Southwest Airlines

From ArticleWorld

History

Southwest Airlines was initially known as Air Southwest, which was started in 1967. Other airlines of the industry tried to prevent the airline to operate but eventually, was upheld by the Supreme Court, USA, the case for which lasted for three years, and has been in the business ever since.

1971 was the year of rechristening of Southwest Airlines from Air Southwest, and had flown its debut flight on June 18th, 1971, from Lovefield, Dallas to Houston and San Antonio. It was a runaway success due to the manner it had structured its fare, and because it had shortstops.

Southwest had acquired three 737 Boeing aircrafts and the fourth one later in 1971. Initially after two years of losses, it was forced to sell the fourth plane to reduce debts. 1973, was when its operations started gaining profits and has done so ever since. After the opening of Dallas/Fort Worth international airport, Southwest relented to shift there and preferred to stay in Lovefield. After the airport’s deregulation, the Wright Amendment had restricted its operations beyond the state of Texas from Lovefield.

Work ethics

Buying of tickets has to be done from the airline itself or by booking on the phone or online from the website. An all new experience of flying is how one feels as it differs from other US airlines. Seats are allotted on the basis of first come first serve, where passengers are not allotted seat numbers , but are put in a boarding group. Meals are very less on shorter flights and longer flight passengers get a snack-pack. The flights have no video entertainment but the crew presentation is very live and pleasant.

The airline has been loyal to Boeing 737 with addition of upgraded variants which stalls upward costs while operating on multiple short trips. Being very different from other regular airlines, Southwest has remained a favorite for many, who are highly satisfied, given the friendly disposition of crew members.

Due to all of these factors, other airlines across the globe have replicated the airlines’ operations and style. Southwest has lowered fuel cost by hedging its fuel consumption well in advance which, eventually helped in retaining profits. Keeping their trend well in practice by operating only their Boeing 737 and its variants, has led the airline to successfully contribute to better profits.