may have seen the decorations at the Southwest Ticket Counters in all 64 of our cities; or maybe you played some Halloween trivia with our Flight Attendants during your travels Halloween day and won a squishy pumpkin, a pen, or some Spirit Halloween sticky notes.  We’re hoping that everyone—Customers and SWA Employees-- put their 20% discount coupons to good use; judging by some of the costumes, wigs, and props I saw around here on Halloween, I’m guessing everyone did!

You couldn’t help but get in to the Halloween “Spirit” (pun intended!) if you dropped by Southwest Airlines Headquarters the week of Halloween—the lobby decorations that Spirit provided, as spooky as they were, were amazing! There was a haunted castle flanked by a grim reaper, a spooky American Gothic-esque farmer and his wife, a cranky witch that stirred up her bubbling cauldron when you made noise, black crows hanging out on the balcony, and, of course, those darn scary movie characters that taunted you when they sensed even the slightest bit of motion.  It was the first Halloween that the lobby had ever been decorated, but I am positive it will not be the last--the decorations were a huge hit.

Of course the most important part of our Halloween collaboration wasn’t to scare our Employees and visitors, it was to make sure Gary Kelly’s 2008 Halloween costume was top notch—and boy did Spirit Halloween deliver!  Check out A Sharp Dressed Man and Southwest Airlines Halloween 2008 to see Gary and his crew (Gillian Kelley, his Executive Assistant; and Nan Barry, his Chief of Staff) in all their ZZ Top glory!  If I didn’t know better, I would have thought the actual band was roaming our halls!

Although it seems like Halloween just happened and we won’t need to worry about it for another year, I guarantee that the wheels are turning at SWA as well as at Spirit Halloween Superstores to make next year’s Halloween events even bigger and better. So in 2009 when you start thinking about your costume, your skit theme, or how you want to decorate your house, remember the LUV we were all shown by the folks at Spirit Halloween in 2008.