The Fight To Fly: Southwest Airlines History

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).

Bargaining Power of Customers (high)- Customers has several options when it comes to flying. But the main attraction to customers are low prices and Southwest makes it known that they have some of the lowest airfares. The only way Southwest can take back the power is by offering direct flights to cities that other airliners do not offer. Besides the small occurrence of having a direct flight to a city that no other airline has, Southwest

Southwest Airlines was formed in 1967 by Rollin King and Herb Kelleher and started service in June of 1971. The airline is headquartered in Dallas, Texas and originally operated flights within the state of Texas. The company has since expanded and now operates flights from Dallas to almost all major cities in the United States and is considered the largest low-cost carrier in the country. “Southwest seeks to offer a travel product that is built around flights targeted to specific demographics and ticket pricing that is simplified so that passengers know

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.

Southwest Airlines was incorporated on March 15, 1967, in Texas as Air Southwest Co. by Rollin King and Herb Kelleher. At the time, Southwest Airlines had a fleet of three Boeing 737 aircraft serving Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio. Southwest Airlines Founder Herb Kelleher had faith that by operating within Texas, the airline could escape from federal regulation. According to SWA, on February 21, 1968, Braniff, Trans-Texas and Continental Airlines attained a provisional restraining order from a District Court forbidding the Texas Aeronautics Commission (TAC) from delivering SWA Certificate. On May 13, 1970, the Texas Supreme Court unanimously votes to overturn the lower courts ' findings and rules in favor of Air Southwest (SWA, History by Date, (1)). Conclusively, on December 07, 1970, the United States Supreme Court denies appeal by Braniff and Texas International (TI) of Texas Supreme Court decision (1).

Southwest Airlines original name was Air Southwest in 1967 in Dallas, Texas, before the change of the name to Southwest Airlines in 1971. They were faced with battles due to legal issues with Dallas and Love field, because of the Wright Amendment, but the come to an agreement to allow 4 states to connect to Texas. Southwest bought 129 new planes, because of the expansion of the company growth, which currently have 141 planes that enhance the growth of the company because of shorter flights (Gimbel, 2005). Southwest was started in 1971, by Rollin King and Herb Kelleher, which released it first flight from Dallas Love Field that is located in Houston and San Antonio Texas. The passengers look for an airline services that can get them to their destination at a cheap price. Majority of the passenger are looking for an airline service that will eliminate layovers and multiple stops as possible.

Southwest Airlines is globalizing their company in order to reach a bigger market, and become competition for other companies. Southwest Airlines has already conquered the domestic market beating American Airlines, United, and Delta according to Fortune. Access to a new market is what motivated Southwest to globalize, they are expanding to the south of North America, with their new assets found in their acquired airline AirTran Airways (LeBeau, 4) . Southwest Airlines has brought low rates and a great experience to the domestic market, which was warmly received, they now plan to dip into global market to bring better service to all.

Southwest Airlines is a passenger airline company that arranges and provides scheduled flights for passenger and transportation freight services. The company mainly provides, low-fare, point-to-point services all over the US and near-international markets. The headquarters is located in Dallas, Texas and as of December 2014, the company employed over 46,278 people. The company was founded by Rollin King and Herb Kelleher in 1971. Southwest was the first airline to introduce the frequent mile program. This took place in the mid 1980’s. This type of program allowed passengers to add up traveled miles to use later as credit on a future airline ticket. The traveled miles would add up and would also reduce the price of a ticket. Southwest created the idea of senior discount, fun fares and the fun packs. These were perks that attracted people from different age groups. When Southwest originally was incorporated, the idea was to operate in three cities in Texas, but after taking over Morris Air and TranStar in 1987, this gave them a cutting advantage in the airline industry.

In the mid 1960’s, Rollin King, an owner of a small commuter air service from San Antonio Texas realized the inconvenience and expense of travelling between San Antonio, Dallas, and Houston. Through the urging of his banker and his own vision, Rollin King decided to start an intrastate airline. King first pitched his plan to Herb Kelleher – a San Antonio attorney who had performed previous legal work for King. King’s proposal was to focus on the three-city, Golden Triangle of San Antonio, Dallas, and Houston, all of which were experiencing rapid growth and development. King’s research determined that the three cities were far enough apart in

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 just recently made an effort to become more of an international company. In 2011, they bought out AirTran Airways, and have been working the past few years to fully integrate AirTran and Southwest into a company that is one and the same. Beginning on July 1, 2014, Southwest began offering international service to Cancun, Mexico City, Cabo, Aruba, Montego Bay, Nassau, and Punta Cana (Southwest Corporate Fact Sheet - Corporate Fact Sheet - Southwest Airlines Newsroom."). These international flights are the first by the company but likely won’t be the last. In addition to adding international flights to their flight schedule, Southwest has also been trying to shift away from the low fare reputation that customers and competitors associate with the

The Southwest Airlines Company is a major airline in the United States. Whose headquarters is based in Dallas Texas. The airline is one of the world 's largest low-cost carriers. The company was established in1967 by Herb Kelleher and renamed to its current name in 1971.

Southwest Airlines was originally named Air Southwest. It was started on March 15, 1967, by Rollin King and Herb Kelleher. Southwest Airlines is an American low fare airline based in Dallas, Texas. It is also the largest airline in the United States by number of passengers carried domestically in a year and the third largest airline in the world by number of passengers carried. Southwest is also one the most profitable airlines in the world posting a profit for 34 consecutive years.

Founded in 1967, Southwest entered the airline industry at a time when interstate travel was heavily regulated by the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB).10 Some of those regulations imposed by CAB include: airlines were not allowed to discount fares even when their planes were at half capacity, airlines were not able to add new routes or remove old routes, and new carriers were not allowed to enter the interstate airline travel.10

Southwest Airlines Company (Southwest Airlines or ‘the Company’ SWA) is a passenger airline that provides scheduled passenger and freight transportation services. The Company primarily provides scheduled services throughout the US and near-international markets. It is headquartered in Dallas, Texas and employs 48,000 people and serves over one hundred million customers annually (“Southwest,” 2015). Southwest Airlines has accumulated over forty years of revenue and is one of the supremely flown airlines in the United States of America (Dess, et al, 2014, p. C137). Recognized for dominating the national or domestic airline market, Southwest Airlines’ diligence has built an