Rollin King first

one to have idea

about starting an
new airline.
Herb Kelleher- his
lawyer

Herb, lets
start an
airline.
"Rollin, youre
crazy. Lets do
it.

 March 1967- Herb

Kelleher filed
papers to
incorporate Air
Southwest Co.
Legal battles
begin
Herb Kelleher
relieves stress by
working out in
gym

 Southwest hires the

The Over The Hill
Gang: a bunch of
smart, cantankerous,
aggressive, self
confident, tough,
restless, feisty old
airline guys to run the
company.

The Wright Amendment:

Original bill-banned flight to any
other state from Love Field
Approved by House and Senate
Compromise -flights out of
Dallas were to most
neighboring states or within the
state
Repealed in September 2006
October 2014-flights from
Dallas to not neighboring states
begin

Innovations:
low cost means more
passengers
created new market

less-used airports(old
airports closer to
downtown)
HOU not IAH
DAL not DFW

two- tier pricing

business- weekday
leisure- late night

Outrageous LUV
1971- flight attendants in hot pants and go- go
boots
1971-Now theres somebody else up there
who loves you
1977- listed on New York stock Exchange as
LUV
Use LUV as marketing slogan
outgoing personalities-democratic
management styles

Conclusion
unusual history
creative and innovative
over 40 years of
profitability
most of all- LUV the
fun!!

Innovation in customer
service

1971- Flight attendants in hot pants and go go

boots

172- the ten minute turn around was born

1979- self ticketing

1986- Presidential citation Award for Private
Sector Initiatives
1994- first airline to offer ticketless travel
Offered peanuts only for lower costs
1996-First airline to establish a home page on
the internet
The Southwest Effect lowering of fares and
increase of passengers everywhere the airline
went to a new market

The beginning
Started on a napkin
Southwest was incorporated in 1967
Herb Kelleher (lawyer) and Rollin
King (client)
3 city route. Dallas, San Antonio and
Houston
many legal fights
begin service on June of 1971
1773- first profitable year
1979-Wright Amendment
1979- first flight out of Texas

The middle
1988 1989 1990 1995 2006-

Triple Crown first airline in US history

annual revenue over one billion
100th airplane
first airline to offer ticketless travel
wright Amendment repealed for 2014

The present day

Bought AirTran ( first international flights)

fly to 97 cities in US, Mexico and South America
Largest US low cost carrier
largest domestic airline that has the most scheduled
passengers- kilometers flown in 2014
number one in scheduled passengers carried. In 2014,
they carried 129,087,000 passengers