Southwest Airlines, Key Facts:
Niche strategy. Concept:
Concentrate in underutilized airports
1 type of aircraft fuel-efficient 737 (1994 more that 200 planes)
Frequent, on-time departures
Low cost fares, only 2 types of fares per root
No seats assigned, no meals
Point-to-point roots
Higher equipment initialization, shorter turn-around times
Competitive advantage:
Cost structure
"The workforce is dedicated to the company. They're Moonies basically. That's the way they operate."
Issue: New Competition. Other US airline companies started to imitate Southwest Airlines and created their own low cost carriers (for example: Continental Lite and United's Shuttle).
How has Southwest used OB ideas to secure a competitive advantage?
In the past when Southwest was unique in its approach to airline service, the company did not really have competitors within the airline industry (of course, Southwest had rivals, but the company managed to find its' place on the market). As one of the managers said, they were competing more with on-land transportation means (such as busses and trains) rather than with other airlines. From 1980s the situation in the airline industry started to become more unfavorable with companies loosing money and going bankrupt. At that time American airline companies realized that they can probably deal with these problems by copying the Southwest Airline's concept (as Southwest has been profitable in all years of its; operations). In the first part of 1990s two companies Continental and United launched their own low cost carriers and Southwest was concerned with the new competition. In fact these companies had plenty of time to analyze Southwest's model and they could copy their ...
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... or that position. (as others' airlines employees were complaining that pilots and flight attendants were accommodated in different level hotels and pilots were always on fight with mechanics). If the teamwork is so important for the company, providing training on teamwork and building the team (what Southwest did) is also really important.
There are many other things to talk about, but I would like to conclude that Southwest people were company's most important asset. And Southwest having all the operations and processes set up to be a low cost carried would never succeed without contribution made by its' employees and managers. Therefore, as long as Southwest's competitors will copy company's methods of cost cutting (1 plane, point-to-point destination and so forth) without having strong company culture and committed employees, Southwest has little to worry about.
It all started in 1924, at Macon, Georgia and back then it was not called Delta. It went by the name of Huff-Daland Dusters. Its main purpose was for aerial crop dusting to fight against insect infestation on cotton fields. The idea of deploying chemical from above to treat the infestation problem was introduced by a government entomologist Dr. Coad. After a brief research period, a contract was awarded to Huff-Daland Manufacturing to design an aerial delivery method. Huff-Daland designed and produced duster biplanes based on the Petrel 5, which was used by the navy. In 1923, Mr. Woolman, an agricultural engineer came to Huff-Daland from The Department of Agriculture. Three years later the company moved to Monroe, Louisiana. Since the crop dusting business was periodic, Mr. Woolman looked for other ways to maintain their business practices. As a result, they decided to add Peru into the mix since the seasons were opposite. During his mission in Peru, he saw another opportunity to expand the company’s business, by providing passenger air travels service. After while things started to go down hill for the company due to the political change in Peru. As a result, Mr. Woolman sold most of the crop dusting equipment and some of the Air travel assets to Peruvian company (“Huff-Daland Duster,” n.d.).
Despite its growing domestic network, the company didn’t offer international flights until July 2014, and even then, it only offered limited destinations (“Southwest Corporate Fact Sheet,” n.d.). Furthermore, the company’s reliance on a single aircraft is cause for concern. Southwest Airlines was also weak with technology utilization initially but has since turned this into an asset, as described later. Finally, the company has a limitation with providing customer perks due to its low-cost operations (Ross & Beath,
Also, Southwest is renowned in the airline industry for its short turnaround time on arrivals and departures. And since people's biggest concern nowadays is money and time, having low price airline tickets to cater their traveling needs in a shorter period of time will surely satisfy them. Moreover, aside from the low prices offered, what attracts customers is Southwest’s way of dealing with them. The employees of the airline treat their customers well and really listen to their needs. Southwest Airlines is also well-known for having a very productive and loyal workforce.
Since 1987, when the Department of Transportation began tracking Customer Satisfaction statistics, Southwest has consistently led the entire airline industry with the lowest ratio of complaints per passengers boarded. Many airlines have tried to copy Southwest’s business model, and the Culture of Southwest is admired and emulated by corporations and organizations in all walks of life. Always the innovator, Southwest pioneered Senior Fares, a same-day air freight delivery service, and Ticketless Travel. Southwest led the way with the first airline web page—southwest.com, DING, the first-ever direct link to Customer’s computer desktops that delivers live updates on the hottest deals, and the first airline corporate blog, Nuts About Southwest. Our Share the Spirit community programs make Southwest the hometown airline of every city we serve.
Southwest Airlines is competing with "Shuttle by United" head to head in about 9 routes. United has just announced that it is discontinuing its Oakland - Ontario route and hiking the fares in all the 14 routes by $10, which calculated to be 14.5% increase in the fare. Southwest has to respond effectively to these unexpected developments and has to act accordingly while maintaining their current low fare image and increasing their daily operating profits. We have considered the elasticity of the market to be 1.15.
The marketing approach of Southwest Airlines is built upon their strong business model. They have successfully managed to target two specific market segments of the airline industry while remaining profitable. Their strategy is simple, to offer frequent non-stop flights with the lowest costs which appeal to both the business and budget travelers. By segmenting their target audience to specific demographics and ticket pricing, passengers know exactly what they are getting for the price they pay.
Advertising: As one of the largest domestic airlines, Southwest Airlines has an enormous advertising budget to sustain its presence and increase its market share through focusing on the benefits of flying Southwest over its competitors. Southwest recognizes that flying is no longer a pleasurable experience for many customers, even on Southwest, historically a budget airline. Even though Southwest is often regarded as a no-frills airline, it still attempts to build goodwill from its customers based on its advertising. Of the $249 million it spent on advertising in 2011, Southwest Airlines is unique in that it does not sell additional ad space on the exterior of its aircraft. Many domestic airlines have begun selling aircraft exterior space as a way to increase revenue, but Southwest Airlines insists that it wants to keep its product and advertisi...
Southwest Airlines is one of the most successful airlines in the United States. There has never been layoffs or strikes in the history of the company, although there were several times when layoffs could have been justified, including the months following the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. However, Southwest's Mission statement says “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.” (Southwest, 1988). The Airline has always believed that their corporate culture is one of the keys to their success. The culture recognizes that employees have emotional intelligence and that their attitudes and morale are key to the teamwork and creative environment.
Southwest Airlines strategy of focusing on short haul passenger and providing rates as low as one third of their competitors, they have seen tremendous growth in the last decade. Market share for top city pairs on Southwest's schedule has reached 80% to 85%. Maintaining the largest fleet of 737's in the world and utilizing point-to-point versus the hub-and-spoke method of connection philosophy allowed Southwest to provide their service to more people at a lower cost. By putting the employee first, Southwest has found the key to success in the airline business. A happy worker is a more productive one as well as a better service provider. Southwest will continue to reserve their growth in the future by entering select markets only after careful market research.
The mission of Southwest Airlines is a dedication to the highest quality of service delivered with warmth, friendliness, individual pride, and company spirit (Mission…, 2007). The company also provides opportunities for learning and personal growth to each employee. Creativity and innovation is very important and highly encouraged, for the purposes of improving effectiveness. Employees are to be provided the same concern, respect, and caring attitude within the organization that the employees are expected to share with the customer. Southwest Airlines was initially created to be a low-cost alternative to high price of intra-Texas air carriers (Freiberg, 1996). Southwest’s fares were originally supposed to compete with car and bus transportation. It was a little airline, and it would withstand the test of time. As a discount, no-frills airline, it would provide stiff competition for larger airlines. Their strategy was to operate at low cost, offering no food, no movies, no first class, and no reserved seats. They created their own market and provided increased turnaround times at the gate, by avoiding hub-and-spoke airports and opting for short-haul, direct flights. Through this market approach, Southwest has a majority of market share in the markets they serve.
The low cost and no frills strategy is make travel affordable at low cost. The company only operates one type of aircraft which is Boeing 737 to help maintenance cost low. Southwest was the first airline to use E-ticketing in this way customer can reserve spot and buy ticket on their web and allow less expense in printing tickets. Medium measured airports which allowed them to produce better time performance and less fuel costs so plane do not have to wait in the line at the runway. The core value of the company of “LUV and fun” makes the company great place to work that gives customer with a great experience.
Another internal challenge for Southwest Airlines is the conflicting management style and business operation with AirTran. On top of that, the external challenges such as the increase of competitions and gas prices are some of issues f...
While sitting in Atlanta’s Hartsfield International Airport, one cannot help but to notice and feel an overwhelming dominant presence of one particular airline. Delta as we know it today, traces its roots way back to 1924. Huff Daland Dusters was founded as the world’s first aerial crop dusting organization. In 1928 the company became Delta Air Service, and the following year Delta carried its first passengers over a route stretching from Dallas, Texas to Jackson, Mississippi with stops in Shreveport and Monroe, Louisiana. In 1941, the company moved its headquarters from Monroe to Atlanta, Georgia.
The marketing strategy that was envisioned by the creation of the SIA had a focus on customer needs by providing exceptional in-flight service. This required the on board flight staff to be of excellent quality. At SIA, there was a constant emphasis on training (including social training and etiquette) and customer service. Ever since, the exceptional in-flight service has become a part of the company culture and image. All of this suggests a strong product-oriented strategy, a value strategy that Treacy and Wiersema (1993) define as product leadership. Competitive advantage came from a good product; the high profitability in the 70's was helped by low labor costs in Singapore.
It all started in 1971, when Rolling King and Herb Kelleher decided to challenge the existing rut of charging high prices for air travels. They considered the railways and roadways their competitors and decided to offer cheaper travel for smaller routes. The company was incorporated in 1967, apart from initial entry troubles, Southwest has been the only US airline to have earned profits since 1973. The eccentric company’s outlandish way of conducting themselves has been the sole reason for Southwest Airlines to succeed in a highly competitive and packed industry.