The mother of all on-board ideas, or Why Southwest Airlines Should Fly to Madison

Terry Maxon:

Southwest Airlines, saving passengers’ necks since 1971.
Colleague Karen Robinson-Jacobs, who flew to Chicago on Saturday, said the airline had an interesting on-board amenity: free Mother’s Day cards for anybody on the airplane who needed one.
Flight attendants announced during the flights that anyone who needed a Mother’s Day card should hit their flight attendant call button. On both her flights, Dallas-Little Rock and Little Rock-Chicago, Karen reported the airplane immediately sounded like slot machines hitting the jackpot as numerous forgetful passengers hit their call buttons.
The idea reportedly came from Southwest president Colleen Barrett, who had each originating flight Saturday provisioned with about three dozen cards. But that was not enough to fill the last-minute demand on the Little Rock-Chicago leg, as Dallas-based flight attendant June Zapata ran out mid-plane.