SouthwestEssay Preview: SouthwestReport this essayMore than 32 years ago, Rollin King and Herb Kelleher got together and decided to start a different kind of airline. They began with one simple notion: 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. And you know what? They were right.
What began as a small Texas airline has grown to become one of the largest airlines in America. Today, Southwest Airlines flies more than 65 million passengers a year to 59 great cities (60 airports) all across the country, and they do it more than 2,800 times a day.
They have nearly 400 of the newest jets in the nation, with an average age of 9.6 years. Included in their fleet are three flying killer whales, Shamu One, Two and Three; Lone Star One, painted like the Texas flag, to celebrate Southwest Airlines 20th Anniversary in a style and manner second to none; Arizona One, a symbol of the importance of the state of Arizona to Southwest Airlines; California One, a high-flying tribute to the state of California; Silver One, our 25th Anniversary plane; Triple Crown One, dedicated to the Employees of Southwest Airlines for their marvelous achievement of five consecutive annual Triple Crown awards; Nevada One, a high-flying tribute to the state of Nevada; and the newest member of the family – New Mexico One, also known as Zia, painted in the bright yellow of the New Mexico flag.
In May 1988, they were the first airline to win the coveted Triple Crown for a month – Best On-time Record, Best Baggage Handling, and Fewest Customer Complaints. Since then they have won it more than thirty times, as well as five annual Triple Crowns for 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, and 1996, and no other airline has contributed more to the advancement of the commercial airline industry than Southwest Airlines. They are the first airline with a frequent flyer program to give credit for the number of trips taken and not the number of miles flown. And also pioneered senior discounts, Fun Fares, Fun Packs, a same-day air freight delivery service, ticket-less travel, and many other unique programs.
[center]
B.S.F. — “Dance For Freedom” At The Frontier — July 22, 1993
“Dance For Freedom” (dance) was an airline that, five years prior to the September 11 attacks, had made a number of concessions to the terrorists. The airline had a number of other programs to keep up that service: 1) A free shuttle ride on every plane to the front of the line for free for a week (this provided a convenient route to take the plane in and out of the attacks); 2) Free-Jet-style flights through all the country; 3) Free airline shuttle tickets to all airport areas where no passengers have to sit through the flight; 4) Free air-side airport-friendly “tough guys” who would make a fun and informative show at all of the security checkpoints, so that no airline would be hitched to the terrorists.
A year later, on October 29, 1993, at an air show sponsored by a major financial company called Frontier Bank, about 1,000 people attended the Airline Tour in Las Vegas, California. Two days after 9/11, the New York Stock Exchange and the New York Stock Exchange announced they would not accept the money to cover airline delays for the passengers that had arrived in Las Vegas for work. Instead, they would put in the money themselves.
When we first met the airline, there was some discussion as to why the airline chose to do this arrangement. Many of the people present would have been more enthusiastic than we had been, and we still had a bit of a laugh at that. So, the question was: why not offer to give away money that we had not received to cover the flight delays for this first event in the history of Frontier Bank? While other airlines had been willing to give more money to cover their losses under this arrangement, if the airline did not also offer some extra money, to be allocated for that event, they would certainly not have accepted the money, which was one factor that made this a perfect opportunity to increase their numbers as a sponsor of the airline. By choosing to offer additional money to cover the costs that had been incurred, it seems there was a good chance they would have more customers at the airline.
B.S.F. — “The Ultimate Airfare Experience” At The Airport — Nov. 8, 1993
A day later, I met and talked to a couple at The Airport, but the flight attendants said that there was no reason to give the airline half of the money — it was going to cost more to fly, and there was another point — we were coming in late for work. They told me how their employees had brought