Southwest Airlines Offering Human-Trafficking Awareness Curriculum to Employees

To highlight the United Nations’ World Day Against Trafficking in Persons, Southwest Airlines is launching an online curriculum today, aimed at providing its over 59,000 employees with greater awareness about the growing epidemic of human trafficking.

Trafficking operations often rely on legitimate travel methods—both across and within given borders—to transport victims. Recognizing and reporting the signs of such illicit activity represents the first step towards helping to rescue vulnerable people and children from this type of exploitation and enslavement.

To create and provide this new course—which provides not only an overview of the human trafficking crime itself, but tips on how to identify instances of trafficking and advice on actions to be taken in situations where this illegal activity is suspected—Southwest partnered with Polaris, a leader in the global battle to eradicate modern slavery.

Polaris works with government leaders, preeminent technology corporations and local partners to equip communities to identify, report, and prevent human trafficking. Its aim is to systematically disrupt human trafficking networks, leveraging data and advanced technology to pursue and stop traffickers, wherever they operate.

“Southwest operates on the guiding principles of civility and taking care of others with our collective Southwest Heart,” said Gary Kelly, Southwest Airlines‘ Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. “We are proud to offer Human Trafficking awareness curriculum to the entire Southwest Team so that we can continue our efforts to identify any signs of Human Trafficking that might occur within our industry. This commitment further strengthens our mission of being good caretakers of the Customers and communities that we serve each day.”

To combat Human trafficking, as well as support and connect its survivors, Southwest is also proud to provide both monetary and ticket donations to organizations like Polaris, United Against Human Trafficking, and Rethreaded in order to their important missions to end human trafficking and rehabilitate those victims who’ve escaped modern-day slavery.

For more information, visit Southwest.com.