Competitive Strategy Southwest Airlines

Business Strategy – BAD 4013 – SUMMER 1999 Case Study Southwest Airlines I. Strategic Profile and Case Analysis Purpose The mission of Southwest Airlines is dedication to the highest quality of customer service delivered with a sense of warmth, friendliness, individual pride, and company spirit. Twenty-seven years ago, Rolling King, owner of floundering commuter airline, and Herb Kelleher, King’s lawyer, got together and decided to start a different kind of airline that would provide a short-haul, low-fair, high-frequency, point-to-point service in the United States. The company began service on June 18, 1971 with flights between Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio (“The Golden Triangle” as Herb called it). Southwest Airlines is the fourth

The threat of new entry is high because there are no significant barriers of entry in the airline industry. For example, airplanes can be easily leased, defraying the large initial capital investment. Additionally, exit cost in the business is

The five universal competitive plans include overall low-cost provider strategy, broad differentiation strategy, focused low-cost strategy, focused differentiation strategy and best cost provider strategy (Bethel, 2017). Southwest Airlines popular competitive strategy is keeping customers happy by being low cost, employee driven, future-minded, and differentiated. The overall low-cost provider strategy that is being used at Southwest is a low-cost airline that focuses on no-frills service (Investopedia, 2015). Southwest Airlines diligently follows the strategy of a differentiated low-cost carrier. [They do this by providing the lowest possible fare in the industry, and do so by focusing on consistent service, reliable operations,

A major operational cost saving involved entering the major air industry with a new fleet of Airbus aircraft. Although European made, Airbus was chosen due to their fuel efficiency, easier maintenance, and five-year warranty (Gajilan, 2003). Neeleman realized that quick turnaround time was a crucial factor in maximizing profits by simply keeping the new planes in the air longer than the competition. Because JetBlue worked largely out of secondary airports (Midway vs. O’Hare), its flights avoided more

The five universal competitive plans include overall low-cost provider strategy, broad differentiation strategy, focused low-cost strategy, focused differentiation strategy and best cost provider strategy (Bethel, 2017). Southwest Airlines popular competitive strategy is keeping customers happy by being low cost, employee driven, future-minded, and differentiated. The overall low-cost provider strategy that is being used at Southwest is a low-cost airline that focuses on no-frills service (Investopedia, 2015). Southwest prides itself on being a people-oriented airline that operates with warm and helpful employees and team members. The most valuable competitive interest has been being its intense focus on hiring the right people (Investopedia, 2015).

The “ Battle Of The Air” has been used to describe current situation in the airline industry. The emergence of “ No Frills “ discount carriers such as Air Asia, Mahlindo, Firefly have threatened the survival of the traditional giants such as MAS, SIA, Thai Airways in the APAC regions and even the Big Boys across the continents such as United, Delta, Continental, Luftansa, Emirates and US Airway ( Myron J.Smith, 2012 ) face competition

The deregulation of the airline industry may have been a win for passengers, but most likely not a win for labor groups. Prior to deregulation the airline industry was highly unionized, enjoying excellent wages, benefits and pensions. Since deregulation there has been a drop in wages and most carriers have eliminated pensions. Also before deregulation, unions would bargain with management at each air carrier and once a contract was reached, the next carrier would begin bargaining from the other contract, to enhance theirs. This continued bargaining from carrier to carrier helped to build better work rules and compensation.

With the passing of the airline deregulation act of 1978, airline carriers were now provided with new options to help expand their route systems and to help the flexibility of innovative pricing structures. This flexibility allowed the carrier to now grow into new markets. Also, deregulation now brought many unwanted and very hostile takeovers and mergers. Many airlines became onboard with this and became giants in the industry.

The risk of entry into the airline industry by potential competitors is low due to the “liberalization of market access, a result of globalization. According to the IATA (International Air Transport Association), about 1,300 new airlines were established in the last 40 years,” (Cederholm, 2016). The cost structure of businesses in an industry is a determinant of rivalry. In the Airlines Industry, fixed costs are high, because before the organization can make any sales, they must invest in air crafts, fuel and service employees. These items come attached with hefty price tags. Industries that require such enormous amounts of start-up capital as predicted by many analysts

Differentiation strategies refer to the strategies that are adopted by businesses in a bid to gain competitive advantage in a given industry and over their competitors. Through differentiation, the company’s products or services stand out among other products that are offered by their competitors. Therefore, differentiation in essence refers to a scenario whereby, a company offers products or services which are unique or have features which are unique and which makes them stand out among its competitors. The airline industry is termed as an industry that experiences rapid and volatile changes amidst growing competition among many competitors in the globe. With this in mind, different airlines have to adopt different strategies that are to differentiate them among the many competing airlines in the world. This paper will focus on Southwest Airlines in the discussion of the differentiation strategies that it has adopted. Also, recommendations will be made will be done in reference to Southwest Airlines.

1. There are a few trends in the US airline industry. One is consolidation, wherein existing players merge in an attempt to lower their costs and generate operating synergies. The most recent major merger was the United Continental merger, which is still an ongoing affair, but has created the largest airline in the United States by market share (Martin, 2012). Another trend is towards low-cost carriers. In the US, Southwest has been a long-running success and JetBlue a strong new competitor, but in other countries this business model has proven exceptionally successful. The third major trend is the upward trend in jet fuel prices, and the increasing importance that this puts on hedging fuel prices and capacity management (Hinton, 2011).

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.

The primary inputs to the airline industry include airplanes, labor and fuel. There are only two major manufacturers (three at the time of the case – Boeing, Airbus and McDonnell Douglas) for large commercial aircraft. This, along with the relationship specific

Low-cost carriers pose a serious threat to traditional "full service" airlines, since the high cost structure of full-service carriers prevents them from competing

Southwest Airlines faced many barriers to entry from the fierce competition of other airlines in the industry. Though competition was fierce, Southwest Airlines managed to succeed by doing things differently. Their mission was to provide affordable air travel to those who would not normally fly. Contradictory to the rest of the airline industry, Southwest maintained a profit while keeping its fares low. Southwest was unique to the industry in two ways. They focused on the short haul traveler and used a point-to-point method of flight connections.