Online MBA Equips Airline Executive to Lead Team to New Heights

Mike Sims, OMBA ’23, is harnessing his MBA experience to help lead Southwest Airlines into a new season of growth. 

"There is so much energy and adrenaline in the airline industry,” said Mike Sims, managing director of inflight business and support for Southwest Airlines. “Moving people around the country all day provides a constant, hands-on challenge.” 

From the time he was a child in Dallas, Sims knew he wanted to be part of the industry. After earning a degree in communications at Texas Tech University, he joined Southwest Airlines as a flight attendant in 1996. 

Over the next 28 years, he would go on to help steer Southwest through some of the industry’s greatest inflection points: 9/11, the Great Recession, COVID-19, and countless challenges in between. 

Now, he is leveraging his MBA experience to become a more technologically savvy, ethically grounded, and data-driven leader as Southwest moves into a season of post-pandemic growth. 

Solving the Tetris Puzzle

A native of Dallas, Sims was first drawn to his hometown airline because of its innovative, accessible approach to customer service. 

“Southwest was known for democratizing the skies,” he said. “It was the first airline to pioneer a model of low fares and high frequency of flights. When it was founded, no one else was doing that.” 

For the first decade of his career, Sims learned the ins and outs of the business from the air. In 2007, he accepted a role as a manager of employee resources, which allowed him to leverage his flight attendant experience to resolve employee issues, negotiate labor agreements and lead efforts to develop and train employees.

When the recession of 2007-2008 squeezed airline budgets, Sims was part of the effort to protect jobs by doing more with the same resources. New policies like allowing people to travel with small pets for a fee allowed Southwest to increase profits and fill in the gaps. 

Over time, Sims solidified his professional vision.

“I wanted to lead others and I wanted to be part of solving operational challenges and ensuring our customer experience is outstanding,” he said.

He has remained true to that vision. 

In the year he spent as senior manager of strategic planning for cabin services, he played an integral role in incorporating a newly acquired airline, AirTran, into Southwest.

“Integrating AirTran and Southwest standards and policies was more complicated than one could imagine,” he said. “But the end result—a workplace where our flight attendants and customers knew what to expect—was well worth it.” 

To date, his role in the acquisition is one of his proudest professional moments. 

In 2011, Sims progressed to the role of director of inflight base operations. Every day was like a giant Tetris puzzle: 14,000 to 17,000 flight attendants based in 10 cities staffing 4,000 flights with nearly 700 planes needed to be at the right place at the right time. 

“What the customer should see is a relaxing, well-constructed environment,” he said. “But behind the scenes, it can be daunting to maintain strong operational performance and hospitality standards with all these moving parts. I have always been drawn to that challenge.”

Sims had climbed the ladder from director to senior director of inflight operations by the time the COVID-19 pandemic sent shockwaves through the airline industry. 

Despite industry-wide challenges, Southwest managed to weather the pandemic without resorting to furloughs or layoffs. Since 2020, though, it has had to navigate a roller coaster of peaks and valleys in demand. After emerging out of lockdown, travel demand skyrocketed, and the industry was ill-equipped to respond. A shortage of pilots and flight attendants ensued, which sparked a wave of rapid hiring and growth.

Expanding His Range

During the pandemic, Sims began to consider avenues for professional growth. He landed on Baylor’s Online MBA (OMBA) program in hopes that it would expand his knowledge of business analytics, strengthen his technological skills and make him a more well-rounded servant leader.

“I fell in love with the program immediately,” he said. “Every day, I was applying what I was learning to my job in real time.”

While earning his MBA, Sims served as senior director of inflight operations. From overseeing network operations and business support teams for the Inflight Operations department to maintaining performance standards for the airline’s 17,000 flight attendants, his role made a significant impact on the Southwest in-flight experience. 

He credits a class called Ethical Leadership, instructed by Matt Quade, PhD, for sharpening his discernment in an industry that is full of everyday dilemmas. A quick online search will uncover dozens of examples of airlines that made headlines—some of which could be traced back to ethical lapses.

“Through my Ethical Leadership class, I became more vigilant about the ethical issues that can occur without anyone realizing it,” Sims said. “I used this knowledge to confirm our ethical boundaries were pre-drawn, employees were equipped to abide by them and we had a clear system of accountability in place. I am grateful for the way Dr. Quade encouraged me to take a deeper dive into all the ways my decisions impact the people I lead.”

Sims also points to the value of an MBA course called Management of Information Systems, instructed by Timothy Kayworth, PhD, in equipping him to navigate a complex ongoing project at work. 

At Southwest, multiple departments had invested substantial time and money into creating a product that would standardize employee leave management time across the company, but the product was not working as intended. 

“It was fascinating to learn in my information systems class that most major technology projects involve complexities that delay an initial successful rollout—it was not just us,” Sims said. “Thanks to what I gleaned from my course, I was wiser when the project re-launched.”

Before the re-launch of the project, Sims was better prepared to evaluate project governance, determining which stakeholders should weigh in. He also pushed his colleagues to clearly define their objective and metrics of success.

“I was able to affect changes in governance, testing and metrics of success,” Sims said. “I was also more prepared to understand the stressors experienced by technical employees and ask more fruitful questions. The project is still in progress, but it is going much better the second time around.” 

Sims also gained valuable insight from more technical courses. He remembers feeling apprehensive about taking a Managerial Accounting course, but it ended up being one of the most useful of his MBA career. 

“While I have people on my team to handle tasks like profit analysis, determining product costs, planning and forecasting, I wanted to better understand their world,” Sims said. “Now, with a broader knowledge base, I can better engage on their level and ensure we are taking a data-driven approach to financial decision making.” 

Looking Ahead

In 2023, the year he finished his MBA, Sims became managing director of inflight crew support and services. After spending years overseeing daily operations, he leads a team of more than 100 employees in leading “day-after” operations. His team audits payroll, manages overall job performance, works with labor unions on employee improvement issues and supports employees who have experienced traumatic events or other hardships on the job.

“Leading day-after operations has felt different but equally meaningful,” Sims said. “Ultimately, we are doing the same work of equipping and inspiring employees to take care of each other and their customers.” 

Nearly five years after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, Southwest has entered an era of change and expansion.

“Some of the shifts we’re making, such as assigned seats and red-eye flights, are a significant departure from how Southwest has operated for the past 53 years,” Sims said. “They require a massive investment in technology and innovation. Long term, our vision is to generate additional revenue while maintaining a low-cost structure so we can continue to grow.”

Thanks to his MBA experience, Sims feels equipped to succeed as a managing director and eventually progress to a more senior role within the company.

“The Baylor name carries a lot of weight and credibility,” he said. “My MBA equips me to scale up large organizations, understand operational constraints and pursue growth strategies. I could have taken many paths to professional growth, but I am grateful I chose the Baylor path. I can look back and say that through this experience, I did not just become a better businessperson; I became a better person.” 

What’s Next

Are you looking for new tools to help your company grow?

Click here to learn more about Baylor’s Online MBA for working professionals. 

Click here to fill out a form to speak to one of our Enrollment Coordinators.

Click here to read a story about another successful airline executive who is using her Online MBA to become a more effective post-pandemic leader.