In 1971, Rollin King and Herb Kelleher got together and decided to start a different kind of airline. They began with the simple notion: “If you get you 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 they were right.
Southwest Airlines began as a small airline in Texas. They now enjoy being one of the industry’s best airlines and offer superior customer service. Southwest flies more than 65 million passengers a year to 60 different airports. To accomplish such a task, Southwest flies over 2,800 flights a day.
Southwest has nearly 400 of the newest jets in the nation, with the average jet being only 9.6 years old. Southwest has celebrated its success over the years by painting its planes with various themes. They partnered with Sea World of Texas and immediately painted one of their planes to look like Shamu the whale; they called the jet “Shamu One.” As Southwest has continued to grow and surpass milestones, more unique jets have been introduced by the company, including a jet that celebrates Texas as the birthplace of Southwest Airlines (the jet is painted like the Texas state flag).
In May of 1988, Southwest reached one of its many milestones by being the first airline to win the coveted Triple Crown for an entire month. The Triple Crown consists of best on-time record, best baggage handling and fewest customer complaints. Since that time, Southwest has won the monthly Triple Crown more than 30 times as well as five annual Triple Crowns in 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, and 1996.
No other airline has contributed more to the advancement of the airline industry than has Southwest. Southwest was the first airline with a frequent flyer program to give credit for the number of trips taken and not the number of miles flown. Southwest also pioneered senior discounts, fun-fares, fun-packs, a same-day air freight delivery service, ticketless travel, and many other unique programs.
Currently, Southwest Airlines employs more than 34,000 people. Many people want to be employed with Southwest because of the company’s growth and vision for the future. In 2003 alone, Southwest received more than 202,000 resumes of which only 908 were selected for employment.
Southwest has made extreme efforts to distinguish itself from other airlines. They have done this in a couple of different ways. One way is that Southwest passengers spend approximately $89.28 per one-way flight which is $30-$50 less than the industry standard. Southwest has also taken customer service to a new level. For the past 13 years, Southwest has been ranked number one in fewest customer complaints as published in the Department of Transportation’s Air Travel Consumer Report.
Southwest Airlines offers great promotions to destinations throughout the country. Their Web site at www.southwest.com offers system-wide savings periodically throughout the year. Usually, they have feature destinations, and you can save loads of money on airfare if you look for these promotions that Southwest runs. Already in 2004, 57 percent of Southwest’s business has been generated through the Internet.
Southwest continues to offer their constituents all the value and service you may expect to find in an airline. If you want an airline that gets you where you want to go on time and offers great customer service, choose Southwest. Its excellence stands above the rest.
By John Ivie