Since its first flight took off in 1971, Southwest Airlines has built a reputation as a fun, low-cost airline focused on the bottom line.
Over the next three decades plus, the Dallas-based airline has added service to 60 cities in 31 states. It’s the largest carrier in the country, based on nearly 3,000 domestic departures a day.
“They have an innovative approach to the airline business – profitability,” said Juli Niemann, an analyst with St. Louis-based R.T. Jones Capital Equities Inc. who follows the airline industry.
Southwest, founded by Rollin King and Herb Kelleher, started with the notion that an airline would be successful if its passengers had a good time on cheap flights and got to their destinations on time.
They were right.
Southwest celebrated its 31st consecutive year of profitability in 2004. It reported net income last year of $313 million on revenue of $6.5 billion.
Today, the average one-way passenger airfare on Southwest is $91.15, and the average trip length is 758 miles. It carried 70.9 million passengers last year, and since 1987 has had the fewest customer complaints of any carrier, according to the Department of Transportation’s Air Travel Consumer Report.
Several factors contribute to Southwest’s success, Niemann said.
First, the airline flies just one type of jet – the Boeing 737 – so it needs mechanics trained only on those planes. The airline has 436 jets with an average age of 9 years.
Second, relaxed work rules promote a team effort among the carrier’s 31,000 employees. Flight attendants will clean jets rather than wait for the ground crew to do it.
“They operate more collaboratively, so they spend very little time on the ground,” Niemann said. “It saves a tremendous amount of money.”
The airline, which is about 81 percent unionized, also encourages employees to have fun.
“These days, you don’t expect to have fun flying; you just don’t want to be hurt,” Niemann said. “Southwest Airlines does have a policy of not abusing the flying public, and we do appreciate that.”
Staff writer Margaret Jackson can be reached at 303-820-1473 or mjackson@denverpost.com.
