Southwest Airlines

Benedict Gombocz

Southwest Airlines

Southwest Airlines: Background Major U.S. airline and the biggest low-cost carrier in

the world; is headquartered in Dallas, Texas.

Founded in 1967 and took its current name in 1971.

Has, as of August 2012, over 46,000 employees and operates over 3,400 flights every day.

Carries more domestic passengers than any other U.S. airline as of June 5, 2011.

Has scheduled service to 89 destinations in 42 states and Puerto Rico from August 2013.

Has only operated Boeing 737s, with the exception of a few years in the 1970s and the 1980s, when it operated a few Boeing 727s.

Biggest operator worldwide, from August 2012, of the 737 with more than 500 in service; each operate, on average, six flights every day.

Bought AirTran Airways in May 2011; incorporation of the two carriers is anticipated to conclude by 2014.

The company was given a single operating certificate, which theoretically makes Southwest and AirTran one airline.

Southwest Airlines: Focus cities Baltimore–Washington International Airport

Chicago Midway International Airport

Dallas Love Field

Denver International Airport

Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport

Lambert–St. Louis International Airport

Los Angeles International Airport

McCarran International Airport (Las Vegas)

Nashville International Airport

Oakland International Airport

Orlando International Airport

Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport

San Diego International Airport

William P. Hobby Airport (Houston)

Southwest 737-500 in old livery

Southwest Airlines: Headquarters The headquarters of Southwest is located on the

grounds of Dallas Love Field in the Love Field neighborhood of Dallas, Texas.

Southwest began breaking ground on a new Training and Operational Support (TOPS) building on 17 September 2012.

The TOPS building is across the street from the current headquarters.

This property is made up of a two-story, 100,000-square foot operations building that can survive an F3 tornado; it also comprises a four-story, 392,000-square foot office and training facility with two levels given to every task.

Housed in the new facilities will be 24-hour coordination and maintenance operations, customer support and services, and training.

The project designer was BOKA Powell; the general service provider was Manhattan Construction.

The project is due to be completed by the end of 2013; occupancy is set to began in 2014.

Southwest Airlines: Destinations Southwest, as of December 2013, flies scheduled

services to 89 destinations in 42 states and Puerto Rico; from November 3, 2013, the newest destinations are Pensacola, FL, Memphis, TN, Richmond, VA.

Unlike most other major airlines, Southwest does not use the more customary “hub and spoke” flight routing system, favoring the “Point to Point” system.

It has particularly big operations in specific airports.

On average, 80 percent of Southwest passengers are local passengers, which means only 20 percent of all passengers are connecting passengers; this is most considerably higher than most airlines, where passengers frequently connect in hub cities.

Conversely, at Southwest’s focus cities, the percentage of connecting passengers can go up by almost as much as 30 percent; recent numbers suggest that the number of connecting passengers is gradually increasing.

As part of its attempt to manage fees, Southwest uses minor airports which normally have high fees.

Minor airports tend to have lower fees; they may also be more suitable to travelers than bigger airports to the same destinations.

For instance, Southwest flies to Chicago-Midway and not the larger Chicago O’Hare.

Southwest Airlines: Codeshare Agreements Southwest is not currently a member of any major

global alliances, but it has a codeshare agreement with AirTran Airways, which only began after Southwest bought AirTran.

Southwest Airlines: Southwest and AirTran

Southwest Airlines: Current fleet The Southwest Airlines fleet includes

the following aircraft since December 2013: Boeing 737-300 (electronic flight deck

retrofit terminated, 78 in process of being withdrawn)

Boeing 737-500 (in process of being withdrawn)

Boeing 737-700 (choices adaptable to -800 series)

Boeing 737-800 Boeing 737 MAX 7 (set to enter service in

2019) Boeing 737 MAX 8 (set to enter service in

2017)

Southwest is the biggest operator of the Boeing 737 in the world.

After it finished the acquirement of AirTran Airways, Southwest added the former’s existing fleet of 737-700 aircraft to its fleet.

The 717s obtained from AirTran will not be added to the Southwest fleet; they will instead be withdrawn and reassigned to Delta Air Lines until late 2015.

Retrofitted electronic flight decks and mingled winglets are being added to newer Boeing 737-300 variants to improve them and to decrease operational fees; this retrofit will make the 737-300s operationally well-suited to the 737-700 and support the airline’s approach to the Global Positioning System allowing Required Navigation Performance system.

Southwest announced a plan to add the Boeing 737-800 to the Southwest fleet on December 15, 2010; on April 11, 2012 (one year, sixteen months, and eleven days later), the 737-800 began operations and has 175 seats, 38 more than the previous biggest in the Southwest fleet.

All -800s comprise the Boeing Sky interior, and all Southwest owned -800s are supplied with ETOPS capability.

Southwest put a firm order for 150 Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft on December 13, 2011; this made it the launch purchaser for this aircraft type, and first delivery is scheduled for 2017.

The Boeing Sky Interior will be included in all 737 MAX 8 aircraft.

Southwest was also the launch purchaser of the Boeing 737 MAX 7 aircraft, and it now has 30 MAX 7 on order; 2019 is the expected year of the first delivery.

Southwest additionally announced an agreement to buy ten pre-owned 737-700s from WestJet for delivery in 2014 and 2015.

Southwest 737-300

Southwest 737-500

Southwest 737-500 in Lone Star One livery

Southwest 737-700

Southwest 737-800

The End YouTube links:

Welcome Aboard - Funny Southwest Airlines TV Commercial Ad: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4S-snuCDBXc

Southwest Airlines $69 Flights TV Commercial: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-4Po0pc_4B0

Southwest Airlines Boeing 737 Safety Demonstration 08/21/2011: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pT3FtMBzBL0