Love at Southwest

Airlines

Headquarters: P.O. Box 36611

2702 Love Field Drive

Dallas, TX 75235 Phone: 214-792-4000 Stock Symbol: LUV (NYSE)

Major domestic airline

that provides short haul,

high frequency, point-to-

point, low fare service Today, SW operates

over 400 Boeing 737

aircrafts in over 59

citiesLowest operating cost

structure in the domestic

airline industry and

consistently offers the

lowest and simplest fares

Incorporated in Texas

and commenced

Customer Service on

June 18, 1971 with 3

Boeing 737 aircrafts

serving 3 cities –

Dallas, Houston, and

San Antonio

1st airline to offer a

profit-sharing plan to

employees beginning in

1979, employees now

own about 10% of

company stock

1st major airline

to offer “ticketless” travel

system-wide

1st major airline to

enter information

superhighway by

creating its own web

page

1st airline to offer

online booking

Such loyalty and productivity among the employees were brought by the way

southwest’s Management treats them.

A very productive and loyal workforce is a key reason for it’s

success.

It recruits employees

who work for a company

they love, instead of

those who demand

simple paycheck at the

end of the week.Being sarcastic is one the key qualifications a person should need to even apply.

The employees are

rewarded according

to the feed back

given by the

customers.

MOREOVER THEY ARE ALWAYS READY TO TAKE RISKS AND

CONQUER THE WORLD

These decisions have helped Southwest be flexible in the face of the recent decreases in

airplane passengers caused by the 9/11 terrorist attacks and the world economic crisis.

FOLLOWING ARE THE STEPS TAKEN BY SOUTHWEST TO SAVE MONEY AND PASS TO CUSTOMERS THROUGH LOW FARES :

Thus adding more passengers per flight.

They have lower turn around times and a unique boarding process without assigned seating.

By providing lower affordable flying for passengers, this results in faster turnarounds and lower fares.

3100 SHORT AND POINT TO POINT TRIPS PER DAY

PUNCTUAL

The mechanics and management can substitute the aircraft and can reschedule flight crews or transfer mechanics in a timely manner. 

UNIQUE BOARDING PASS

PROGRAM TO HEDGE FUEL

PRICES BY PURCHASING

OPTIONS YEARS IN ADVANCE

LONG TERM CONTRACT

EVERY MINUTE THING USED IS MADE OF SPECIAL LIGHTER FABRICS.

THEY DON’T EVEN CARRY MORE WATER IN THE PLANE TO REDUCE WEIGHT THEY ARE STRICT AND CAUTIOUS ABOUT THE WEIGHT OF LUGGAGES PERMITTED

LESS WEIGHT ,LESS FUEL

IT HAS NEVER SERVED MEALS AND DOESN’T HAVE ADVANCED SEAT RESERVATIONS.

AND FLIES ONLY BOEING AIRPLANES.

Southwest is one of those airlines who are consistently earning profits despite the problems the industry is facing.

With such stability, the corporation is able to make decisions and adjust policies, which other heavily burdened airlines may not be able to imitate

There are airlines who would not want to copy the Southwest Airlines model.

They pride themselves more on service and feel that because their service is better, they can charge a premium price on their tickets.

Also there are people who would still pay to fly with these airlines.

In 2004, Southwest Airline served:49 million cans of soda, juices, and water 8.1 million alcoholic beverages3.3 million bags of pretzels95.3 million bags of peanuts

Following are the steps taken by Southwest to save money and pass to customers through low fares;

Flies over 3100 short and point to point trips in a day. Fast turn around service . Unique boarding pass Operate Boeing 737 for all its flight which simplifies the training process for employees and save time and manpower. Program to hedge fuel prices by purchasing options years in advance long term contract. Lighter planes as lighter planes use less fuel. It has never served meals, does not have advanced seat reservations, and flies only Boeing airplanes.

RECAP

DISCLAIMERCreated by Bhupendra Vishwakarma, UIT-RGPV during a marketing internship by pof. Sameer Mathur, IIM Lucknow.