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Southwest Airlines Case Analysis

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Comprehensive Case Analysis
Southwest Airlines:
What¡¦s Next? April 11, 2000 They Took a Great Idea and Made It Fly
Southwest Airlines Company is a domestic airline that provides primarily short-haul, high-frequency, point-point, low-fare service to 53 airports in 52 cities in26 states throughout the United States. Southwest focuses primarily on point-to-point service, providing more direct nonstop routes for short-haul customers and, therefore, minimizing connections, delays and total trip time. The company¡¦s average trip length is 441 miles with an average flight time of approximately one-hour.
It was Rollin King¡¦s and Herb Kelleher¡¦s vision to start an airline that with a mission to get its passengers to their …show more content…

Southwest Airlines is looking to expand its services into more eastern markets and adding more long-haul routes.

EXTERNAL OPPORTUNITIES AND THREATS
The external audit focuses on identifying and evaluating trends and events beyond the control of a single firm. An external audit reveals essential opportunities and threats confronting an organization so that managers can formulate strategies to take advantage of the opportunities and avoid or reduce the impact of threats. Opportunities
„h The point-to-point niche market remains a growth market
„h Adding more long-haul routes
„h International expansion into Canada, Mexico, or the Caribbean
„h Expanding Eastern U.S. short haul-routes
„h Stable economy

Threats
„h Competitive fare wars and customer incentive plans
„h Economic recessions
„h High fuel prices
„h Corporate cost-saving measures
„h Airline Alliances¡Xcode sharing agreements, scheduling and marketing agreements

COMPETITIVE PROFILE MATRIX
This Competitive Profile Matrix identifies Southwest Airlines major competitors and their particular strengths and weaknesses in relation to Southwest¡¦s position.

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