Southwest Airlines - Research Paper Example

During the same period, most of the competing airline companies have struggled to consistently make profits even for a period of three to four years. The remarkable success and innovative ways with that Southwest Airlines have achieved has made this study interesting. It is worth studying the business concept of Southwest, which involves attracting passengers by flying convenient schedules and getting passengers to their destination on time using several strategic initiatives. The efficiency, quality of service, controlled growth, increase in demand for reliable low-fare travel, and other key success factors like leadership, culture, strategy, and coordination are some of the factors that contributed to the success of the airline.

This project aims to study the relative contribution made by these distinct factors that made this remarkable transformation possible for Southwest.Southwest Airline was incorporated in Texas and commenced its operations in June 1971. When the airline started its operations it had three Boeing 737 aircraft which served Houston, Dallas, and San Antonio. As of December 2008, the airline operates 537 Boeing aircraft serving 64 cities in 32 states within the United States. The airline achieved the position of topping the monthly domestic originating passenger rankings for the first time in May 2003.

The financial results for the year 2008 mark the 36th year for the airline to remain consistently profitable. Southwest was included in the list of major airlines in the year 1989 when the company surpassed one billion dollar mark in revenue earnings. Southwest is the most successful, low-fare, high frequency, point-to-point carrier operating in the United States.