Southwest Airlines
Southwest Airlines is an American Airline that offers domestic flight services in the U.S. According to the number of passengers that it flies in its over five hundred fleet which make over 3,400 flights daily, it’s the biggest airline in the U.S. airline industry.
Southwest Airline was founded in March 1967 in Dallas, Texas, and not until 1971, it operated as Air Southwest Co. Both Rollin King and co-founder Herb Kelleher are the pioneers behind the founding of Air Southwest Co., whose prior objective was to offer domestic flight services to the Texan state and it was later when it opened its services to other U.S states in 1971 that it would change its name to the present day Southwest Airlines.
The CEO of Southwest Airlines is Gary Kelly and he’s has steered Southwest Airlines in that position since July 2004. Gary Kelly has vast experience in the airline industry. His career in Southwest Airlines started in 1986 when joined the airline as Controller (Jody, 2005). Gary Kelly’s role as a Controller involved auditing the airline’s accounts and the supervision of its financial matters. Subsequent promotions saw him scale the ladder to leadership in Southwest Airlines. Gary Keller was promoted to a Chief Financial Officer in 1989 and also the Vice President of Finance, a position that he would hold until 2001; his role in Southwest Airlines was the Principal Accounting Officer. In 2001, he was promoted to become the Executive Vice President of Southwest Airlines (Charles & Jones, 2009). Three years later, he was promoted to the current CEO position; in May 2008, to become also the Chairman and in July 2008, to take the role of President. Thus in Southwest Airlines, Gary Kelly, the CEO, has a 25-year experience.
Southwest Airlines is headquartered in Dallas, Texas. Southwest Airlines covers routes in over seventy states in the U.S. However, the success of the airline has seen it add new routes and make plans to add others such that there cannot be said to be a fixed number of routes though all are domestic flights.
The reasons behind the success of Southwest Airlines are a low-cost model and efficiency in their aircraft (Michael, Duane Ireland & Robert, 2010). There are a number of management strategies employed by the airline. One is that it operates a fleet consisting of one type of aircraft, Boeing 737. This reduces the maintenance and training of its crew, the operating costs. Two, is simple in-flight services. There are no assigned passenger seats which reduce the time used by passengers in boarding and the airline service doesn’t offer meals other than refreshments and this reduces the restocking time; this efficacy enables the airline to preserve time and make daily additional flights. To avoid intricate fare structures, the airline gives one-way tickets and gives the customers value for their money. The airline is involved in fuel-hedging ways that cushion it against soaring fuel prices.
There is good employer/employee relations and can be reflected in the airline’s mission statement which shows that they value their employees. “To our employees: We are committed to provide our Employees a stable work environment with equal opportunity for learning and personal growth. Creativity and innovation are encouraged for improving the effectiveness of Southwest Airlines. Above all, Employees will be provided the same concern, respect, and caring attitude within the organization that they are expected to share externally with every Southwest Customer.” Charles, Joseph & Carl (p.38).
Since over 85% of the employees are union members, it means that there are smooth relations and their needs represented since the airline deals with the union on behalf of the employees. The Southwest airline uses a low-cost model as a marketing strategy whereby it reduces the flight fares and gives the passengers lesser comforts such as no provision of meals except refreshments. The marketing strategy of Southwest Airlines hasn’t changed this year because being a low-cost airline; the low-cost model is fully integrated in the airline management strategies. I would work for this airline because it has grown to be the envy of many business rivals whereby it has made profits whereas other airlines made loses such as during the global recession through good management strategies and values its employees as it’s explicitly reflected in its mission statement.

References
Charles, H. & Jones G. (2009). Strategic Management Theory: An Intergrated Approach. Ohio: Cengage Learning.
Michael A.H., R. Duane Ireland & Robert E.H. (2010). Strategic Management: Competitiveness & Globalization, Concepts. Ohio: Cengage Learning.
Jody, G. H. (2005). The Southwest Airlines way: using the power of relationships to achieve high performance. New York: McGraw-Hill Professional.
Lamb, L. W., Joseph F.H. & Carl M. (2011). Essentials of Marketing. Ohio: Cengage Learning.