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Historical Overview of Southwest Airlines

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Historical Overview of the Company
Rollin King and Herb Kelleher formed southwest Airlines in 1971. In the same year, the company began services to three Texas cities of Houston, Dallas, and San Antonio. Today, Southwest Airlines operates 537 Boeing 737 aircraft, flies to 68 cities in 35 states. The company plan to service Panama City Beach in 2010. In 2009, the company had about 35,000 employees (Southwest Fact Sheet, 2010).
Historical Milestone:
• 1971 Southwest Airlines began services between Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio.
• 1972 All Houston service is transferred to Houston' Hobby Airport from Houston Intercontinental.
• 1973 Southwest Airlines has its first profit and applies with Texas Aeronautics Commission to expand service to Rio Grande Valley.
• 1974 Southwest carries its one-millionth passenger and Houston Hobby Airport at the cost of $400,000.
• 1976 Southwest was granted clearance to permission to fly to Austin, Corpus Christi, El Paso, Lubbock, and Midland/Odessa.
• 1977 Southwest carries its five millionth passengers and it is listed on the New York Stock Exchange as "Luv."
• 1979 Self-ticketing machines are introduced in ten cities.
• 1981 Southwest celebrated its 10th anniversary
• 1982 Herbert Kelleher took over as President, CEO, and Chairman of Southwest Airlines.
• 1984 Southwest is ranked number one in customer satisfaction for the fourth time in four years.
• 1988 Southwest and SeaWorld of Texas promoted Texas and painted one of its plane as "Shamu the killer whale".
• Southwest reaches the billion-dollar revenue mark.
• 1992 Southwest wins the first annual Triple Crown.
• 1993 The company expanded service to the East Coast.
• 1996 Southwest starts operating in Florida.
• 2000 Southwest introduces SWABIZ.
• 2001 Southwest turns 30 years.
• 2004 The company's 31st consecutive year of profitability and introduces online

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