Southwest Airlines Case Analysis

799 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Product pricing and strategies

I. Executive Summary A. Problem Statement Southwest Arilines has been facing direct competition in 9 routes of the intra-Califonia market with United Airlines and their "Shuttle By United." Shuttle By United was designed to be a high-frequency, low fare, minimal amenity, short-haul flight operation initially serving destinations in California and adjacent states who's intent wsa to "match Southwest's strategy." In the four months since Shuttle By United's inception competition has been fierce resulteing in Southwest and United slashing prices and envoking a merkteting blitz in this 9 route area. Recent news highlighted that Shuttle By United intended to discontinue some service (perticularly the Oakland-Ontraio route) and raise fares $10.00 per ticket. Southwest's respons to this and the coninued threat of losing market share to United should be: o Continue targeted advertising to the 9-route Intra-California market and weatehr the initial storm by Unted and await their withdrawal (Continental airlines tried to directly compete with Southwest and lasted 16 months before completely pulling out of the "point-tp-point" market. United's recent actions could demonstrate an inability to compete long-term and they are only in their fourth month). o Match United's rate increase of $10.00 per ticket B. Summary Recommmendation: o Continue targeted advertising to the inra-California routes that are directly affected by the Shuttle By United and maintain current pricing strategy. I. Industry Analysis A. Description of Industry and Segments  Deregulation for 16 years (1978) has resulted in an icnrease of domestic carriers from 36 in 1978 to 100 in 1985.  Major carriers route system is either "point-to-point" (Southw... ... middle of paper ... ...ed's recent actions could demonstrate an inability to compete long-term and they are only in their fourth month). o Match United's rate increase of $10.00 per ticket A. Targeted Marketing  Dedicated 16% of total capacity to the Intra-California market with no negatiev impact on other markets to date.  Conitue to promote "The Low Fare Airline" slogan especially with the advent of raised ticket prices from Untied.  Walk-up fare of $69.00 has remained unchanged sine Q4 of 1993 to Q4 of 1994 enabling profitability to remain stable.  United's average passenger fare currently is 5% – 10% higher than Southwest and the recent $10 increase may price them out of the market.   Twenty-two consecutive years of profitable operations which is unmatched in the US airline industry. Eith largest airline carrier in US based on the number of revenue passenger mles fown.

Show More
Related

  • Tale Of Two Airlines Analysis

    850 Words  | 2 Pages

    Spirit makes our fares so low because they know that draws in the attention of the consumer. Once they have your attention you’re shocked at the price so you go for the deal, oblivious to the fact that you walked into their trap. Southwest’s symbol for shareholders is LUV while Spirit’s is SAVE. They are not the only companies to start to enter into these paths. Hotels, rental cars and cruises are all faced with the same choice to embrace the LUV or the thriftiness with SAVE (Elliot

    Read More

  • JetBlue

    1701 Words  | 4 Pages

    The Airline Industry is a fascinating market. It has been one of the few industries to reach astounding milestones. For example, over 200 airlines have gone out of business since deregulation occurred in 1978. Currently, more than 50% of the airlines in the industry are operating under Chapter 11 regulations. Since 9/11, four of the six large carriers have filed for and are currently under bankruptcy court protection. Since 9/11 the industry has lost over $30 billion dollars, and this loss continues to increase. Despite the fact that the airline industry is in a state of despair, JetBlue has become the golden example, a glimpse of what the industry could be.

    Read More

  • Spirit Airlines: An Unorthodox Airline

    618 Words  | 2 Pages

    Spirit Airlines has long been considered an unorthodox airline. They, of course, address all four P’s in their marketing strategy; however, they focus a large amount of their effort on price and promotion. They focus on cutting price through “unbundling”. They focus on promotion through taking advantage of social issues and breaking news. Many advertisements and deals promoted by Spirit have given the public a definite shock-factor. Spirit has made two objectives very clear: they are furious at getting the customer the lowest fare possible by any means necessary, and they will similarly use any means necessary to get those potential customers to notice those fares. Such a blatant marketing strategy works. Even going up against some big competition, Spirit finds ways to be competitive and successful in flagrant fashion.

    Read More

  • A Case Study: Building Business Agility At Southwest Airlines

    739 Words  | 2 Pages

    “Our people are our single greatest strength and most enduring long-term competitive advantage,” reports CEO Gary Kelly on the Southwest Airline website (https://www.southwest.com/html/about-southwest). The company works hard to hire great individuals and then rewards and supports them to make satisfied, productive employees (Ross & Beath, 2007). In fact, Southwest Airlines has received repeated recognition as a great place to work (“Southwest Corporate Fact Sheet,” n.d.). As a result, Southwest Airlines is able to provide a low-cost, fun-cultured experience with excellent customer service (Ross & Beath, 2007). This has allowed the company to build its final strength in this evaluation: a strong brand

    Read More

  • Southwest Airlines: A Case Analysis

    1537 Words  | 4 Pages

    It is evident that the greatest strength that Southwest Airlines has is its financial stability. As known in the US airline industry, Southwest is one of those airlines who are consistently earning profits despite the problems the industry is facing. With such stability, the corporation is able to make decisions and adjust policies, which other heavily burdened airlines may not be able to imitate.

    Read More

  • Southwest Airlines Case Analysis

    1690 Words  | 4 Pages

    More than 37 years ago, Rollin King and Herb Kelleher got together and decided to start a different kind of airline. They began with one simple notion: If you get your passengers to their destinations when they want to get there, on time, at the lowest possible fares, and make darn sure they have a good time doing it, people will fly your airline. And you know what? They were right. What began as a small Texas airline has grown to become one of the largest airlines in America. Today, Southwest Airlines flies over 104 million passengers a year to 64 great cities all across the country, and we do it more than 3,400 times a day.

    Read More

  • United Airlines Marketing Strategy

    610 Words  | 2 Pages

    However, selling a flight from Denver to Tokyo on a Monday is extremely different than selling a flight from Cleveland to Cincinnati on a Saturday night. The people flying that route, the cost, the airplane flow, the services provided, and the frequency/length of the flights all vary greatly from route to route, and the marketing strategies will fall in line with those difference. Although it would be impossible to determine an exact strategies, we will attempt to determine what United attempts to focus on, where they attempt to focus, and what their goals, both long and short ...

    Read More

  • Importance Of Southwest Airlines: A Model Of Innovation

    1315 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Southwest Airlines Marketing

    2729 Words  | 6 Pages

    Southwest Airlines has effectively used a variety of promotional elements in its integrated marketing communications, making it one of America’s largest airlines with 3,300 flights a day to 72 domestic cities. Southwest Airlines has used all four possible elements of the promotion mix: advertising, public relations, personal selling, and sales promotion, but has focused primarily on advertising and public relations to add value to the product offered to customers. Its focus on advertising and public relations is directly related to its large size and it’s nationwide reach. Also, advertising and public relations are the most cost-efficient methods of promotion, and an airline as large as Southwest is forced to have promotional elements that benefit from economies of scale.

    Read More

  • Southwest Airlines Case Study Solution

    707 Words  | 2 Pages

    Before to select the proper alternative, three alternatives were analysed and evaluated under four decisions criteria: customer experience, cost, growth rate / market penetration and ease to implementation (See Exhibit 2: Factor Analysis). Between all the alternatives, it was suggested that Southwest Airlines enters to New York City by bidding the slots and gates at the LGA (See Exhibit 3: Alternatives Analysis). This alternative sustains the challenge of changing the customer experience which means adding more flights from and to the East; furthermore, entering to new markets will reinforce “the power of the network” through LGA. At the same time, this decision will allow signing more code-sharing agreements with other airlines flying to international destinations and offer new products and services to LUV customers as loyalty rewards, in-flight internet, onboard duty-free purchases, etc.; as a result of this, it will increase passenger’s insights and experiences by flying with Southwest Airlines. Nevertheless, there is potential risk by selecting this alternative, in the recent years the energy prices has had a huge increase affecting costs, fares and even capacity needed, however Southwest Airlines has been able to hedge fuel for decad...

    Read More

  • Air Canada Mission Statement

    1707 Words  | 4 Pages

    Air Canada is Canada's biggest aircraft and the biggest supplier of booked traveler benefits in the Canadian market, the Canada-U.S. Trans outskirt showcase and in the worldwide market to and from Canada. In 2015, Air Canada together with its Air Canada Express provincial accomplices conveyed more than 41 million travelers, offering direct traveler administration to more than 200 goals on six landmasses. Air Canada is an establishing individual from Star

    Read More

  • Southwest Airlines

    930 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Southwest Airlines: Business Creativity and Innovation

    2000 Words  | 4 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Case Analysis On Southwest Airlines

    859 Words  | 2 Pages

    There are few things that are impressive about Southwest Airlines first one is how they treat the employees. For Southwest Airlines employees are first and customers are second. If the employees are treated well that will bring in happy customers. Next is that Southwest is not only with their low prices but is able to create a competitive advantage by offering a fun and humorous experience when flying. Finally another impressive fact is when Herb Kelleher’s retire from CEO position yet remained a Southwest employee till July 2014. Even after the retirement he was still active with the Southwest Airlines that reflected his enthusiasm and dedication for the

    Read More

  • Cost-Leadership Strategies Of Southwest Airlines: Cost Leadership Strategy

    2676 Words  | 6 Pages

    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.

    Read More

More about Southwest Airlines Case Analysis

Open Document