In addition to being the world’s largest low-cost carrier, Southwest Airlines Co. is based in the United States. Dallas, Texas, is its headquarters, and it has scheduled services to 121 destinations in the United States and ten other countries. In 2018, Southwest Airlines carried more passengers within the domestic territory of the United States than any other airline in the country.
Herb Kelleher and Rollin King founded Air Southwest Co on March 9, 1967. As an intrastate airline that first flew between Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio, Southwest Airlines Co. adopted its current name in 1971 when it began operating wholly within Texas. It started its regional interstate service in 1979 and expanded it to a nationwide network over the following decades.
Due to its unique business model, Southwest is different from other US airlines as it uses a rolling hub, point-to-point network, and free checked baggage as part of its service. In terms of its fleet, it solely consists of Boeing 737s. When the year’s busiest season comes around, the airline operates about 4,000 departures daily and has approximately 66,100 employees.
The History:
In a legal strategy to prevent the company from undercutting them by flying only within Texas, three other airlines took legal action. After the lawsuits were resolved, Southwest Airlines Co. Dallas Love Field to Houston flights began regularly operating in 1971. Southwest Airlines started working flights to various cities within Texas in 1975, and in 1979, it expanded its services to neighbouring states as well. The service was first offered in the 1990s to the East and Southeast regions of the country. From 1973 to 2019, Southwest Airlines profited for 47 consecutive fiscal years.
Travel Destinations:
In 2021, Southwest will operate flights to more than 100 destinations in 42 states, Puerto Rico, Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean. Southwest Airways uses a rolling hub model in its base cities rather than the traditional hub-and-spoke system used by other major airlines. It prefers a point-to-point system combined with the conventional hub-and-spoke model other major airlines use.
In The Fleet:
Airlines have a fleet of 771 aircraft as of December 2022. Southwest Airlines currently operates only Boeing 737 jetliners in its fleet, except a few Boeing 727-200s that it leased and operated between 1979 and 1980 and 1983 to 1985. Southwest Airlines operates more Boeing 737s than any other airline operator worldwide. Southwest’s use of a single primary aircraft type allows pilots and flight attendants to crew any aircraft in its fleet without being limited to a kind of aircraft. A 100-jet order for the MAX 7 from Southwest was announced in March 2021. With the ruling, Southwest Airlines became the largest buyer of Boeing jets in the company’s history. In June 2021, they increased their overall order of Max 7 planes to a total of 234 aircraft, which represents an increase of over 25%.
Experience of Passengers:
There are no business or first-class cabins on Southwest’s aircraft.[20] However, Southwest does offer many amenities, including: There is a free check-in allowance of two bags per passenger, and the company allows passengers to change their flights without extra charge up to 10 minutes before their departure time. There are complimentary non-alcoholic beverages on Southwest flights and alcoholic beverages for sale for $6 to $7 per drink on Southwest flights. During some holidays, such as Valentine’s Day, Halloween, and Christmas, alcoholic beverages are free of charge. On all flights, you will also receive complimentary snacks as part of the service.
Southwest Airlines changed the boarding procedure in 2007 by introducing a number initially. There will be a letter (A, B, or C) and a number (1 through 60) assigned to each passenger. Many seats are available on the aircraft, so passengers must line up within each letter group according to numerical order. According to a 2012 study on the television series MythBusters, this is the fastest method on average, and the boarding process is 10 minutes faster for passengers. Moreover, the airline also came in first in the league of airlines that received its Airline Quality Rating in 2020. For plus-sized travellers who take up more space than one seat, Southwest has a “customer of size” policy that refunds the cost of a second seat.
Entertainment on board:
Live television, movies, music, and app messaging are now available for $8 with Wi-Fi. On August 21, 2009, Southwest Airlines announced that it would begin rolling out satellite-based Wi-Fi Internet connectivity via Global Eagle Entertainment’s satellite-broadband product after a testing phase in February 2009—the first quarter of 2010 marked the beginning of Southwest’s addition of Wi-Fi to its aircraft. Passengers can now watch live TV, and movies, chat via iMessage or WhatsApp, and track flights in real-time via Wi-Fi on November 1, 2018, with full Internet access open to regular passengers for a fee.
Reward rapidity:
On June 18, 1987, Southwest began offering a frequent-flyer program called The Company Club. No matter how far the trip was flown, it was a credit to the program. Southwest Airlines’ frequent flyer program was given a new name on April 25, 1996: Rapid Rewards. For every 16 credits accumulated over 24 months, Southwest awarded one round-trip ticket free for 12 months. After March 1, 2011, Rapid Rewards changed to a points-based system. In addition, Rapid Rewards points stay active as long as the member is alive as of October 18, 2019. It also adds more options for utilizing points. Read More
Passenger incidents and controversy:
Southwest removed a woman from a flight on September 26, 2017, after claiming she had a life-threatening dog allergy. Two dogs were on the flight, one of which was a certified service animal on the aircraft at the time. There was a request from Southwest employees to provide documentation of her condition. She had to exit the plane multiple times before police and the airline employees could escort her.
The Chicago Midway Airport removed a family from a flight on December 29, 2017, due to the suspicion that they had unconfirmed head lice, resulting in the family being unable to board the flight.
An inspector general’s report by the Department of Transportation found that Southwest Airlines Flying aeroplanes with safety concerns and that the FAA was taking action not adequately overseeing it. A Southwest flight captain watched pornography on a laptop computer while his female first officer continued her duties in 2020.