Southwest airlines

2. Southwest Airlines was formed in 1971 to serve inter-city
routes in three Texas cities .By 1998, it had grown to
approximately 24,000 employees serving 25 states with
approximately 2,500 flights per day. Southwest
operates as a low-cost, no-frills but high customer
service airline flying point-to-point, rather than
establishing the hub-and-spoke system common to its
larger competitors.

3.  Technical and functional expertise are
underlying knowledge and skills, described
in observable and measurable terms, that
are necessary in order to perform a
particular type or level of work activity.
Technical and functional expertise typically
reflects a career-long experience in the job
or occupational area.

4. Southwest Airlines is dedicated to the highest quality
of Customer Service delivered with a sense of warmth,
friendliness, individual pride, and Company Spirit.

5. They are committed to provide their 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.

6.  Southwest Airlines began operating in 1971
 Southwest management has created a culture where
employees are treated as the company's number one
asset
 The benefits it gives it employees, include: profit-
sharing and empowering employees to make
decisions
 Southwest mixes in New Age management
techniques, such as celebrating different milestones,
and letting love play a part in running the airline
 The company's stock ticker symbol is LUV
 “Hire People who can Laugh at themselves.”

7.  Southwest Airlines has been named "one of the "Top
Five Best Companies to Work for in America" by
Fortune Magazine
 It has had the fewest customer complaints 18 years in
a row as reported by the DOT Air Travel Consumer
Report
 The Southwest Airlines has been profitable for 31
consecutive years, named the "2nd Most Admired
Company in America by Fortune Magazine, and has
an average employee turnover rate of less than 10%
 If you made a $10,000 investment in Southwest
Airlines in 1972, it would be worth more than $10
million today.

8. "We often say that Southwest “hires for attitude
and trains for aptitude.” However, besides teaching
technical “aptitude,” we also provide Leadership
training, and our Managers in Training (MIT)
program is a part of that learning process.“
Colleen Barrett , President Southwest Airlines
(West, 2005)

9. Strengths
1. Point to point service
2. Downtown airports for service-
strong on-time performance
3. Increase cash flow from operations
4. Strong management team
5. Reputation- best low cost carrier
6. Single type of aircraft-reduce
expenses
7. Excellent safety records
8. Excellent relationships with
employee unions
Weaknesses
1. Class action lawsuits
2. Dependent on single aircraft and
engine supplier
3. One class of seating
4. Large percentage of employee are
unionized
5. Can only carry a small amount of
cargo
Opportunities
1. International expansion
2. Longer are a growing market
3. Poised to benefit from Airtran
Acquisition
4. Overall air travel is predicted to
increase pretty rapidly this decade
5. New technologies- opportunity for new
services/products
6. Better use of internet for
marketing/ticketing
Threats
1. Intense competition
2. Increasing fuel prices could squeeze
profit margins
3. Stringent government regulations
could increase operating costs
4. High speed rail could hurt
short/medium length air travel

10.  1. Why haven’t other organizations, including other
airlines, been able to copy Southwest’s culture?
 Ans. Because they have the attribute ability to serve their
customers, they decided to prioritize the internal and external
customers, its employees and its consumers respectively.
Southwest’s based this decision on the premise that well-treated
employees will provide outstanding customer services. As a
result, Southwest hires for attitude rather than for specific skills.
Skills can be taught and acquired. Southwest airline’s track
record in customer service speaks for itself. Southwest continues
to be rated number one in their sectors. “The notion that
customers come second to employees and still get great service
has paid rich dividends for Southwest.” Southwest has a very
relaxed work environment and workspace. For many of its
employees, such an environment in combination with decent
living-standard salaries is reward enough to work for Southwest.
The relaxed work environment is modeled by Southwest airline
CEO Herb Kelleher. Southwest’s employees enjoy comfortable
work attire, team-building gatherings, and mutual-respect
amongst all.

11. 2. What role does socialization play at southwest Airlines?
Ans. Socialization plays an important role in Southwest by having the
top position in low cost ticket fare. Here employees are dedicated
toward their work and their people are competitive advantage, they
deliver resources and services to prepare their people to be
winners, to support the growth and profitability of the company,
while preserving the values and special culture of Southwest
Airlines. In this organization, they do not for fully trained employee,
but they think that person’s skill level can changes through training,
but it can’t change attitudes, so people are hired for their attitudes,
not for their technical skills.
Some characteristics of employee’s commitment and motivation,
which lead cooperative relationships among employee teams. That
is, the majorities of employees shares the same goals and basically
agree on how to pursue them.
Southwest has team-oriented values. Every pitch in regardless of the
task. They use a team measurement instead of individual
performance metrics to reinforce the team concept. People from all
departments must work together to improve the percentage of on-
time departures.

12.  3. Access the Southwest Airlines website at
http://www.iflyswa.com. What symbols does Southwest use
on its website to convey its culture?
 Ans. The symbol is “LUV.” They are the LUV airline—their New
York Stock Exchange ticker symbol is LUV, and their home
airport is Dallas Love Field—but to understand what it’s all
about, you must look into the hearts of their people. After all,
that they are not a Company of planes; they are a Company of
People. As the LUV airline, one of their favorite days of the
year is Valentine’s Day. That’s when, every year, they pay
tribute to a behind-the-scenes department at Southwest
through the very special “Heroes of the Heart Award.” This
distinction goes to a group of Employees who aren’t on the
frontlines but are just as essential as their Pilots and Flight
Attendants.

13.  The primary lesson is that though “relationships are
relatively ‘soft’ organizational factors and therefore tempting
to neglect under challenging conditions,” strong working
relationships allow organizations to move beyond the
traditional trade-offs between efficiency and quality and to
achieve higher levels of both, simultaneously.
 Relationships are not just a nice addition to the hard factors,
but are powerful drivers of organizational performance, if
they are consistently integrated into organizational practices
over the long term.