Since its founding in 1967 and the early years when it was prevented from operating, Southwest Airlines has grown to become one of the largest airlines in the United States.
Video History of Southwest Airlines
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Southwest Airlines began with March 15, 1967, the incorporation of Air Southwest Co. by Rollin King and Herb Kelleher to fly inside the state of Texas.
Kelleher asserted that by remaining in Texas, price controls and market regulations imposed by the federal Civil Aviation Council would not apply, and the airline could weaken competitors' prices. Three airlines (Braniff, Trans-Texas Airways and Continental Airlines) initiated legal action that was not completed for three years. Southwest Air won in 1970 when the Texas Supreme Court upheld Air Southwest's right to fly inside Texas. The Texas decision became final on December 7, 1970, when the US Supreme Court refused to review the case without comment, endorsing Kelleher's opinion on federal market regulation restrictions.
On March 29, 1971, Air Southwest Co. changed name to Southwest Airlines Co. with headquarters in Dallas. Southwest began scheduling passenger services on June 18, 1971 on two routes: between the Dallas Love Field (DAL) and the Houston Intercontinental Airport (IAH) and between Dallas Love Field and San Antonio (SAT) with three Boeing 737-200 jetliners hard worker of the airline fleet. The service between Houston Hobby Airport (HOU) and Dallas Love Field and between Houston Hobby and San Antonio began on November 14, 1971. The October 15, 1972 edition of the Official Airline Guide (OAG) lists 61 flights a week between Dallas Love and Houston Hobby, 23 weekly flights each way between Dallas Love and San Antonio and 16 flights once a week between San Antonio and Houston Hobby without flights operated on Saturday.
Southwest Airlines founder Herb Kelleher studied Pacific Southwest Airlines (PSA) based in California and used many PSA ideas to shape the corporate culture of the Southwest. Initial flights use the same "Long Legs And Short Nights" theme for flight attendants on board a typical Southwest Airlines flight. A committee including the same people who have chosen hostesses for the Playboy jet Hugh Hefner chose the first flight attendant, the woman described as a long-legged dancer, majorettes and cheerleaders with "unique personalities." Southwest Airlines and Herb Kelleher dress him with warm pants and go-go boots.
The New York Times wrote in 1971 that Southwest Airlines President Lamar Muse, "frankly - and over and over - - that Southwest Airlines has been developed from the start about successful ideas for the Pacific. Southwest Airlines. " "We do not mind being such an impersonator of such operations," referring to a visit he and other Southwest executives did to the PSA as they drew up their operating plans. PSA welcomes them and even sells them flight training and operations. Muse later wrote that creating an operation manual for the airline is "primarily cut and paste procedures" and it says that "Southwest Airlines copies the PSA so completely you can almost call it a photocopy."
The remainder of 1971 and 1972 suffered operating losses. One in four 737 are sold to Frontier Airlines and the proceeds are used for payroll and other expenses. Southwest continues the schedule based on four aircraft but uses only three, so "ten minutes turn" is born and is the standard base time for many years.
Wright Amendment
The Wright Amendment of 1979 is a federal law that regulates traffic at Dallas Love Field until many restrictions from the amendment are removed by the end of 2014. It initially limits most nonstop flights to various destinations in Texas and neighboring countries. Limits started out in 1997 and 2005; in 2006, the amendment was revoked, with some limitations intact until 2014, but adding restrictions on the number of gates allowed.
When airline deregulation came in 1978, Southwest began planning interstate flights from Love Field, which led to groups affiliated with Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, including Fort Worth, Texas, to push the Wright Amendment through Congress to restrict such flights. Under the amendment, Southwest and other carriers were banned from operating or even flying passengers on flights from Love Field to destinations outside the state bordering Texas. Wright Amendment Limits do not apply to planes with 56 or fewer seats; Southwest does not use a 56 seat slot. Southwest's first schedule out of Texas was Hobby to New Orleans around February 1979.
In 1997 Southwest's efforts paid off with the Shelby Amendment, which added Alabama, Mississippi, and Kansas to permitted destinations. Southwest started a nonstop service between Dallas Love Field and Birmingham, Alabama.
Network expansion
Southwest just flew to Dallas Love Field (DAL), Houston (IAH, then HOU) and San Antonio until 1975 when adding Harlingen. In 1979 Southwest flew to eleven Texas cities and added his first out-of-state route, Houston-New Orleans, on January 25 of that year. In 1980, Southwest flew north to Tulsa and Oklahoma City and west to Albuquerque; in 1982, north to Kansas City and west to Phoenix, Las Vegas and California.
Flights to Denver began in 1983 (and ended in 1986), to Little Rock 1984, to St Louis and Chicago Midway in 1985, to Nashville in 1986 and to Detroit Metro and Birmingham in 1987. The eastward expansion was continued in 1992 with Cleveland and Columbus, then Baltimore in 1993. Pacific Northwest began in 1994 after the acquisition of Morris Air; Tampa and Fort Lauderdale began in January 1996. East to Providence in 1997, Manchester in 1998, and Islip and Raleigh-Durham in 1999.
The only Southwest route in California was San Francisco-San Diego to start flying in Oakland in 1989; in the next few years its capacity on the West Coast ballooned.
Maps History of Southwest Airlines
1980s-2000s
Southwest hired his first black pilot, Louis Freeman, in 1980. In 1992, he was named the first black head pilot of any major US carrier.
In 1981 Southwest was prosecuted because its current policy only employed female flight attendants and ticket agents.
Southwest Houston Pilot Base opened on June 1, 1984, its first crew headquarters outside Dallas.
On November 30, 1984, Southwest received its first Boeing 737-300 shipments. Southwest is a launch customer and in May 2012 is the largest operator of this type. The 737-300 was first dubbed "Kitty Hawk."
Southwest paid US $ 60.5 million in shares and cash for Muse Air when Muse was on the verge of collapse in 1985. After completing the acquisition, Southwest changed its name to MuseAir TranStar Airlines. TranStar became a wholly-owned subsidiary of Southwest and operated as an independent airline. Not wanting to compete in a tariff war against Frank Lorenzo's Texas Air, Southwest finally sold TranStar's assets to Lorenzo in August 1987.
Southwest moved to its current headquarters in 1990. The airline is headquartered in 3300 Dr Love Field, then at the Row Regal 1820 building in Dallas in 1979, by Love Field. At that time the head office has 256,000 square feet (23,800m 2 ) space and about 650 employees. The current headquarters facility was built at a cost of $ 15 million in 1990 dollars. In early 1995 the building received an additional 60,000 square feet (5,600 m 2 ) space. In 2006 about 1,400 employees worked in a three-story building.
In 1990 the airline registered its aircraft in Houston so as to pay taxes on the plane in Houston, even though the company's headquarters were in Dallas. Southwest does not relocate any assets, but Texas state law allows the airline to choose Dallas or Houston as its registration city.
Southwest acquired Morris Air, an airline based in Salt Lake City, Utah, in 1993, paying US $ 134 million. After completing the purchase, Southwest absorbed capital and Morris Air routes into Southwest inventory and services, including the Northwest Morris goal that previously was not served by Southwest. One of Morris Air's founders, David Neeleman, worked with the Southwest for a short time before heading off to find WestJet and then JetBlue Airways, a competing airline.
On March 16, 1995 Southwest created its first website. Originally called "Southwest Airlines Home Gate," passengers can view schedules, route maps, and company information on Iflyswa.com. Southwest.com is the number one airline website for online revenue, according to PhoCusWright. Nielsen/Netratings also reports that Southwest.com is the largest airline site in terms of unique visitors. In 2006, 70 percent of flight bookings and 73 percent of revenue were generated from reservations at southwest.com. In June 2007, 69 percent of Southwest passengers checked their flights online or at kiosks.
Southwest Airlines gained a reputation for "out-of-box thinking" and proactive risk management, including the use of fuel hedges to protect against fluctuations in fuel prices. Some analysts have opposed Southwest's profit-driven energy trade style between 1999 and the early 2000s. They suggest that instead of limiting business risks (such as hedges on the weather for farmers), Southwest only speculates about energy prices, without any formal reason for doing so.
Southwest has enjoyed a lot of positive press (and strong financial impetus) from its energy trading skills. However, while most analysts agree that volatility hedging can be beneficial, speculative hedging is not widely supported as a sustainable strategy for profit.
In March 1996, after Dallas City Council unanimously voted to allow construction, the airline began building an additional 300,000 square feet (28,000 m 2 ) to its existing corporate headquarters at a cost of $ 30 million in 1996 dollar. This occurred after, on Wednesday 13 March 1996, the airline leased two tracts of land, a total of 10 hectares (4.0 ha), from Dallas City to build new pilot training facilities, expansion of headquarters, and more space parking. The $ 9.8 million pilot training facility is built on an area of ​​5 hectares (2.0 hectares) owned by Dallas; scheduled to be completed in the spring of 1997. With newly built training facilities, the old ones will be removed and the company will expand its headquarters building at the training facility. 120,000 square feet (11,000 m 2 ) of headquarters space were added, at a price of $ 16 million including equipment, making a total of 436,000 square feet (40,500 m 2 ). The airline also leases 4.8 hectares (1.9 ha) from the city of Dallas for more parking; 700 spaces added to the existing 1,200. After the expansion, Southwest has a total rental of approximately 24 acres (9.7 ha), including its headquarters, training facilities, and parking. By the end of 1997 the expansion of the Cinta Field facility and some terminal repairs was estimated to cost $ 47 million.
2000s
- Reverses the Wright Amendment
In late 2004, Southwest began actively seeking full retraction of the Wright Amendment restrictions. At the end of 2005, Missouri was added to the list of destination countries allowed through transportation allocation bills. New services from Love Field to Saint Louis, Missouri and Kansas City, Missouri quickly began in December 2005.
On June 15, 2006, a joint press conference was held by the city of Dallas, the city of Ft. Worth, Dallas-Ft. Worth Airport, American Airlines and Southwest Airlines, the parties announced a tentative agreement on how the Wright Amendment will be deleted. Both the US Senate and the House of Representatives passed Wright's law on 29 September 2006, and it was signed into law by President George W. Bush on October 13, 2006. The new law came into force on 16 October 2006, when the FAA Administrator gave knows Congress that any new flight operations that occur as a result of the new law can be accommodated without harming the airspace.
Southwest began selling tickets under the new law on October 19, 2006. The highlight of the agreement was the direct removal of the ban through unlimited tickets and flights to domestic destinations eight years after the law came into force. Because of the agreement, national services became possible for the Southwest; the law also defines the maximum number of gates in Love Field. Southwest controls everything except the four gates of Love Field. United Airlines controlled two and American Airlines was originally supposed to operate from the other two, however, due to an American merger with US Airways, it had to submit two gates on the DAL. Virgin America began renting two gates from America on October 13, 2014.
Southwest remains the dominant passenger airline on Love Field, maintaining its headquarters, hangars, training centers and flight simulators adjacent to it and reflects its relationship with Love Field in its heartwing livery and ticker symbol of its stock exchange (LUV).
- 2008-2009
In 2008, Southwest contracted Pratt and Whitney to supply the company's proprietary Ecopower pressure washer system, allowing Southwest to remove dirt and contaminants from the engine turbine blades when the plane was parked at the gate. The frequent use of the Ecopower system will improve fuel efficiency by about 1.9%.
Southwest paid US $ 7.5 million to acquire certain assets from ATA Airlines bankruptcy in 2008. The main reason for Southwest to make a purchase is to obtain a certificate of operation and a landing slot at New York's LaGuardia Airport previously controlled by ATA. While some exceptional recruitment is indicated at the time of purchase, the transaction ultimately excludes the purchase of aircraft, facilities or employee transfers directly from ATA.
On March 6, 2008, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) inspector sent a document to the United States Congress, alleging that Southwest allowed 117 aircraft to transport passengers despite the fact that they were "unfit to fly" according to air safety investigators. In some cases, aircraft are allowed to fly up to 30 months after the inspection deadline passes, making them unfeasible to fly. Records show that thousands of passengers are flown in planes deemed unsafe by federal standards. Southwest declined to comment at the time and US Representative James Oberstar suggested a trial would be held.
On March 12, 2008, Southwest Airlines voluntarily decided 44 aircraft to check whether they needed further inspections. The FAA claims that Southwest Airlines flies nearly 60,000 flights without the aircraft inspections taking place. Southwest Airlines faces a $ 10.2 million fine if it proves to have violated the FAA rules. There were also rumors that the FAA knew about the Southwest Airlines breach but decided not to trade the airline because it would disrupt airline services.
On March 2, 2009, Southwest completed this claim, agreeing to pay a $ 7.5 million FAA fine for this safety and maintenance issue. The original fine of $ 30.2 million - the amount that would be the greatest fine in agency history - was lowered after a year of negotiations. FAA gave Southwest two years to pay a fine.
On July 30, 2009, Southwest Airlines made $ 113.6 million in deals for the bankrupt Frontier Airlines Holdings, the parent company of Frontier Airlines. Southwest plans to initially operate Frontier as a stand-alone operator, eventually absorbing the airline and replacing the Frontier with Boeing 737. Less than a month after its bid, Southwest learned on August 14 that it had lost its initial offer to Republic Airways Holdings and chose to not match or pursue further agreement. Southwest states that the requirement for a pilot union in both companies to reach a negotiated deal (not arbitrary) as a condition of acquisition is a key factor in its abandonment of its offer.
On August 26, 2009 the FAA investigated Southwest to install an incorrect passage on about 10% of its jets. The work was done by an outside care company. FAA states that spare parts do not present a safety hazard, but the airline is given until 24 December 2009 to replace parts with those approved by the FAA.
2010s
Acquisition of AirTran Airways
Southwest Airlines first announced the acquisition on September 27, 2010 and received final approval from the US Department of Justice on April 27, 2011. On May 2, 2011, Southwest Airlines completed the acquisition of AirTran Airways by purchasing all outstanding common shares, corporate identity and assets operating AirTran Holdings, Inc., the parent company of former AirTran Airways. Southwest Airlines estimates the transaction value at $ 3.2 billion and expects a one-time fee to integrate two airlines for $ 500 million, with synergies costing around $ 400 million per year. The biggest impact is in the Southwest, access to Atlanta, international services, and the addition of landing slots at New York-LaGuardia Airport and Washington-Reagan Airport. Southwest obtained a single operating certificate (SOC) from the US Federal Aviation Administration on March 1, 2012, but the airline was not fully integrated until AirTran had its last flight on December 28, 2014.
An entity named Guadeloupe Holdings was formed by Southwest to act as a wholly owned subsidiary of Southwest Airlines and a holding company for AirTran's operations and assets. The organization organized by Southwest hands over the terms of the "scope" of the contract pending acceptance of acceptable negotiation negotiation negotiations. Southwest diverted aircraft, routes, and employees from AirTran to Southwest one by one until all parts of AirTran were integrated into Southwest.
The purchase added 25 additional destinations previously not served by Southwest including cities in the Caribbean and Atlanta, Georgia, AirTran hub and at that time, the largest US city not served by Southwest. On October 10, 2011, USA Today reported that Southwest would work to no longer do bank flights in Atlanta as AirTran did.
On February 14, 2013, Southwest began codesharing with AirTran. It took the first step on January 26, 2013 by launching a joint venture in five markets. Southwest continues to launch joint voyages with 39 more markets starting February 25, 2013. In April 2013, the joint voyage is extended to all Southwest and AirTran cities (domestic and international). The airline is fully integrated on December 29, 2014.
2011-present
For the tenth year in a row, Fortune magazine recognized Southwest Airlines in the company's annual reputation survey. Among all industries in 2004, Fortune has listed Southwest Airlines as number three among the top ten most admired companies in America.
On December 13, 2011, Southwest placed a fixed order for 150 Boeing 737 MAX planes, becoming a launch customer for the type. The first 737 MAX aircraft were delivered to the Southwest on August 29, 2017, with their first revenue service starting on October 1st.
In January 2012, Southwest Airlines expressed interest in serving Mexico and South America destinations from William P. Hobby Houston Airport. On May 30, 2012, the Houston city council approved Southwest's request for an international flight from Hobby. Southwest agreed to invest at least $ 100 million to cover all costs associated with Hobby's upgrades, including designing and building five new gates and customs facilities. Construction at Hobby takes two years, with international flights starting in October 2015.
On April 11, 2012, Southwest introduced 737-800 to its fleet. The aircraft accommodates 175 passengers compared to the usual 143 737-700 passengers. 737-800 first called "Private Soldier" to salute the Spirit of the Southwest Employee.
On May 5, 2014, Southwest announced that it had selected Amadeus IT Group to replace its current domestic reservation system. Southwest already operates its international reservation system with Amadeus. The new domestic reservation system is expected to take several years to be fully implemented. When completed, Southwest will operate a reservation system by Amadeus.
In September 2014, Southwest introduced a new branding, including a new livery and logo.
On October 13, 2014, Wright Amendment restrictions at Dallas Love Field were revoked and Southwest expanded the service at Love Field to include cities outside of previous location restrictions.
Throughout 2014, Southwest expanded its services at Reagan-National in Washington D.C. and LaGuardia Airport in New York City through the acquisition of a slot from the American Airlines/US Airways merger.
On June 10, 2016, Southwest received approval to start flights to Cuba. Southwest is one of six airlines selected by the USDOT to start scheduled services to Cuba. Southwest will launch services from Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport to Varadero, Cuba and Santa Clara, Cuba.
In July 2016, operational blackouts caused by technology problems canceled hundreds of Southwest flights, displacing tens of thousands of passengers and many aircrew.
On April 17, 2018, Southwest Airlines Flight 1380, one person died after engine failure on Southwest Airlines flight from New York to Dallas. The machine exploded on Boeing 737-700 and sent shrapnel flying back to the passenger window. This death was the first in-flight death due to an accident in Southwest's history.
References
External links
- How I Build this podcast - Southwest Airlines: Herb Kelleher (audio interview)
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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