Southwest Airlines
Contents Page 1. An Introduction to Southwest Airlines
1.1 Beginnings 1
1.2 Culture 1
1.3 Business Strategy 1
1.4 Success Factors 1
2. Human Resource Management System
2.1 How HRM System leads to SWA’s success 1
3. Challenges & Solutions 2
1. An Introduction to Southwest Airlines
1.1 Beginnings
Air Southwest Co was founded on 16 March 1967 by Rollin King and Herb Kelleher. Its name was changed in 1971 to Southwest Airlines (SWA). Southwest expanded its routes by merging with Morris Air and AirTran Airways.
1.2 Culture
There are three attitudes that form SWA’s culture- having a servant's heart, a fun loving attitude and a warrior spirit. SWA believes in not taking themselves too seriouslyi. SWA strongly believes in Corporate Social Responsibility as can be seen from their Southwest Citizenship-charitable giving, community outreach and volunteerism, environment initiatives.
1.3 Business Strategy
SWA makes use of less congested airports, improving the efficiency of flight operations. SWA also taps on fuel hedging to keep the cost of fuel low. Additionally, SWA has high usage of manpower and aircrafts which leads to lower operation cost and therefore higher profitsii.
1.4 Success Factor
SWA has a visionary leader with foresight and determination. The
1.1 Beginnings 1
1.2 Culture 1
1.3 Business Strategy 1
1.4 Success Factors 1
2. Human Resource Management System
2.1 How HRM System leads to SWA’s success 1
3. Challenges & Solutions 2
1. An Introduction to Southwest Airlines
1.1 Beginnings
Air Southwest Co was founded on 16 March 1967 by Rollin King and Herb Kelleher. Its name was changed in 1971 to Southwest Airlines (SWA). Southwest expanded its routes by merging with Morris Air and AirTran Airways.
1.2 Culture
There are three attitudes that form SWA’s culture- having a servant's heart, a fun loving attitude and a warrior spirit. SWA believes in not taking themselves too seriouslyi. SWA strongly believes in Corporate Social Responsibility as can be seen from their Southwest Citizenship-charitable giving, community outreach and volunteerism, environment initiatives.
1.3 Business Strategy
SWA makes use of less congested airports, improving the efficiency of flight operations. SWA also taps on fuel hedging to keep the cost of fuel low. Additionally, SWA has high usage of manpower and aircrafts which leads to lower operation cost and therefore higher profitsii.
1.4 Success Factor
SWA has a visionary leader with foresight and determination. The