Southwest Airlines

Southwest Airlines Motivational Profile
              “Wanna get away?”   If the answer to this question is yes, by researching the background of Southwest Airline, many people will find that they are just one of over one-hundred million annual passengers who share that same feeling.   By looking into a brief history of the business, peering into the products and services they offer, and eyeing the financial records of this billion-dollar company for the last five years, people may better understand the strategies used to keep the roughly 35,000 employees happy motivated..   Founded by Rollen King and Herb Keller, and beginning as a small airline in Texas in 1973, Southwest Airlines still remains one of the youngest fleets in the nation among the major airlines in the industry (Southwest, 2010).   For 37 years, the company has climbed consistently to become one of the largest and ranked number one for the past 17 years.   As of June 30, 2010, Southwest operates 544 Boeing 737 jets and leads the industry with the lowest amount of complaints.
              By offering satisfying products and services to both its customers and its employees, Southwest is constantly able to remain on top.   Southwest provides over 3,200 flights per day at an average airfare of $131.87 per one-way ticket and offers flights to 69 cities in 35 states.   Southwest offers on-line check-ins, click-n-save e-mails, and allows customers to make car, hotel, cruise, and vacation packages at Southwest.com.   The company is named as “the only short-haul, low-fare, high-frequency, point-to-point carrier in America” (Southwest, 2010).   Due to stock and shareholder incentives, Southwest employees own roughly eight percent of the company.
        Southwest Financial Information
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        Figure1:   Southwest Annual Report 2009 http://216.139.227.101/interactive/luv2009/
        Southwest showed on their 2009 annual report that the company has experienced a net income decline since 2007....