Case Study : South West Airlines

The case study, prepared by Arthur A. Thompson, University of Alabama, and John E. Gamble, University of South Alabama, focuses on the rise to business prominence of Southwest Airlines, a regional airline with a low-cost no-frills approach.

This short paper is an overview of Southwest Airlines, its strategy, and what role Human

For the engine cost, there is also a positive correlation thus; increase in this cost may also vary in the increase in average age of fleet per hour. However, on this cost, only 61% is determined in the regression equation. Like in the airframe cost, there will be additional 2.6 in cost for every hour of average age in thousands.

This paper will give a historical overview of the company, discuss the ingredients to the company success, offer some financial strengths and present a final conclusion. Section I: Southwest's History Twenty-seven years ago, Rollin King, a San Antonio entrepreneur who owned a small commuter air service, and Kelleher, who was a lawyer at the time, got together and decided to start a different kind of airline. They began with one simple notion. If you get your passengers to their destinations when they want to get there, on time, at the lowest possible fares, and make certain they have a good time doing it, people will fly your airline. And you know what? They were right. Within those 27 years, Southwest Airlines became the fifth largest major airline in America. Today, they have flown over 50 million passengers a year to 54 cities all over the southwest and beyond. They do it over 2,300 times a day with over 267 of the newest jets in the nation and fly only one type aircraft; the B-737. The average age of their fleet is only 8.4 years and they own over sixty percent of them. In May 1988, they were the first airline to win the coveted U.S. Department of Transportation Triple Crown for a month - Best On-time Record, Best Baggage Handling, and Fewest Customer Complaints. Since then, they've won it

Today Southwest Airlines is the biggest domestic passenger carrier in the United States of America operating more than 3,400 flights a day. They provide service to 93 cities and 5 countries internationally. Last year Southwest Airlines, “Enplaned approximately 136 million Customers (About Southwest). The airline has grown since it’s first years flying out of Love Field in Dallas, Texas. In the beginning, Southwest provided flight service to only three Texas cities in 1971. One of Southwest Airlines’ early advertisements was a double page ad that ran in Dallas newspapers during May announcing their first flight on June 18, 1971 (Lusk). This advertisement introducing a new airline would soon revolutionize the airline industry and create the new category, of low cost carrier, to the world.

On February 29, 1996, WestJet Airlines came to life. They became the face of low-cost, short-haul, point-to-point airline for Western Canada. The organization began when entrepreneur Clive Beddoe, president of Hanover Group of Companies purchased an aircraft for personal use. Beddoe later made his aircraft available to other business people through Morgan Air, owned and operated by Tim Morgan. Tim Morgan, along with Calgary businessmen Don Bell and Mark Hill found an opportunity to start an airline. They all reached out to David Neelman, who was president of Morris Air and asked for assistance on writing the business plan for WestJet. They joined forces and WestJet Airlines came to life. They all held a different position and Beddoe was the president, chief executive officer, and chairman of the board of directors. Bell and Morgan were senior vice-presidents and Hill was the vice president. When WestJet first began, they only flew to Vancouver, Kelowna, Calgary, Edmonton, and Winnipeg. They now fly to 102 destinations in 19 different countries. In addition, they also increased the amount of aircraft they own. WestJet began in 1996 with just two aircraft and by August of 2000, they increased to 94 aircraft. Not only did they increase aircraft, but employees too. Their workforce expanded to 30,000 employees. On July 1999, WestJet hit a huge milestone when it completed its initial public offering of 2.5 million common shares. Clive Beddoe

Southwest Airlines is a very aggressive company striving to increase its competitive advantage in the market without compromising the core values that have been set to differentiate itself from its competitors. It’s only by keeping the values of working hard, having fun, and treating everyone with respect that Southwest Airlines and its affiliates will continue to be an award winning organization. Southwest Airlines has been known to create a synergy between the multitude of personalities and behaviors which make up its workforce. Southwest has benefited from its successes by being able to acquire other

The airline industry has long attempted to segment the air travel market in order to effectively target its constituents. The classic airline model consists of First Class, Business Class and Economy, and the demographics that make up the classes have both similarities and differences to the other classes. For instance there may be similarities between business class travellers on a particular flight, but they will not all be travelling for the same reason. An almost-universal characteristic of air travel is that customers do not fly for the sake of flying; the destination is the important element and the travel is a by-product, a means-to-an-end that involves the necessity of an aircraft that gets the customer from point A to point B.

Southwest Airlines represents a rather unique organizational force that has driven the company to success since its inception in 1971. One of the most unique features about the organizational structure is that it is largely decentralized and employees are openly welcomed to express their opinions on a wide range of organizational issues. However, despite the "hands off" management strategy, the company consistently ranks as one of the top airlines in regards to customer complaints; in 2008, for example, the company received 0.25 complaints on average for every one hundred thousand passengers who used the aviation services (Triangle Business Journal, 2009). This analysis will look at some of the organizational factors that have contributed to the success of Southwest Airlines over the course of the last few decades.

When Herb Kelleher and Rollin King founded Southwest Airlines in 1971, their mission stated the “dedication of the highest quality of customer service delivered with a sense of warmth, friendliness, individual pride, and company spirit” (Smith, 2012). With that mission in mind, Herb Keller and Rollin King managed to make Southwest the only profitable airline in the United States (Smith, 2012). Southwest’s mission is not the only reason why the airline continues to grow. Without the way, Herb Kelleher former CEO of Southwest, had developed a particular leadership style, power base, and a set way the organization motivates its’ work force, the company would not be as successful as it is

This proposal addresses the needed steps to be taken in order for Southwest Airlines to see continued growth in the airline industry. Southwest Airlines has been able to remain one of the most profitable airlines in the industry for an extended period of time. Even with the hindrance of the 2001 terrorist attacks involving airplanes and the U.S recession of 2008, Southwest has continued to see strong revenue growth. Meanwhile, other companies were experiencing major losses and in some cases folding. Southwest Airlines has capitalized on the company’s strength of being the top low cost

Southwest Airlines (SWA) maintained a low-cost, low-price and no frills strategy. The small Texas carrier began as a concept, its business plan detailed on a cocktail napkin in 1971 and grew into the nation’s fourth largest airline. Known as an innovator with low operating costs, dominating smaller airports, with a humorous customer service, SWA saw its 40th profitable year in 2013. Like all companies, SWA underwent leadership changes in 2001, and said goodbye to the company’s founder in 2008. Unfortunately, the changes in leadership were not the only changes; the organization proceeded to alter their beliefs and activities.

Upon review on a profile of a successful company we see Southwest Airlines as a prime example. Their ability to recognize weakness in their management system and adjust strategies has allowed them to emerge as a leader in the US airline industry. Southwest is the largest US low fare carrier with low fare rates, no additional fees and excellent customer service. Southwest Airlines currently has one of the most innovative management practices in the US to date. A review of the critical elements of Southwest Airlines proves to be effective and innovative.

The project requires the student to carry out a research, analysis and discussion on how a Singapore listed company can access to the country’s financial system and how it benefits the company in achieving its business objective. The research will cover the various types of financial services offered by financial intermediaries whom the corporation can access to.

Southwest Airlines was created in the late 1960’s by a businessperson Rolling King, and law school graduate Herb Kelleher, who sought a faster travel time between Houston, Dallas, and San Antonio, Texas (Dess, et al., 2014, p. C137). After overcoming all of the antagonism and legal problems of many major airlines, Southwest was able to take its first flight in 1971 (Dess, et al., 2014, p.C137). With a dedication and will power to grow the company, King and Kelleher sought out ways to increase growth.