Southwest Airlines' Sustainability and Future Essay

Southwest Airlines is based in Dallas and founded in 1971. They are known for their higher airfares and good customer services. (Elliot) The employees are known to be social with the travelers. They often times make changes and waive airline requirements. (Elliot) For example: “Robert Siegel and his wife scheduled a

Southwest Airlines Co., established in 1971 by Rollin King and Herb Kelleher, began its operations with only three Boeing 737 aircrafts. It is headquartered in Dallas, Texas(Hawkins, Misra, & Tang, 2012). Southwest is well known as one of the largest low-cost carriers. With this strategy, the company has dramatically grown up and deeply rooted in the US airline industry. Now, Southwest Airlines Co. operates 633 aircrafts to 93 domestic cities and the highest number of passengers used Southwest Airlines to fly around U.S in Jan 2014 (Hawkins, Misra, & Tang, 2012). To accomplish more than 40th consecutive years of both profitability and competitiveness, Southwest Airlines Company is constantly trying to find the routes to differentiate itself from other domestic carriers (Hawkins, Misra, & Tang, 2012).

People – One of the many things good about Southwest Airlines is that the kinds of people who are heroes of the organization are people who care and go out of their way to help the customers. They’re the ones who are celebrated and held up as shining examples. Additionally, high levels of satisfaction among employees can be attributed to Southwest employee policy. Happy employees can provide high quality service and bring more customers back. To reinforce the culture of hard work, high-energy, fun, local autonomy, and creativity, the company provided continuous education program to employees. If you can help someone out or brighten someone’s day, be it a co-worker or a passenger, you’re doing your job well.

Southwest Airlines is a major US airline established in 1967 that services a multitude of cities in all 50 states and beyond. The company is known for its outstanding quality in providing services and it 's cost effective ticket prices to its many passengers throughout the nation. This airline is based in the southwestern United States, in the city of Dallas Texas, and due to the tremendous number of airplanes that it has and the timely service that it provides to its passengers, this airline services more US passengers than any other airline. This airline also has the largest fleet of planes of any economical or low-cost airline service in the world and employees more than 45,000.

At Southwest Airlines, the company’s business strategy has a positive effect on the training they provide to their employees. Southwest Airlines is a Texas based airline that started up in 1971 (Corporate Fact Sheet). Over the years the airline has been recognized for its outstanding customer service and its low airfare fees. Due to their excellent customer service, the company has been ranked number one in customer satisfaction in 2013 by the U.S Department of Transportation. In. 2015, Southwest airlines was recognized as one of the Best Places to Work in the Glassdoor Employees’ Choice Award. The reason that Southwest airlines is recognized for all these great things is because they obtain a good organizational control over the airline.

As the low-cost leader, Southwest spends an inordinate amount of time focusing on its mission, vision, culture, and goals. This concentration allows Southwest to rank as one of the 100 Best Companies to work for in America. The employee’s attitudes and efforts lead to fewer customer complaints and more on-time arrivals and departures.

Southwest Airlines Co. began its operations in 1971 and has been serving the industry for the past 43 years now (Southwest Airlines, n.d.). It is the major domestic airline, and ranked number one in 2014 by the Bureau of Transportation Statistics (United States Department of Transportation, 2014). Back in 1971 the airline began its services in Texas in the cities of Houston, San Antonio, and Dallas. The company has been ranked as the nation's largest low cost carrier (Mergent, 2012). It offers the lowest fares, and has the lowest cost structure in the industry.

Southwest Airlines' strong organizational culture is reflected in its mission statement "dedication to the highest quality of Customer Service delivered with a sense of warmth, friendliness, individual pride, and Company Spirit" (Southwest, 2012). Southwest serves not only as a prime example of a company that excels in customer service and profitability, but as one that has utilized employee development as a means to meet these ends. Southwest makes a strong commitment to foster ongoing relationships with human resources. They demand that their employees are responsible members, however

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

Southwest Airlines: Culture, Values and Operating Practices (in Thompson, A. A., Strickland. A. J. and Gamble, J. (2005) Crafting and Executing Strategy (Fourteenth Edition), McGraw-Hill, New York, pages C-636– C-664).

Southwest Airlines was incorporated in 1967 and founded by Rollin King and Herb Kelleher. However, due to lawsuits, Southwest was unable to fly their first commercial flight until 1971. Southwest founded their business on the quote: "If you get your passengers to their destinations when they want to get there, on time, at the lowest possible fares, and make darn sure they have a good time doing it, people will fly yourairline5." Southwest focused on a point-to- point operational system and a low cost pricing strategy that is currently used today. The organization is very centralized due to its point to point emphasis. The centralization of the company requires very strategic route utilization. The company for instance, selects routes to airports with low competition and overall traffic. This allows the company to be more price competitive as competitors are reluctant to venture into less travelled routes. In order to make decisions regarding these routes a centralized organizational structure is warranted. In addition to the centralized organizational structure of Southwest, many committees, teams, and task forces are designed with the sole purpose of reducing waste and cost control. The airline industry is predicated on cost containment, particular those related to fuel and other commodity prices. Task forces are designed with the purpose of providing a sustainable means of reducing costs without a corresponding decline in customer experience. The centralized

Southwest Airlines is often a modeled by other companies for its organizational structure. Organizations that have an effective management team are successful in developing a strong organizational culture, utilizing managerial controls, and leveraging diversity. Effective management teams are developed by cultivating leadership skills in those that supervise the company’s associates. Organizations want managers that can motivate their associates to achieve the goals and vision of the company. Managers that are able to utilize the leadership principles to engage their associates to share the success of the company are considered effective. Leaders are able to develop a strong vision and communicate that

"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." (The Mission of Southwest Airlines, 2011)

Southwest Airlines encourages respect, innovation, a caring attitude and strives to adhere to all labor and employment laws which includes respecting privacy and equal opportunity. With a strong concern for avoiding corruption and avoiding anti-competitive behavior, they work hard to maintain accountability of all business practices. An example of this is the promotion of competition to provide consumers low air fares and a variety of high quality air service offerings across the US. This shows their devotion to the community they serve and maintains the company culture.

Southwest Airlines provides short haul, high frequency, point-to-point, low-fare services to and from 58 cities across the United States. The company is known for its low-cost fares and superior customer service in the airline industry. The company was started in 1971 with a motto still lived by today, "If you get your passengers to their destinations when they want to get there, on time, at the lowest possible fares, and make darn sure they have a good time doing it, people will fly your airline." This motto has been effective for the company because they recently reported their 58th straight quarterly profit.