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Case Study Southwest Airlines

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Southwest Airlines, owned by Southwest Airlines Company, is a passenger airline primarily operating in the United States. Based on information in their annual stockholders report (Southwest Airlines, 2012), they provide scheduled air transportation for passengers departing and arriving from 103 cities in 41 states. This is limited compared to some of the larger airlines. The airline is the largest US domestic airlines based on the total number of originating passengers boarded. This does not mean they are the largest by fleet size or number of employees. Because of the point to point model rather than the typical hub and spoke model, 71% of Southwest’s fares are non-stop allowing them to increase the total passengers per day per plane. With this point to point model Southwest has made a profit for the past 39 years, and has grown into a $15.7 billion business operating 140 aircraft. Based on Gwynne (2012), Southwest started as a low cost point to point airlines operating from 3 Texas cities in 1971. They offered ticket prices as low as $40 per seat between Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio. Southwest flew from small airports and was able to get people in and out quickly with fewer hassles as compared to the major airlines of the time. Their market strategy at the time was simple. Get people where they wanted to go, on time, for the lowest price possible. This follows the production concept as described by A Framework For Marketing Management (2012). The early Southwest airlines offered many flight schedule options with very basic service at a low cost.
Based on A Framework For Marketing Management (2012) having a mission statement is an important part of strategic planning. Are Southwest Airlines strategies similar today to their 1971 vision? The Southwest Airline (2012 July) customer care commitment states their mission statement is “The mission of Southwest

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