Southwest Airlines is a major U.S. airline established in 1967 that has become the world's largest low-cost carrier. It is headquartered in Dallas, Texas and operates flights to 60 cities across 30 states, focusing on offering low fares and reliable service. Southwest pioneered an efficient operations model centered around quick aircraft turnarounds of 15 minutes or less, point-to-point routes, and standardizing its fleet on the Boeing 737 to keep costs low. This approach has allowed Southwest to enjoy over 30 consecutive years of profitability.

1. Operations Management
Of
Southwest Airlines
Gaurav Asthana

2. 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

3. 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.

4. 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

5. 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)

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

7. 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

8. 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

9. 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

10. Use of Small Airports
• Avoided Congested Airports
• Airports like Dellas Love Field and Houston
Hobby
• High Employee Productivity
• High Asset Utilization

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

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

13. In Flight Services
• No Full cabin service
• No Meals on board
• Peanuts and other snacks
• Extra Seats
• No Food Carts

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

15. Looking Ahead
• Non-stop Flights (Baltimore and Houston)
• Daily non-stop service (Spokane and Las-
Vegas)
• One daily non-stop flights from various cities

17. THANK YOU