Operations Management Of

Southwest Airlines

Gaurav Asthana

Southwest Airlines• Southwest Airlines Co. is a

major U.S. airline.• The airline was established

in 1967.• The world's largest low-cost

carrier• Headquartered in Dallas,

Texas.• Goal - Offering Great Service at Low-Cost

Southwest Airlines(cont.)

• 4Th Largest U.S Airlines (domestic)• Covers 60 cities(59 Airports) in 30 States• Homepage on the Internet• Enjoyed 30 straight profitable years• In 2003, It was named as most admired

companies in U.S by Forbes.

Background• Founder: Businessman Rollin

King and Lawyer Herb Kelleher(1967)

• First Scheduled Flight in 1971• In 1974 Southwest gained

virtual monopoly at Love Field

• In 1982 Southwest extended its service

• In 1985 it launched ‘Just Say When’ Campaign

Background (cont.)

• Advance Purchase Fun-Fare(1986) and Frequent Flier Program in 1987

• Triple Crown Award(1992)• Introduced ‘SWABIZ’• September 11,2001 Terrorist Attacks• Worst year for Airline Industry(2002)

Operations

• Lowest Possible Fares• Quality of Service• Blanketing Strategy• Turning Around Aircrafts Quickly

Southwest Operational Efficiency

• Limited Passenger Service• Frequent, Reliable Departures• Short-hault and point-to-point routes• Highly Productive Ground and Gate Crews• Low-ticket Fares and secondary or smaller

Airport• High Aircraft Utilization

Southwest:15mins Turnaround

• Quick Turnaround• Excellent Co-ordination• Functions did not work in Isolation• Limit Turnover to 15mins or less• Limit to 20-25mins in worse conditions

Routing(After deregulation of the Airline Industry)

• Hub and Spoke System• Southwest’s point-to-point Flights strategy• Interlining with other carriers• 77% Southwest Passenger’s flew non-stop

Use of Small Airports

• Avoided Congested Airports• Airports like Dellas Love Field and Houston

Hobby• High Employee Productivity• High Asset Utilization

Ticketing

• Self-Ticketing Machines (1979)• Ticket less travel (1995)• Rapid-Rewards• Rewards were transferable

Boarding • Automated Procedures• Computer generated baggage tags• Computer generated boarding pass• Rapid check in• Reusable plastic boarding passes

In Flight Services

• No Full cabin service• No Meals on board• Peanuts and other snacks• Extra Seats• No Food Carts

Aircrafts Standardization

• Boeing 737• Extensive training• Inventory management• Keeping record simpler• Flight dispatch system• Young fleet of Aircrafts

Looking Ahead

• Non-stop Flights (Baltimore and Houston)• Daily non-stop service (Spokane and Las-

Vegas)• One daily non-stop flights from various cities

THANK YOU