Brian Parrish is a Senior Public Relations Advisor on the Communications & Outreach Team at Southwest Airlines. As a media spokesperson and communications strategist, Brian guides the airline through proactive media relations, while also monitoring and responding to an array of media inquiries and potential reputational issues that face the airline as it operates more than 3,500 daily flights to 121 airports in 11 countries. In his public relations role, he specializes in responding to complex operational issues and monitors employee, consumer, regulatory, and broader industry issues to help predict and plan external, internal, and executive messaging. He also contributes to managing the crisis communications plan that supports the airline’s accident and incident response plan.
Brian has more than 20 years of experience designing and executing internal and external communications campaigns, with more than 15 of those years spent in the airline industry. Prior to Southwest, he served as Director of Inflight Service at JetBlue Airways where he held responsibility for developing employee and labor communications to support the unique engagement needs of JetBlue’s Flight Attendants – the airline’s largest mobile group of brand ambassadors. He began his career in public relations by working in corporate communications for Toyota North America, followed by working at Ketchum in New York City supporting brand communications for airline clients.
Brian graduated from the University of Maryland with a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism, with a concentration in public relations. After college, he served as a reporter for World Airline News and Air Safety Week where he gained reporting experience. He holds a FAA Commercial Pilot License and was a recipient of the President’s Award for 2022 recognizing his work on Southwest’s Communications & Outreach Team.