Case Study (including Swot) Southwest AirlinesJoin now to read essay Case Study (including Swot) Southwest AirlinesHISTORYSouthwest Airlines was originally founded as Air Southwest Company in 1967 by Rollin W. King and Herbert D. Kelleher. The company incorporated as Southwest Airlines in Texas, and began customer service on June 18, 1971. The airline was started with a simple idea: if you get your passengers to their destination when they want to get there, on time, at the lowest possible fares, and make sure they have a good time doing it, people will fly your airline.
In 1971 Southwest began service between Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio. By 1974 Southwest had flow 1 million passengers. In 1977 Southwest carried it’s five millionth passenger, and the New York Stock Exchange began listing Southwest stock as “LUV.” In 1979 flying Southwest was made faster and easier by the introduction of self-ticketing machines in 10 cities. The same year service to New Orleans from Dallas commenced, making New Orleans the first city Southwest offered travel to outside of Texas. In 1985 Southwest chose the Ronald McDonald House as their primary charity. 1988 was a big year for the airline, Southwest and Sea World of Texas began working together to help promote tourism in Texas. The “New Friends,” campaign Southwest was made the official airline of Sea World of California. The same year Southwest won the first Triple Crown, which consists of Best On-Time Record, Best Baggage Handling, and Fewest Customer Complaints. 1990 put Southwest at the billion dollar revenue mark and becomes a “Major” airline. The following year Southwest celebrated their 20th anniversary. In 1994 Southwest merged with Morris Air. 1995 marks the start of Ticketless Travel system wide for the airline. On May 5, 2000 Southwest held their first annual Phoenix LUV Classic Golf Tournament and Party; the proceeds from this event went to benefit the Ronald McDonald House. In 2002 Southwest begins the gradual retirement of reusable plastic boarding cards and teams with IBM to offer nearly 250 airport self-service check-in kiosks. The project is part of a nationwide effort to reduce the amount of time Southwest customers spend in line and to improve the airport experience following the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Southwest formed a partnership in 2003 with the A&E Television Network to film a real-life, behind the scenes look at the drama surrounding commercial air travel. The same year Air Transport World selected Southwest Airlines as the Airline of the Year, and the airlines Rapid Rewards Program received first place awards for Best Customer Service, Best Bonus Promotion, and Best Award Redemption at Inside Flyer magazines 15th annual Freddie Awards. In 2004 Southwest shared with the world its 31st consecutive year of profitability and began offering online boarding passes via southwest.com. Southwest Airlines is currently the United States most successful low-fare, high frequency, point-to-point carrier. Southwest now flies to 62 cities in 32 states.
MISSION STATEMENTThe mission of Southwest Airlines is a dedication to the highest quality of customer service and to deliver that service with a sense of warmth, friendliness, individual pride, and Company spirit. Southwest provides short haul, high frequency, point-to-point, low-fare air transportation to 58 cities and 32 states within in the United States. High quality customer service has been Southwest’s motto from the start. This mission has lead to programs, which have served to make the customer’s experience with Southwest as convenient and care-free as possible. Southwest’s efforts have helped them to gain an excellent reputation within the air transportation industry.
Southwest also has a mission statement to their employees. Southwest’s mission is to stay committed to providing employees a stable work environment with equal opportunity for learning and personal growth. Employees are encouraged to use their personal creativity and innovation for improving the effectiveness of Southwest Airlines operations. Above all, Southwest employees will be provided the same concern, respect, and caring attitude within the organization that they are expected to share externally with every Southwest customer. Southwest has also offered profit sharing to employees. Southwest’s mission to its employees has to be viewed as a strong point, where the organization attempts to reach out the individual and make their experience as employees rewarding and enjoyable. This practice is sure to create a positive attitude in the workplace and thus increase productivity.
The Southwest mission statement follows the same principles of values, accountability, and personal responsibility as the Southwest CEO®. As such, this statement provides a clear idea of how this policy should be carried out in Southwest.
“Southwest is committed to offering its employees the most effective workplace environments for personal growth. It supports its decision to remain in this position as the world’s largest airline by spending no money more than $26 billion a year on employee training and mentoring, and spending $21.9 billion on employee development plans. And if employees are willing to share their passion, creativity, and expertise through their work, it’s time for Southwest employees to see their opportunities and strengths return on the company’s behalf.” — John McNamara
“We’re a proud and proud company that is committed to service, providing the deepest, best service to our customers.
“As Southwest employees, we strive to give back to the U.S. and our fellow travellers, our staff and our business. Southwest continues the tradition of making sure those who share our values and are truly passionate about our company have the opportunity to see that our shared stories of dedication and personal initiative are not a distraction from the important work of doing our best as employees to create a better way for Southwest passengers.” — Jerry Knecht, Southwest and Vice President
This policy will allow Southwest to:
• continue to support employees in developing the best business models and experiences;
• use its strengths in hiring, training, hiring and management to support innovation and growth in the business, and to develop, hire, and retain new employees;
• provide opportunity for employees to pursue their passion at Southwest and to work in good faith with all employees around the world, including local, federal, global, and regional organizations;
• develop and deliver value-added programs that enhance employee leadership and reduce the burden of employee service and accountability in the business, and enhance employee safety; and
• provide employees better working conditions, personal security, workplace safety, and the protection of themselves and others.
Southwest Airlines operates more than 900,000 employees in all 32 countries. In 2015, Southwest operated more than 1,700,000 new flights and 1.3 million daily off-peak hours.
For more information, visit www.southwest.com
STRATEGIC INITATIVESThrough this time period, we can see that Southwest Airline’s profile shows the three complementary qualities that characterize an effective strategy: focus, divergence and convincing marketing.
To maintain focus,