Southwest Airlines

Operations Management AtSouthwest Airlines : 

Operations Management AtSouthwest Airlines

Background : 

Background In 1967,Rolling King and Herb Kelleher founded Southwest an intrastate airlines. In 1982, “Just Say When” campaign In 1987,Frequent flier programme,no. of flights taken. In 1992,Southwest won the annual Triple Crown Award. In 1996,SW started selling through Website www.southwest.com

Cont…. : 

Cont…. In 2000,SW placed biggest aircraft order ever, delivery of 94 Boeing737. In 2001,sept terrorist attacks,SW managed to post a profit. In 2002,the worst year ever for the airlines industry ,SW posted its 30th consecutive profit. In 2003,SWAirlines was the 4th largest US airlines in terms of domestic customers carried.

Southwest’s Business Model : 

Southwest’s Business Model Providing safe Reliable Short duration air service Lowest possible fair Quality service Point to Point Blanketing stratgy

Key operation parameters of sw : 

Key operation parameters of sw Passenger Load factor- is the percentage of a plane filled with paying passengers. Revenue passenger miles- One paying passenger flown one line Source:www.southwest.com

Cont…… : 

Cont…… Aircraft Utilization-in hours and minutes in a day a plane is used

Contd……. : 

Contd……. In2002,Sluggish economy High energy prices Tension in Gulf spelled

SW’s Top Ten Airport-Daily Departure : 

SW’s Top Ten Airport-Daily Departure Southwest avoided congested airport. High employee productivity. Reliable on time performance.

SW:Anatomy of a 15-minute Turnaround : 

SW:Anatomy of a 15-minute Turnaround 7:55 Ground crew chat around gate position 8:08 Boarding call ,baggage loading, refueling complete 8:03:30 Ground crew move to their vehicles 8:07 Passenger off plane 8:04 crew moves towards gate 8:06:30 Baggage unloaded, refueling 8:15 Jet way retracts 8:10 Boarding complete. ground crew leaves 8:15:30 Pushback from backs 8:18 Pushback disengages plane leaves for runway

How SW strategy is Implemented : 

How SW strategy is Implemented Passenger related departure Very low ticket prices No site assignments No baggage transfers No connection with other airlines No meals Short hual,point to point travel Limited Passenger service High aircraft utilizatin

Activities : 

Activities Standardized fleet of 737 aircrafts Southwest the low fare airlines High level of employee stock ownership Flexible union contracts High compensation of employees 15-minute gate turnaround Limited use travel agents

Looking Ahead : 

Looking Ahead Increase more non stop flights Enrich operation system Include daily non stop flights in busy air traffic route.

Thanks : 

Thanks