Académique Documents
Professionnel Documents
Culture Documents
Carrier
Southwest
United/Continental
Parameters
Variety of fleets
Higher cost of operations.
Point-to-Point
Transit System
Method of Operation
Ticketless Operation
Traditional Operation
Horizontal Organization
Type of Organization
Hierarchical Organization
Intervention of management every
now and then, while following a
traditional hierarchy makes
employees counterproductive.
High
Employee Productivity
At high employee-to-passenger
ratio of 1 to 2400, it reported the
best in industry in 2008.
Relatively Low
In 2008, the Uniteds employee-topassenger ratio was 1 to 1175 and
Continentals 1 to 1125.
Capabilities:
Southwest Airlines focuses mainly on point-to-point service, rather than the
hub-and-spoke service provided by major US airlines. Point-to-point
service allows for direct nonstop routing by minimizing connections,
delays and total trip time. As a result, approximately 71% of Southwest
Airlines customers flew nonstop in FY2011. During the year, the
company's average aircraft trip stage length was 664 miles with an average
duration of approximately 1.8 hours. This service also enables the company
to provide its markets with frequent, conveniently timed flights and low
fares.
The management of Southwest Airlines is considered to be the most
dynamic of all time. The policies introduced by Southwestern Airlines top
management is considered to be intuitive and effective by many industrial
analysts.
Even as its general expansion strategy has been more of an organic growth.
In May 2011, the company acquired AirTran Holdings, the parent company
of AirTran Airways, one of the largest low cost scheduled airlines in the
US. The transaction was valued at approximately $1.4 billion. The
acquisition provides Southwest Airlines an opportunity to grow its presence
in key markets it didn't yet served. Moreover, it would allow the company
to expand its presence in slot-controlled markets where the company
currently has little (New York LaGuardia) or no (Ronald Reagan
Washington National Airport) service; expand its service in other key
domestic markets, including Boston and Baltimore and to add destinations
to its route system; and provide access to near-international leisure markets
in the Caribbean and Mexico, as well as smaller cities.
And while pilots in most other airlines pilots are unionized, there are no
such union affiliations in the Southwest Airlines which therefore does not
restrict the pilots flying hours for a particular period.
Distinctive Capabilities:
References
Strategic Management: An Integrated Approach 9th Edition by Hill &
Jones (CENGAGE Learning)
SOUTHWEST AIRLINES 2007 Thomas M. Box, Pittsburg State
University & Kent Byus, Texas A&M University Corpus Christi
(EBSCO Host)
Company Profile Southwest & Co. Market Line (EBSCO Host)
Southwest Airlines Co By: Stephen Leavenworth City University of New
York http://www.ive.cuny.edu/downloads/cases/Southwest%20Airlines%20IVE%20Case.pdf
Southwest Investor Information Portal http://southwest.investorroom.com/
Southwest: Dressed To Kill... Competitors Business Week
http://www.businessweek.com/stories/2005-02-20/southwest-dressed-to-kill-dot-dot-dotcompetitors
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