Taking A Look At Southwest Airlines

In 1967, two Texas businessmen, Rollin King and Herb Kelleher, had a notion that travelers needed a means of air travel which would get them to their destination when they wanted which meant on time, and with the lowest fares possible. They also felt that if they made the experience enjoyable, passengers would continue to fly their airline over their competition. So with those concepts in mind, they started an airline service which was different than others in the industry and in 1971 they made their first schedules flights. With their small growth early on, operating only as a regional airline which serviced locations such as Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio, to passing the $1 billion revenue mark in 1989, the organization has continued

Their strategy has been to create an environment which customers can trust and can relax allowing them to enjoy the experience. Their major attributes to their success is due to their low-cost model and the company’s clear key business purpose and core values which allows them to consistently execute their business model (Advance Business Consulting, 2009). The organizations outlines a very clear business purpose which is to be the only short haul, low fare, high frequency, point-to-point carrier in America and they have proven to be very successful at that by putting a high emphasis on the type of cultural they cultivate. They have also created a strategy to focus their cultural instead of providing many of the frills other airlines offer. Although they are well known for their low cost, they are also known for their simple in-flight service and fuel hedging using only the Boeing 737 planes which has saved them millions of dollars in maintenance and operating fees. To reach its highly competitive position, Southwest Airlines has focused on four main strategies: being low-cost, employee-driven, future minded, and differentiated (Southwest,

They have expanded its domestic services and with the acquisitions of Air Tran Holdings Inc. in 2011 they were able to expand their coverage to include international routes locations such as Aruba, Jamaica, Mexico, and Puerto Rico to name a few. They also continuously monitor the market to understand what they can provide which their competitors are not. They have created a system which empowers their agents to make decisions for all flights, providing them with hand-help computers allowing them the ability to report issues quicker which decreases delays due to breakdowns, they are the only carrier which offers two pieces of checked luggage free for passengers, and have increased their technology on baggage handling to improve their current system. This organization has been a strong force in the airlines industry and is continuing to strengthen their organization to maintain their competitive