My experience with Southwest corporate culture was interesting, especially when compared to other major airlines.

The "LUV" spirit, or whatever it's called, is evident. And they also have a stated practice of "hire based on attitude and enthusiasm, and we'll train them on the rest." Made for a more entertaining environment than a normal corporate HQ.

Most pertinent to the above discussion though, was the ever-present attitude of: "We're SWA, we know better, we don't need expensive IT contractors, we can make it better with some elbow grease, Texas know-how, and good-ol-boy gumption."

One of those things that saves you tons of money, right up until the point it doesn't.

ETA: United used to have a similar "stitch it together with spreadsheets and baling wire" attitude when it came to IT. Not due to any kind of larger culture, more because their leadership was cheap and/or oblivious. They've kinda "come to Jesus" on the whole thing, and now you can't walk 10 feet in their HQ without running into an IT contractor from one of a dozen different companies. They still have their issues, but they're on a much better IT footing than 5 years ago, and I think it's reflected in their operation.