Strengths And Weaknesses Of Southwest Airlines

People – One of the many things good about Southwest Airlines is that the kinds of people who are heroes of the organization are people who care and go out of their way to help the customers. They’re the ones who are celebrated and held up as shining examples. Additionally, high levels of satisfaction among employees can be attributed to Southwest employee policy. Happy employees can provide high quality service and bring more customers back. To reinforce the culture of hard work, high-energy, fun, local autonomy, and creativity, the company provided continuous education program to employees. If you can help someone out or brighten someone’s day, be it a co-worker or a passenger, you’re doing your job well.

It would bring in more customers and the customers that have flown before will probably fly again. Employees love spending time on the airplane talking to the customers. Customers like employees who make them feel safe or a person who is fun to talk to. Capacity is another thing that will affect the company. Even though there are more people coming in, Southwest Airlines will have to have more plane to transport people. If they do not, things will fall down. Second, it is the time management; because if the company is slow, they would go to another airplane company. Some companies take forever to get their flyers abroad. They get all of their flyers abroad quicker than some others even though Southwest Airlines is a larger company. Southwest Airlines either avoid canceling people tickets besides the weather or they change tickets to another flight quicker. When people accidently put the wrong place, Southwest Airlines can change it quickly unlike some other

Southwest Airlines is a passenger airline company that arranges and provides scheduled flights for passenger and transportation freight services. The company mainly provides, low-fare, point-to-point services all over the US and near-international markets. The headquarters is located in Dallas, Texas and as of December 2014, the company employed over 46,278 people. The company was founded by Rollin King and Herb Kelleher in 1971. Southwest was the first airline to introduce the frequent mile program. This took place in the mid 1980’s. This type of program allowed passengers to add up traveled miles to use later as credit on a future airline ticket. The traveled miles would add up and would also reduce the price of a ticket. Southwest created the idea of senior discount, fun fares and the fun packs. These were perks that attracted people from different age groups. When Southwest originally was incorporated, the idea was to operate in three cities in Texas, but after taking over Morris Air and TranStar in 1987, this gave them a cutting advantage in the airline industry.

Southwest Airlines has been serving its customers since 1971 and has focused its business on convenience, customer service and low-cost flights. From the outset, the two founders were dedicated to success and the company has taken many steps since then to accomplish this. Through the use of technology, strategic placement of travel routes and keeping the business person in mind, Southwest has continued to succeed even when the economy would project otherwise.

As the United States society is changing, it is becoming a more cosmopolitan society overall. More and more people are looking for better opportunities in cities far away from their homes. By having this change in the current environment, Southwest Airlines will be expecting more passengers to fly with them, thus increasing their revenues. People will need to fly from their homes to their new city to work and visit home occasionally.

Southwest expects its employees to come up with initiatives and to have candid meetings of frontline employees and managers [4]. The company expects its managers to spend at least a third of their time walking around the facilities and interacting with employees and customers to obtain data on how Southwest can improve.

Southwest’s low-cost strategy which have various cost reductions help the company pass on the benefits to the end consumer in the form of lower fares. The lower fares help the company gather higher demand for its tickets. The high demand also helps the company save money

Southwest Airlines has high growth and high profitability. However, its cost advantage is not as big as in prior years.

Southwest Airlines faced many barriers to entry from the fierce competition of other airlines in the industry. Though competition was fierce, Southwest Airlines managed to succeed by doing things differently. Their mission was to provide affordable air travel to those who would not normally fly. Contradictory to the rest of the airline industry, Southwest maintained a profit while keeping its fares low. Southwest was unique to the industry in two ways. They focused on the short haul traveler and used a point-to-point method of flight connections.

Product Positioning: Southwest portrays itself as the only low-fare, short-haul, high frequency, point-to-point airline in America which is fun to fly. Southwest Airline focuses mainly on families and casual business travelers who look for reliable, fast and convenient travel in an economical price. The Company doesn’t provide any first class, doesn’t serve any food, no assigned seats and doesn’t transfer baggage to other airlines. But in return the company emphasizes on ultra-low fair, customer service, no cancellation or rescheduling fee, quick turnaround for planes, on-time arrival and frequent non-stop flights, often from less congested airports not served by other airlines. A southwest plane can reach a terminal and leave within 25 min whereas the industry average is 60 min. On top of that Southwest has a product differentiation strategy of “bags fly free”, to allow two free

The engaging and entertaining performances of their flight crews put the potential customers at ease. The customers appreciate a touch of humor in an otherwise overly serious industry. By appealing to the emotions of their customers, Southwest Airlines Company is able to drive home their message in a far more memorable way than words alone. The engaging and entertaining performance of the flight crews also contribute to the promotional activities by showing that Southwest has created an atmosphere that is fun and exciting for its employees by placing them first. Many companies stress the importance of their employees but the employees feel as if they are a second hand thought. Not so at Southwest, they always mention that employees come first. The simple understanding that happy employees equates to a happy and productive workforce are important at Southwest. The company also created an industry trend with the Southwest effect, showing how the entrance of a low priced fare airline into a new market will infuse it with new activity. The company should continue to pursue cost-savings opportunities and do things differently than the competition. These are key attributes that have allowed Southwest Airlines Company to stand out from their competition.

The heart of Southwest represents more than just an airline; it represents a strong commitment to serving its customers. Southwest airlines’ success is founded on the dedication and hard work of its employees. I choose Southwest Airlines because I have personally witnessed how your company always puts people first. Southwest’s latest ad campaign “Transfarency” proves that Southwest Airlines knows that fair is more than just a price; it is an experience. Southwest builds trust with its customers through the guarantee of no change fees and two free bags. The Southwest way is why Southwest is responsible for carrying the most nonstop domestic passengers in the United States. Southwest Airlines not only takes care of their customers, but also treats their employees like family. I recognized Southwest’s fun-loving work culture when Shannon Grandin came to speak to my Strategic Brand Management class at SMU. As Shannon spoke, I could hear the love she has for her co-workers in her voice. Southwest has become her second home, and I know I want to be a

First of all, Southwest’s strengths lie in their point to point strategy (not being pinned to a hub), dominant market position (most domestic passengers), strong customer service year after year and their iconic brand as a low cost carrier. One of their immediately noticeable weaknesses includes nominal revenue opportunities, as they are not jumping on the ancillary revenue bandwagon (baggage fees, seat allocation, airport lounges, etc…) which can grow revenue in both the medium and long term. Yet, their rivals are recording large revenues from these “extras”. Its product can also be considered outdated when there are no offerings of first class, extended legroom, business flights, etc. Another disadvantage includes their dependence on a single airplane producer…Boeing. The greatest opportunity I see for Southwest is their

Currently, Southwest Airlines is in the company’s 45th year of service (Southwest Investor Relations, 2015). Over the course of Southwest Airlines history, the company has establish strong branding with value minded consumers, of which the coined term the “Southwest Effect” is exemplary (US Department of Transportation, 1993). Additionally, Southwest Airlines offers the competitive advantage of being the singular United States Airline which does not charge a fee for the first two bags checked by customers (McGee, 2014). Furthermore, Southwest Airline’s existing economy of scale permits the airline to routinely offer nationwide sales events in which consumers are able to book flights at deeply discounted rates (McGee, 2014).

Southwest makes the difference in the airline industry through making its workforce always satisfied, low pricing, phenomenal customer service, the airline is known for its high employee productivity and simple rules. “.... Perhaps Southwest’s outstanding performance has been achieved through high levels of coordination among its frontline employee groups. Well coordinated organizations have a competitive advantage through their ability to achieve a higher quality at lower cost by achieving faster cycle times and by providing a more coherent interface to customers…” (The Southwest Airlines way, 2005, p.16)