Southwest Airlines

Southwest Airlines

File:Southwest Airlines Logo.svg
IATA ICAO Callsign WN SWA Southwest
Founded	1971
Focus cities	McCarran International Airport Chicago Midway Airport Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport Baltimore-Washington International Airport Oakland International Airport William P. Hobby Airport Dallas Love Field Los Angeles International Airport Orlando International Airport San Diego International Airport
Frequent-flyer program	Rapid Rewards
Fleet size	488
Destinations	64
Parent company	Southwest Airlines Co.
Headquarters	Dallas, Texas
Key people	Gary C. Kelly (CEO) Herb Kelleher (Chairman) Laura Wright (CFO) Colleen Barrett (President)
Website	http://www.southwest.com

Southwest Airlines, Inc. (NYSE: LUV) is a low fare airline based in Dallas, Texas. It is the largest airline in the United States by number of passengers carried domestically for any one year and the third largest airline in the world by number of passengers carried. Southwest Airlines carried more customers than any other U.S. airline in August 2006, marking it the first time that Southwest Airlines has topped the monthly list for combined domestic and international passengers, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics. Southwest Airlines is one of the world's most profitable airlines and in January 2007, posted a profit for the 34th consecutive year. Its reputation for low prices and a laid-back atmosphere have made it an icon of pop culture.

History

Southwest Airlines was originally incorporated to serve three cities in Texas as Air Southwest on March 15, 1967, by Rollin King and Herb Kelleher. According to frequently cited legend, Mr. King described the concept to Mr. Kelleher over dinner by drawing on a paper napkin a triangle symbolizing the routes.

Some of the incumbent airlines of the time (Braniff, Trans-Texas, and Continental Airlines) initiated legal action, and thus began a 3 year legal battle to keep Air Southwest on the ground. Air Southwest eventually prevailed in the Texas Supreme Court, which ultimately upheld Air Southwest's right to fly in Texas. The decision became final on December 7, 1970, when the United States Supreme Court declined to review the case without comment. That date is considered by many to be the de facto beginning of deregulation in the airline industry.

The story of Southwest's legal fight was created into a children's book, "Gumwrappers and Goggles" by Winifred Barnum in 1983. In the story, TJ Love, a small jet, is taken to court by two larger jets to keep him from their hangar, and then to try and stop him from flying at all. Taken to court, TJ Love's right to fly is upheld after an impassioned plea from The Lawyer. While no company names are mentioned in the book, TJ Love's colors are those of Southwest Airlines, and the two other jets are colored in Braniff and Continental's colors. The Lawyer is designed to resemble Herb Kelleher. The book was adapted into a stage musical, "Show your Spirit," sponsored by Southwest Airlines, and playing only in towns serviced by the airline.

First flights

In early 1971, Air Southwest changed its name to Southwest Airlines, and the first flight was on June 18, 1971. Its first flights were from Love Field in Dallas to Houston and San Antonio, short hops with no-frills service and a simple fare structure, features that became the basis for Southwest's popularity and rapid growth in the coming years.

The start of service in June 1971 was accomplished with three 737-200 aircraft that had been obtained from Boeing on favorable terms, and a fourth aircraft was obtained in September of 1971.

Over time, Southwest has added improved 737 variants but has stayed within the Boeing 737 family to reduce operating costs. Because this technique simplified training, maintenance, and ground operations, it revolutionized the industry's approach to building aircraft fleets.

In January, 2005 Southwest retired its last 737-200, the oldest type in its fleet. To celebrate "putting the -200s to bed", selected employees donned Southwest pajamas for an early morning flight to celebrate the final landing at Dallas Love.

Early losses and financial troubles

The rest of 1971 and 1972 saw operating losses. One of the four aircraft was sold to Frontier Airlines of Denver and the proceeds used to make payroll and cover other expenses. Southwest continued to operate a schedule predicated on 4 aircraft but using only 3, and in so doing the "ten minute turn" was born, and was the standard ground time for many years.

Southwest turned its first annual profit in 1973, and has done so every year since — a record unmatched in commercial airline industry history. Southwest has used financial techniques to bolster its profitability and counteract many of the fiscal disadvantages of operating an airline.

By 1979 Southwest served all of the cities currently served in Texas, plus Beaumont and interstate service began to New Orleans, Oklahoma City and Tulsa was added shortly thereafter. In 1981 Southwest co-launched the 737-300 with USAir. In 1982 the first expansion beyond the Texas area took Southwest to the west coast adding Phoenix, Las Vegas and San Diego. In 1984 the 737-300 was placed into service. Chicago Midway and St. Louis service began in March, 1985, spreading low-fare service into Midwest markets.

Hedging fuel

Southwest has a longtime program to hedge fuel prices. Southwest has purchased fuel options for years in advance to smooth out fluctuations in fuel costs. Southwest substantially increased its hedging in 2001 in response to projections of increased crude oil prices. The use of these hedges helped Southwest maintain its profitability during the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 attacks and the oil shocks related to the Iraq War and later Hurricane Katrina. As of 2005, Southwest is currently paying 50% of the market price for its fuel; however, the price Southwest pays will increase as hedges from 2001 and 2002 expire and new hedges at higher prices take effect. Southwest has hedges of varying percentages and prices in place through 2009.

Southwest.com

On March 16th, 1995, Southwest became the first airline to have a web page on the Internet. Originally called the "Southwest Airlines Home Gate", customers could book travel online and view a comprehensive route map. They consistently reject syndicating their fares to fare search sites such as expedia.com or orbitz.com.

southwest.com is the number one airline web site for online revenue according to PhoCusWright. Nielsen/Netratings also reports that southwest.com is the largest airline site in terms of unique visitors. In 2006, 70 percent of flight bookings and 73 percent of revenue was generated from bookings on southwest.com. As of December 2006, 55 percent of Southwest passengers checked in for their flights online.

The Wright Amendment

Main article: Wright Amendment

After the opening of Dallas-Fort Worth Regional Airport, which was the original name of Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport in 1974, Southwest was the only airline to remain at Love Field.

When airline deregulation came in 1978, Southwest began planning to offer interstate service from Love Field. This caused a number of interest groups affiliated with Dallas-Ft. Worth Airport, including the city of Fort Worth, to push the Wright Amendment through Congress to restrict such flights.

Under the restrictions of the amendment Southwest, and all other airlines, were barred from operating, or even ticketing passengers on flights from Love Field to destinations beyond the states immediately surrounding Texas. In effect, to travel through Love Field, a passenger and luggage would have to deplane and fly on a separate ticket, on a separate aircraft. The Wright Amendment left one loophole, that aircraft configured with 56 or fewer seats are exempt from the Wright Amendment. In 2000 Legend Airlines attempted to operate long distance business-class flights using older DC-9s with 56 seats, but did not have the resources to survive American's legal and marketing attacks, and quickly ceased operations. Southwest has not used the 56 seat loophole, even with its market strength at Love Field and the availability of more modern regional jets such as the CRJ-700/900 and the Embraer ERJ 145 family.

Southwest's efforts to repeal or even alter the Wright Amendment had been met with opposition from American Airlines and Dallas Ft. Worth International Airport. Both American Airlines and DFW contended that repeal of the Wright Amendment restrictions would cripple DFW, while Southwest contended that repeal of the Wright Amendment would be beneficial to both Love Field and DFW. Continental Airlines has a successful hub and spoke operation at Houston Bush Intercontinental Airport despite unrestricted competition from Southwest at Houston Hobby Airport.

In 1997, Southwest's effort began to pay off with the Shelby Amendment which added the states of Alabama, Mississippi, and Kansas to the list of permissible destination states. As of 2006, Southwest does not operate any nonstops from Love Field to cities in the Shelby Amendment states, and does not serve any airport in Kansas, however this will change March 11, 2007, when two daily nonstop flights to Birmingham begin. Southwest also offers service between Dallas Love Field and Jackson, MS, via a connection at Houston, which it couldn't do prior to the enactment of the Shelby Amendment.

Since late 2004, Southwest has been actively seeking the full repeal of the Wright Amendment restrictions. In late 2005, Missouri was added to the list of permissible destination states via a transportation appropriations bill. New service from Love Field to St. Louis and Kansas City quickly started in December of 2005.

At a June 15, 2006 joint press conference held by the City of Dallas, the City of Ft. Worth, Dallas-Ft. Worth Airport, American Airlines, and Southwest Airlines, the said parties announced a tentative agreement on how the Wright Amendment was to be phased out. Both the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives passed Wright-related legislation on September 29, 2006, and it was signed into law by the President on October 13, 2006. The new law became effective on October 16, 2006, when the FAA Administrator notified Congress that any new aviation operations occurring as a result of the new law could be accommodated without adverse effect to the airspace. Southwest started selling tickets under the new law on October 19, 2006. Highlights of the agreement are the immediate elimination of through-ticketing prohibitions, and unrestricted flights to domestic destinations 8 years after the legislation takes effect. This agreement was a resounding successful for Southwest Airlines because of eventual nationwide service was possible and the law codified the maximum number of gates at Love Field, of which Southwest controlled all except 4 gates. American and Continental controls 2 gates. The future of the Legend Airlines terminal for use by commercial airlines is in doubt because of the limit on number of gates. The new legislation brings new questions of monopolies and unfair restraint of trade replacing questions which have been resolved by the legislation.

Southwest remains the dominant passenger airline at Love Field, maintains its headquarters, hangars, and flight simulators adjacent thereto, and reflects its ties to Love Field in its ticker symbol (LUV).

Despite the restrictions on its home base, Southwest proceeded to build a successful business on an unusual model: flying multiple short, quick trips into the secondary (more efficient and less costly) airports of major cities, using primarily only one aircraft type, the Boeing 737.

Destinations

Main article: Southwest Airlines destinations

Southwest Airlines currently flies to 63 destinations throughout the United States. However, when the airline adds new service to San Francisco, California in the fall of 2007, this number will increase to 64.

Current service

Southwest does not use the more traditional "Hub-and-Spoke" flight routing system of most major airlines, preferring the "Point to Point" system. It has notably large operations in certain airports. These include Maryland's Baltimore-Washington International Airport, Chicago Midway International Airport, Houston's Hobby Airport, Las Vegas' McCarran International Airport, Nashville International Airport, Oakland International Airport, Sky Harbor International Airport in Phoenix, and San Diego International Airport. Southwest also has large operations at Orlando International Airport and Tampa International Airport, where it handles a large amount of tourist traffic to various cities throughout the eastern United States. Currently, Southwest serves 63 cities in 32 states, with over 3,200 flights a day.

As part of its effort to control costs, Southwest tries to utilize secondary airports which generally have lower costs and may, or may not be, more convenient to travelers than the major airports to the same destinations. For example, Southwest flies to Midway Airport in Chicago, Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport in South Florida, Love Field in Dallas, Hobby Airport in Houston, Manchester-Boston Regional Airport in Manchester, New Hampshire, and T. F. Green Airport in Providence, Rhode Island, instead of O'Hare International Airport, Miami International Airport, DFW International, IAH International in Houston, and Logan International Airport in Boston, respectively. Southwest also serves the New York Metropolitan area at Long Island MacArthur Airport.

Southwest makes exceptions to the philosophy of serving secondary airports by flying into some larger airports in major cities, such as Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, Detroit Metropolitan Airport, Philadelphia International, Cleveland Hopkins International Airport, Seattle-Tacoma International and Pittsburgh International. In the Los Angeles market Southwest flies to both the major city airport, Los Angeles International, and to three secondary airports, Bob Hope Airport, John Wayne Airport, and LA/Ontario International Airport.

Southwest withdrew from San Francisco International and Houston George Bush Intercontinental in favor of utilizing smaller airports with fewer operations nearby. In February 2007, Southwest announced its intent to return to SFO San Francisco International as their next city opening, sometime in the early fall of 2007. The airline also once served Stapleton International Airport in Denver but withdrew in 1986 because of excessive ATC delays during poor weather exacerbated by minimal separation between the runways. Southwest returned to Denver in 2006 with service to the new Denver International Airport. Southwest rarely withdraws all service from an airport. Besides San Francisco, Houston, and Denver (Stapleton International), the airline has withdrawn completely from airports in Beaumont, Texas and Detroit, Michigan.

On October 5, 2006, Southwest Airlines started operations at its newest destination, Washington-Dulles Airport (IAD) with 12 daily flights from two gates in Concourse B. Southwest announced plans to begin Dulles service earlier in 2006, but kept destinations secret until July 13. The official announcement can be found here.

Southwest is the largest intra-state airline in California, with 674 flights total in the state, 355 of those are intra-California.

Markets lacking Southwest service

Due to intense competition from near-monopoly airlines such as US Airways, Northwest, and others, some markets are not cost-effective for Southwest. New York City area flights are serviced from Long Island MacArthur Airport or through Southwest's codeshare with ATA Airlines to New York-LaGuardia instead of directly through the three main New York Area airports (LaGuardia Airport, Kennedy (JFK) International, or Newark Liberty International). Other large cities without Southwest service include Atlanta, Charlotte, Cincinnati, Memphis, Milwaukee, and Minneapolis/St. Paul. Geographically, there is a relatively large void in the route map consisting of Georgia/South Carolina, Alaska, and the northern part of the US stretching from Montana/Wyoming to Minnesota/Iowa.

In 2005, Southwest proposed service to Boeing Field, which is a smaller airport that is closer to downtown Seattle than Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. However, the city refused to allow a terminal to be built or service to begin.

At this time, Southwest does not serve any destinations outside the United States. While other low cost carriers such as AirTran, Frontier, and JetBlue have started to fly to international destinations outside the U.S., Southwest Airlines has not ruled out the possibility of an international market in the future, as they are within range of their 737-700 aircraft.

Top ten destinations

The following airports, as of January 31, 2007, are the top ten most served by Southwest Airlines:

Southwest Airlines top ten destinations

City	Daily departures	Number of gates	Nonstop cities served	Service established
Las Vegas	225	21	53	1982
Chicago-Midway	218	29	47	1985
Phoenix	207	24	42	1982
Baltimore/Washington	173	26	38	1993
Oakland	142	11	20	1989
Houston-Hobby	141	17	28	1971
Dallas-Love Field	127	14	14	1971
Los Angeles (LAX)	118	11	19	1982
Orlando	100	12	32	1996
San Diego	92	10	15	1982

New service

On November 16, 2006, Southwest Airlines announced substantial additions to their route schedule, adding 36 new nonstop flights slated to begin from March to May, 2007. In March 2007, the airline also announced the addition 8 more nonstop flights which are scheduled to begin throughout the summer.

On February 9, 2007, Southwest Airlines announced internally that it was planning to restart operations at San Francisco International Airport, a station the airline closed in 2001. Southwest CEO Gary Kelly has stated that the airline plans to commence service at SFO beginning in the "early fall" of 2007, but no specific date has been announced., and according to an airliners.net forum, Southwest is expected to return to SFO with significantly more service compared to the 14 flights the airline served prior to ending service back in 2001.

Effective May 4, 2007

• Daily nonstop service between Denver, CO (DEN) and Tampa Bay, FL (TPA) begins.

Effective June 4, 2007

• Daily nonstop service between Fort Lauderdale, FL (FLL) and Providence, RI (PVD) begins.
• Daily nonstop service between Houston, TX (HOU) and San Diego, CA (SAN) begins.

Effective June 17, 2007

• Daily nonstop service between Denver, CO (DEN) and Oakland, CA (OAK) begins.

Effective August 4, 2007

• Daily nonstop service between Baltimore, MD (BWI) and Oklahoma City, OK (OKC) begins.

In addition to these new nonstops, Southwest Airlines is also increasing frequencies of 41 flights between cities they already serve. These additions will be in effect by August 4, 2007.

The Southwest Effect

The success and profitability of Southwest's business model led to a common trend being named after the company: The Southwest Effect. Since Southwest's original mission in Texas was to make it less expensive than driving between two points (in the early 1970s, during the first major energy cost crisis in the U.S.), they developed a template for entering markets at rates that allowed the airline to be profitable, yet only on the basis of lean operations and high aircraft utilization. The key concept to the Southwest Effect is that when a low fare carrier (or any aggressive and innovative company) enters a market, the market itself changes, and usually grows dramatically. For example, when fares drop by 50% from their historical averages, the number of new customers in that market may not just double, but actually quadruple, or more.

Southwest has been a major inspiration to other low-cost airlines, and its business model has been repeated many times around the world. Europe's easyJet and Ryanair are two of the best known airlines to follow Southwest's business strategy in that continent (though easyJet operates two different aircraft models today), while Canada's WestJet is using Southwest's modus operandi in that country. New Zealand's Freedom Air , Malaysia's AirAsia which is the first and biggest LCC in Asia and Thailand's Nok Air are other examples of airlines that are based on Southwest's system.

Morris Air

One airline influenced by Southwest was Morris Air, founded by June Morris and David Neeleman and based in Utah and operating in the northwest U.S. Southwest Airlines purchased Morris Air and absorbed the capital and routes into its inventory and service. David Neeleman worked with Southwest for a short period, he then left the airline. When his non-compete agreement expired, Neeleman founded JetBlue Airways, a competing airline that also incorporates many principles and practices pioneered by Southwest, including building a positive, warm employee culture and operating a simple fleet.

TranStar Airlines

Southwest Airlines has pursued a strategy of growth internally, rather than by acquisition of other airlines as commonly occurs. However, in addition to acquisition of Morris Air Transport (see above), Southwest did acquire competitor Muse Air in 1985, which operated McDonnell Douglas MD-80s. Muse Air was renamed TranStar Airlines.

Icelandair

In 1997, Southwest and Icelandair entered into interline and marketing agreements allowing for joint fares, coordinated schedules, and transfer of passenger luggage between the two airlines at Baltimore. Icelandair operated flights between Baltimore and Keflavik Airport in Iceland. Connecting service between several U.S. cities and several European cities appeared in the Southwest timetable The frequent flyer programs were not included in the agreement. This arrangement lasted for several years but is no longer in existence.

ATA Airlines

ATA Airlines, one of Southwest Airlines main competitors in the Chicago market, historically operated out of Midway Airport alongside Southwest. ATA declared bankruptcy, and in 2004, Southwest injected capital into ATA that (among other things) would have resulted in Southwest's 27.5% ownership stake in ATA upon their exit from Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings.

In a departure from its traditional "go it alone" strategy, Southwest entered into its first domestic codesharing arrangement with ATA, which enabled Southwest Airlines to serve ATA markets in Hawaii, Washington D.C., and New York City. (Some years earlier, Southwest had a short-lived traditional codeshare arrangement with Icelandair at Baltimore/Washington International Airport.)

In late 2005, ATA secured $100 million in additional financing from the firm of Matlin Patterson, and Southwest's original deal with ATA was modified such that Southwest no longer retained the 27.5% stake (or any other financial interest) in ATA. The codeshare arrangement, however, continues to remain in place and has expanded, with some internal controversy, to include all of ATA's 17 destinations and all of Southwest's 63 destinations. In 2006, Southwest's pilot union approved a codeshare sideletter to their contract with limitations on the growth of this and other codeshare agreements. While these restrictions today are minor, outsourcing remains a growing concern in the unions current contract negotiations.

During 2006, Southwest Airlines began marketing ATA only flights. ATA's dependence on the Southwest network continued to grow in 2006, and today ATA offers over 70 flights a week to Hawaii from Southwest's hubs in PHX, LAS, LAX, ONT, and OAK. Additional connecting service is available to many other cities across the United States. Plans have been announced for ATA to offer exclusive international service for Southwest by 2010. In 2006, ATA announced its intention to purchase nine widebody DC-10 aircraft from Northwest Airlines. Southwest today has taken over all ground operations for ATA at MDW, OAK, PHX, LAX, and LAS. These contracts provide that Southwest ramp personnel will now handle all ground operations (loading of aircraft, ground servicing, etc.) for ATA. The details of these contracts have not been made public but represent Southwest's and ATA's growing mutually beneficial codeshare relationship.

Beginning in February 2005, ATA was run by John Denison, Southwest's former Chief Financial Officer. Effective January 1, 2007, Denison turned things over to Subodh Karnik, who is now President and Chief Executive Officer. Denison remains ATA's Chairman.

Corporate culture

Intertwined with Southwest's innovative business model has been a consistent emphasis on the value of people, both customers and employees. From the beginning of its operations, Southwest urged employees to have fun doing their work, and to make the experience of flying Southwest not only convenient but enjoyable.

Southwest experience

The experience of flying on Southwest is quite different from that of most other U.S. airlines from beginning to end.

Tickets cannot be purchased through common online venues like Orbitz or Travelocity, although a minority are booked through travel agents. However, most of Southwest tickets are issued directly by the airline over the phone or online at the company's website which features Web only fare discounts.

Unlike other major airlines, Southwest allows passengers to change reservations without penalty (save the potentially additional cost of the new ticket). While this provides flexibility to customers, Southwest does not allow same-day standby travel on a different flight (usually a free service at other airlines) without upgrading to maximum fare.

Customers are not assigned seats; rather, they are assigned to a "boarding group" depending on their check-in time (earlier check-ins get to board earlier), and are left to find their own seats on the plane. At the May 2006 shareholders meeting, Southwest management announced a study of potentially adopting an assigned-seating system in 2008, as part of a reservations-technology overhaul now under way. Currently, Rapid Rewards members are being surveyed about such ideas and limited tests began at some markets.

Meal service is less than on historically full service airlines, with shorter flights receiving just a single small snack and soft drink, and longer flights (with a duration of about 3 hours or more) meriting a "Snack Pack" of prepackaged goods. In the post-9/11 era these meals in a bag typically exceed the food served on full-service airlines like United or American. Southwest also offers free inflight beverages (excluding alcoholic beverages), such as other airlines, like American. Although there is no video entertainment, Southwest is known for colorful boarding announcements and crews that burst out in song.

For all the leanness in comforts, which helped it pass through the post-9/11 travel slump as one of the few profitable major American airlines, Southwest manages to maintain excellent customer satisfaction ratings. In 2006, according to the Department of Transportation December year end operating statistics, Southwest ranked number one (lowest number of complaints) of all U.S. airlines for customer complaints, with 0.18 per 100,000 customers enplaned. Southwest Airlines has consistently received the fewest ratio of complaints per passengers boarded of all major U.S. carriers that have been reporting statistics to the Department of Transportation (DOT) since September 1987, which is when the DOT began tracking Customer Satisfaction statistics and publishing its Air Travel Consumer Report.

Rapid Rewards

Southwest's frequent flier program is called Rapid Rewards. Currently, customers receive one credit per each one-way ticket (even though the flight may have stopovers). A free ticket, expiring after 24 months, is automatically issued when a member reaches 16 credits. Double Rapid Rewards credits used to be awarded for online booking, but this policy was modified at the end of 2003. At that time the bonus was reduced to .5 credit for each segment booked online, (i.e., each round-trip ticket booked online received a total of 3 Rapid Rewards credits). This was discontinued in April 2005. In addition, one-half credit is also earned for using a Southwest partner to book any car rental and/or hotel stay, regardless of whether a Southwest flight is involved. Therefore, by booking one's flight online, and using a SWA partner for one's hotel stay and car rental, one may receive 3 Southwest Rapid Rewards credits per trip. This arrangement has consistently proved popular with frequent fliers, and has won numerous Freddy Awards over the years. After recent program modifications it is unknown how the customer base will be impacted and whether the airline will continue to earn Freddy Awards.

In February 2006, Southwest instituted Capacity Controls to redeeming its free tickets. This means that the airline limits the seats offered to frequent travelers using free certificates on each flight, whereas previously if there was a seat available, you could use the award, provided you were not flying on one of the five blackout dates.

In early 2006, Southwest expanded its codeshare agreement with ATA Airlines and now allows redemption of award tickets on Hawaii flights at the rate of two awards per round trip flight. Southwest and ATA stress that reward availability to Hawaii will be very limited. Travelers can also earn twice the normal number of credits when they purchase airfare on Hawaii-bound flights.

Playful, effective advertising

The company, from inception, employed humor in its advertising. Examples include "Just Plane Smart," "The Somebody Else Up There Who Loves You" and "THE Low Fare Airline". The airline's current slogan is "A Symbol of Freedom". A select history of print and video ads are available on the company website[1].

Since the 1990s, Southwest has been running a television ad campaign based on the phrase "Wanna get away?" The commercials present comical, embarrassing situations in which people find themselves wanting to "get away". Most ads are accompanied by the sound clip "[ding] You are now free to move about the country".

The PA "ding" has become synonymous with Southwest Airlines, and inspired the name of an online ticket offer program, Ding!.

The Southwest Airlines television commercial, “Flight Attendant,” was named in Adweek’s ‘Best Spots’ in August 2006.

"Just Plane Smart"

Shortly after Southwest started using the "Just Plane Smart" motto, Stevens Aviation, who had been using "Plane Smart" for their motto, threatened a trademark lawsuit.

Instead of a lawsuit, the CEOs for both companies staged an arm wrestling match. Held at the now demolished Dallas Sportatorium (the famed wrestling facility) and set for two out of three rounds, the loser of each round was to pay $5,000 to the charity of their choice, with the winner gaining the use of the trademarked phrase. A promotional video was created showing the CEOs "training" for the bout (with CEO Herb Kelleher being helped up during a sit up where a cigarette and glass of scotch was waiting) and distributed among the employees and as a video press release along with the video of the match itself. Herb Kelleher lost the match for Southwest, with Stevens Aviation winning the rights to the phrase. Kurt Herwald, CEO of Stevens Aviation, immediately granted the use of "Just Plane Smart" to Southwest Airlines. The net result was both companies having use of the trademark, $15,000 going to charity and a healthy dose of goodwill publicity for both companies.

Colorful personalities

Southwest employees are generally well-known for friendliness, which is often attributed to a unique "love-based" corporate atmosphere that made chairman and founder Herb Kelleher a celebrity in the business world. The President of Southwest is corporate secretary Colleen Barrett, who has been with the company since day one. Southwest's CFO is Laura Wright.

Concerns attributed to labor unrest and complaints by the Transport Workers Union of America (TWU) representing Southwest flight attendants were reportedly a factor in the recent resignation of Kelleher's hand-picked replacement as CEO. Jim Parker resigned in July 2004 and was replaced by Chief Financial Officer Gary Kelly.

Airline

The American version of the reality show Airline showcased Southwest Airlines passengers and employees in daily mishaps and life at some of Southwest's major airports (BWI, MDW, LAX, & HOU). The show premiered January 5, 2004 on the A&E Network, but ultimately ended up being canceled after 70 episodes on December 15, 2005.

Fleet

File:Southwest Airlines Cabin.jpg

An example of a Southwest Boeing 737 with the airline's new leather seating.

The Southwest Airlines fleet consists of the following aircraft as of March 2007:

Southwest Airlines Fleet

Aircraft	Total	Passengers (Economy)	Routes	Notes
Boeing 737-300	194	137	Short-medium haul	Launch customer
Boeing 737-500	25	122	Short haul	Launch customer
Boeing 737-700	269 (111 orders)	137	Short-long haul	Launch customer All but 2 are fitted with blended winglets.

Southwest aircraft fly an average of seven flights per day, or almost 13 hours per day.

Retired fleet

Southwest Airlines Retired Fleet

Aircraft	Year Retired	Replacement	Notes
Boeing 737-200	2005	Boeing 737-700	Southwest's first aircraft type

Current fleet

Southwest's current fleet is entirely made up of Boeing's 737 aircraft. The airline operates more Boeing 737s in its fleet than any other airline in the world; Southwest is often cited as an example of an airline streamlining operations by having only one type of aircraft. However, Southwest operated leased 727-200 aircraft during the late-1970s and again in the mid-1980s and subsidiary TranStar Airlines operated DC-9s and MD-80s during the mid-1980s. Southwest has been a launch customer for all three of the Boeing 737 variants it currently operates, and was the first airline to put both the Model 500 and next-generation Model 700 into service.

As of March 2007, Southwest has an average fleet age of 9.7 years, and fly an average of about 7 flights per day. The average aircraft trip length is 619 miles with an average duration of one hour and 46 minutes. This means the daily utilization of each plane is 12 hours and 30 minutes.

Southwest's seats are the same width as any other operator of 737s in the United States. JetBlue, United Airlines and several other competitors operate the Airbus A320 series. Due to Southwest's larger seat pitch (the front-to-back distance between rows of seats) and leather seats, many travelers find their seating superior to that of other U.S. domestic airlines.

Southwest's 737-300 and 737-500 aircraft are not equipped with glass cockpit technology, as the 737-300s, 737-400s, and 737-500s of some other airlines are. Instead, the flight decks are fitted with analog gauges, more similar to those of the earlier 737-100 and 737-200 variants. Note the analog attitude deviation indicator (ADI) and horizontal situation indicator (HSI) (the blue-colored instrument and one below it) in this Southwest 737-3H4 and note the electronic versions of the same instruments (EADI and EHSI) in this United Airlines 737-322. There are electronic displays throughout the cockpit of the 737-700 and other "Next Generation" 737 variants, and Southwest has programmed their 737-7H4 models to emulate the appearance of the 737-300 and 737-500 for standardization purposes.

Since production of the 737-300 and 737-500 has ended, recent Southwest orders have been exclusively for the 737-700 model.

Southwest is the world's largest operator of the 737. Their current active fleet is over 480 aircraft. In terms of total 737 production (all models in history), deliveries of new aircraft from Boeing to Southwest accounts for approximately 9% of total production. Southwest has one of the largest fleets in North America.

Livery

File:Southwest.JPG

Southwest Boeing 737-300 in the old livery.

Southwest Boeing 737-300 in the new livery.

Southwest's original primary livery was beige and red, with orange on the tail end, and pinstripes of white separating each section of color. The word 'Southwest' appears in white on the beige portion of the tail. (Although, on the original three 737-200s, from June of 1971, the word 'Southwest' was placed along the upper rear portion of the fuselage, with the word 'Airlines' painted on the tail where 'Southwest' is today. Example: N21SW

Southwest introduced the Canyon Blue Fleet in 2001, its first primary livery change in its 30-year history. Spirit One was the first plane painted in the color scheme. The new livery replaces the primary beige color with canyon blue and changes the Southwest text and pinstripes to gold. The pinstripe along the plane is drawn in a more curved pattern instead of the straight horizontal line separating the colors in the original. The original livery is gradually being phased out, but three aircraft will remain in the original livery to commemorate Southwest's original three cities.

All of the Canyon Blue livery 737-700 series aircraft fitted with blended winglets have "Southwest.com" written on the outer faces of the winglets. 737s with the original livery or any of the special liveries do not have this writing at this time.

Additionally, Southwest will install blended winglets on up to 90 of its 737-300 aircraft beginning in mid-January 2007, with AAR of Indianapolis, Indiana accomplishing the work. The first modified aircraft, N368SW, resumed service on February 22, 2007.

Some Southwest planes feature special themes, rather than the normal livery. These theme planes have been given special names, usually ending in "One". Some of the most well-known examples are:

• Shamu: The three aircraft are painted to look like an Orca, with advertisements for SeaWorld. (N334SW), (N713SW), (N715SW)
  • The first aircraft to be painted in the "Shamu" scheme was N334SW (1988), a 737-300, and it was later followed by N507SW (Shamu II) and N501SW (Shamu III), both 737-500s. Subsequent to the retirement of Southwest's 737-200s, the 737-500s began to stay within a smaller geographic area formerly operated by the 737-200s, and as such, Sea World was no longer getting the optimal national exposure from these two aircraft. Two 737-700 aircraft, N713SW and N715SW, were repainted as the new Shamu aircraft, and both N501SW and N507SW were eventually repainted in Canyon Blue colors. All three current Shamu aircraft are no longer referred to as Shamu I, II, or III. The artwork on the nose of each aircraft simply states "Shamu". The overhead bins of these aircraft display ads for Sea World, except towards the front and back of the airplane, where the bins get smaller and are no longer uniform.
• The Spirit of Kitty Hawk: (1984) Livery and title to introduce the Boeing 737-300 aircraft to the southwest fleet. This plane is the oldest in the southwest fleet. (n300sw)
• Lone Star One: (1990) The flag of the state of Texas applied across the aircraft. (N352SW)
• Arizona One: (1994) The flag of the state of Arizona applied across the aircraft. (N383SW)
• The June M. Morris: (1994) In honor of June Morris, Signature and Morris Air logo on the nose. Logo removed for Canyon Blue repaint. (N607SW, Original, Canyon Blue)
• California One: (1995) The flag of the state of California applied across the aircraft. (N609SW)
• Silver One: (1996) 25th Anniversary aircraft. Originally polished bare metal, it was later painted silver for easier maintenance. It was then re-painted with a silver metallic paint. This aircraft also featured silver seats, which were replaced to conform with the rest of the fleet for simplicity. Silver one also featured silver heart shaped drink stirrers.(N629SW, Original, Silver Paint, Canyon Blue)
• Triple Crown One: (1997) Livery dedicated to the employees of Southwest, in recognition of Southwest receiving five Triple Crown airline industry awards (best on-time record, best baggage handling, and fewest customer complaints). The overhead bins in Triple Crown One one are inscribed with the names of all employees that worked for Southwest at the time, in honor of their part in winning the award.(N647SW)
• Nevada One: (1999) The flag of the state of Nevada applied across the aircraft. (N727SW)
• New Mexico One: (2000) The flag of the state of New Mexico applied across the aircraft. (N781WN)
• Spirit One: (2001) 30th Anniversary aircraft. (First Aircraft in New Canyon Blue paint scheme) (N793SA)
• The Spirit of Hope: (2004) Dedicated to the Ronald McDonald House. Overhead bins are covered in artwork from kids at a Ronald McDonald House in Washington State. (N443WN), (The overhead bins)
• Maryland One: (2005) The flag of the state of Maryland applied across the aircraft. (N214WN)
• Slam Dunk One: (2005) Basketball superimposed on side of aircraft and a different NBA team logo on each overhead bin in the cabin, recognizing Southwest's partnership with the National Basketball Association. (N224WN)
• Southwest received both the 5,000th 737 produced (February 13, 2006) (N230WN) and the 2,000th "Next Generation" 737 produced. (N248WN) The 2,000th "Next Generation" 737 is marked as such in its livery, though the 5,000th 737 is not similarly marked.

All special planes prior to Spirit One originally wore the standard beige, red and orange livery colors on the vertical stabilizer and rudder. Subsequent special editions -- Maryland One and Slam Dunk One, so far -- feature tails with the canyon blue color scheme, and all earlier specials, with the exception of Triple Crown One and Nevada One have been repainted to match.

Incidents and accidents

Southwest has had three major incidents of note, one involving a passenger fatality that happened due to the passenger's deliberate actions, and one involving a ground fatality.

• On March 5, 2000, Southwest Airlines Flight 1455 overran the runway upon landing at Bob Hope Airport, Burbank, California, injuring 43. The incident resulted in the dismissal of the pilots, and the plane written off.
• On August 11, 2000, passenger Jonathan Burton broke through the cockpit door aboard Southwest Airlines Flight 1763 while en route from Las Vegas to Salt Lake City. In their own defense, the other passengers restrained Burton who ultimately died of the resulting injuries. [2][3] [4]

• On December 8, 2005, Southwest Airlines Flight 1248 skidded off a runway upon landing at Chicago Midway International Airport, in heavy snow conditions. Joshua Woods, a young boy, was killed in a car struck by the plane after it had skidded into a street. There were also several minor injuries reported from passengers onboard the aircraft and on the ground.

Trivia

Note: Most of this information is found at southwest.com

• Louis Freeman was Southwest Airlines' first African American pilot, later to become the first African American Chief Pilot of any major U.S. airline.
• The airline adopted the first profit-sharing plan in the U.S. airline industry in 1973. Through this plan and others, employees own about 10 percent of the company stock.
• The airline is about 87 percent unionized. The pilots are unionized and represented by the Southwest Airlines Pilots' Association, a union separate from the much larger ALPA union.
• Southwest has 1,133 married couples. In other words, 2,266 Southwest Employees have spouses who also work for the company.
• An average of 80 percent of Southwest passengers are local passengers, meaning only 20 percent of all passengers are connecting passengers. This is significantly higher then most airlines, where passengers often connect in hub cities.
• Over 90 Southwest pilots were deployed as military reservists in support of the 2003 invasion of Iraq. One of them, Gus Kohntopp, was subsequently identified as involved in the 190th Fighter Squadron, Blues and Royals friendly fire incident - March 28, 2003.
• Former astronaut Robert "Hoot" Gibson was a captain with Southwest until 2006 when he was forced to retire due to federal age regulations prohibiting airline pilots to fly at age 60 or more.

Awards and recognitions

• For the tenth year in a row, FORTUNE magazine recognized Southwest Airlines in its annual survey of corporate reputations. Among all industries in 2005, FORTUNE has listed Southwest Airlines as number three among America’s Top Ten most admired corporations.
• Southwest Airlines’ Rapid Rewards program was honored in InsideFlyer magazine’s 2006 annual Freddie Awards for Best Program of the Year, Best Award Redemption, Best Award, Best Web Site, and Best Bonus Promotion Honors.
• For 2007, the eighth year in a row, Business Ethics magazine lists Southwest Airlines in its “100 Best Corporate Citizens,” a list that ranks public companies based on their corporate service to various stakeholder groups. Southwest is one of only 11 repeat winners that have made the list all eight years
• In 2005, The American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) recognized Southwest Airlines as leading the industry in customer satisfaction. The ACSI, conducted by the University of Michigan, independently tracks customer satisfaction levels by measuring the household consumption experience.
• Since 2000, HISPANIC magazine has listed Southwest Airlines as Corporate 100 for leadership in providing opportunities for Hispanics and for supporting recruitment, scholarships, and minority vendor programs.
• The Express Delivery & Logistics Association (XLA) honored Southwest Airlines as the “2006 Airline of the Year.” This is the second consecutive year that Southwest Airlines Cargo has received this honor
• In 2005, American Small Business Travelers Alliance ranked Southwest Airlines as the "Best Airline Among Small Business Travelers."
• Professional Women's magazine included Southwest Airlines in their 2006 ranking of the "Most Admired Companies Among Women."
• According to Institutional Investor magazine, Southwest Airlines ranked number one in the Consumer category among all airlines as the “Most Shareholder Friendly Company” based on the effectiveness of Southwest’s governance and investor relations as part of their overall efforts to maximize share holder value.
• For the third straight year in 2006, Southwest Airlines Cargo has been named “Airline of the Year” by the Express Delivery & Logistics Association (XLA). Southwest Airlines Cargo placed first in five categories: service, communications, web site and technology, overall value, and Federal Aviation Administration ontime performance.
• Southwest Airlines took top honors in the ninth Business Travel News Annual Airlines Survey.
• FORTUNE has ranked Southwest Airlines in the top five of the “Best Companies to Work For” in America. Southwest ranked first in 1997 and 1998, second in 1999, and fourth in 2000. Southwest has chosen not to participate since 2000.
• In 2006, Southwest ranked in GIjobs.nets list of 50 military friendly employers. At number 37, Southwest was the only major commercial airline to make the list.
• In its January 2006 issue, Institutional Investor ranked Southwest CEO Gary Kelly as one of America's top CEO's. He was ranked best CEO in the airline sector.

External links

• Southwest Airlines Website
• Southwest Airlines Seating Charts on SeatGuru.com
• Southwest Airlines Fleet Age
• Southwest Airlines' Yahoo! Finance Profile