[Author’s Name]
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Essay on Southwest Airlines
Introduction
Southwest Airlines was established in 1971 in Texas with 3 planes and routes between Dallas, Houston and San Antonio. Business model was simply: "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.
Today Southwest Airlines is the 4th largest airline in the United States servicing 58 cities with a fleet of 366 planes and is on its 29th straight year of profitability.
Fortune magazine consistently recognized Southwest as one of the top 10 businesses to work for in the U.S. and one of the most admired companies in the world. Among airlines, Southwest ranked on top as the most admired airline worldwide from 1997 through 2001. In 2002, The Wall Street Journal reported Southwest Airlines ranked first among airlines for customer service satisfaction, according to a survey by the American Customer Satisfaction Index.
Business Ethics listed Southwest in its "100 Best Corporate Citizens," a list that ranks public companies based on their corporate service to various stakeholder groups.
Business Model
Customers - who are they? Short haul business travelers who want to get there when they want. In other words offer several flight time choices between cities in close proximity. Families who decided to take a short flight rather than driving their car the same distance.
Low Cost - Average one-way fare is $83 and it supplies 90% of all discount fares Concerned with keeping cost low to increase profitability rather than increase market share. Understand specific market niche.
Fly Short Distances - Southwest does not use a hub-and-spoke system, but rather flies point to point. Average flight last just over an hour.
Have Fun!! - Typical flight attendant spiel: "Please pay attention to the flight attendant at the front of the cabin.....
