CASE ANALYSIS

Running Head : CASE ANALYSIS : SOUTHWEST AIRLINES

Case Analysis : Southwest Airlines

Student Name

University ABSTRACT

This analyzes the case of Southwest Airlines and presents a strategy for the company for the three years 2005-2007 . Southwest is a low-cost , no-frills airline which was incorporated in the year 1967 (Doganis , 2006 , pp . 150 . The company 's strategy of keeping the overheads low , and transferring the cost cuts to its passengers has been imitated both successfully and unsuccessfully since its inception , by many other airline companies , both domestic and abroad . However Southwest Airlines

is unique among the United States Airlines . The airline company is one of the most admired companies in the past twenty years and has proved itself by being consistently being successful in the past three decades . In fact the company in 2007 achieved its 35th year of consistent profitability , and 67th consecutive quarterly profit as stated by the Southwest CEO Gary Kelly , a fact which can be considered as truly remarkable and unprecedented in the United States airline industry especially considering that this period includes the most turbulent decade in the in the history of industry , where many of the large airline companies were forced into bankruptcy . Of late , it is seen that the company has been re-strategizing its business and using schemes which it had shunning since its time of inception . It can be safely assumed that the airline industry is entering a new phase , with different environmental conditions , and different consumer requirements which has to be taken care by even the most maverick of the airline companies . This forms the basic premise of this report

The aim of the is to analyze the strategy of the Airline Company and present alternative strategic options , which would be compared to the present strategy of the company

Introduction

Southwest Airlines is the United States ' most successful low-fare , high frequency , point-to-point carrier . Given the volatile environment of the present world like terrorist attacks , meteoritic rise in aviation insurance , industry downsizing , rising fuel costs and a severe reduction in consumer air travel - Southwest Airlines is still maintaining its track record of success (David 2006 . According to the Department of Transportation , DOT , for twelve consecutive years 1991-2002 , Southwest Airlines was rated as one of the top five air-carriers for on-time performance , best baggage handling and fewest consumer complaints Southwest Airlines is consistently among the Fortune magazine 's list for the most admired companies (David 2006 . Currently Southwest Airlines is the fourth largest domestic carrier - in terms of the number of customers boarded . It is also the largest carrier based on scheduled domestic departures

Southwest Airlines was started in the year 1967 by Rollin King and Herb Kelleher , as Southwest Co . The company was renamed Southwest Airlines in the year 1968 , and began customer service on June 18 , 1971 . Southwest Airlines began its service with only three Boeing 737 aircrafts and was initially approved to fly only between three cities in Texas - Houston Dallas and San Antonio (David 2006 . The company became a major...