Southwest Airlines In a Different World
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Southwest Airlines
In a Different World
Provided by:
Razie Dehghani
Mahsa Ghanbari
Shima Effatpanahi
Background
• The most U.S. customers with the most flights and seats
• To only 64 cities
• Outstanding, passionate, caring Customer Service combined with an efficient, simple, low-fare Customer experience provided with high reliability and operating expertise.”
• The most consistently profitable record in the world’s airline industry
• Changed the rules with many imitators following such as: Air Asia, Air
Deccan, Go Airlines, Spice-jet, and Indigo in Asia
At the Beginning
• Planned to charge fares that were at least 60% lower than the average • Did not want to be regulated by the Civil Aeronautics Board, which set airline routes and fares for interstate carriers
• Two interstate competitors, Braniff and Texas International, sued to enjoin Southwest from flying, so operation began in 1971.
• Bought four aircrafts $500,000 below the initial asking price
(Because of an overproduction)
• They saw offering substantially lower fares as their only chance to win • The goal was fares below the cost of driving
At the Beginning
• Selling one aircraft in the first year led to a key element of
Southwest’s strategy: very short turnarounds
• Turnarounds eventually reached less than half an hour (about half the industry average in North America)
• Southwest offered no foods, no first-class, no code sharing, no huband-spoke route
• Instead it offered: low fares, frequent flights, on-time arrivals, and point-to-point service
• They regarded the private automobile, not other airlines, as its competitor People & Culture
• Southwest considered the quality of service as important as frequent on-time flights and low fares
• A personality for the airline: “the airline that made it fun to fly. Young, friendly, refreshing, and exciting.”
• Focused on hiring agents and cabin staff with positive personalities, senses of humor, and the willingness to make humorous intercom
Southwest Airlines
In a Different World
Provided by:
Razie Dehghani
Mahsa Ghanbari
Shima Effatpanahi
Background
• The most U.S. customers with the most flights and seats
• To only 64 cities
• Outstanding, passionate, caring Customer Service combined with an efficient, simple, low-fare Customer experience provided with high reliability and operating expertise.”
• The most consistently profitable record in the world’s airline industry
• Changed the rules with many imitators following such as: Air Asia, Air
Deccan, Go Airlines, Spice-jet, and Indigo in Asia
At the Beginning
• Planned to charge fares that were at least 60% lower than the average • Did not want to be regulated by the Civil Aeronautics Board, which set airline routes and fares for interstate carriers
• Two interstate competitors, Braniff and Texas International, sued to enjoin Southwest from flying, so operation began in 1971.
• Bought four aircrafts $500,000 below the initial asking price
(Because of an overproduction)
• They saw offering substantially lower fares as their only chance to win • The goal was fares below the cost of driving
At the Beginning
• Selling one aircraft in the first year led to a key element of
Southwest’s strategy: very short turnarounds
• Turnarounds eventually reached less than half an hour (about half the industry average in North America)
• Southwest offered no foods, no first-class, no code sharing, no huband-spoke route
• Instead it offered: low fares, frequent flights, on-time arrivals, and point-to-point service
• They regarded the private automobile, not other airlines, as its competitor People & Culture
• Southwest considered the quality of service as important as frequent on-time flights and low fares
• A personality for the airline: “the airline that made it fun to fly. Young, friendly, refreshing, and exciting.”
• Focused on hiring agents and cabin staff with positive personalities, senses of humor, and the willingness to make humorous intercom