Examining The Organizational Culture of Southwest Airlines Theory & Application of Managerial Communication Abstract Southwest Airlines is the most profitable airline with the highest customer satisfaction rating in the industry. A substantial part of their success is due to their culture of putting employees first, even before customers. This report discusses how Southwest Airlines uses profit sharing, employee empowerment and “Luv” to create a positive workplace for their employees. By building this encouraging, ethical and moral environment, Southwest Airlines has become the envy of the airline industry. Introduction Southwest Airlines has an incredible success story for a commercial air carrier.
• Offers reasonably priced travel packages with low frills and excellent customer service. • Low cost approach to flights that has drawn consumers to their services. • Excellent employee relations leads to higher ticket sales as they all work as a team. • Purchased only Boeing airplanes to reduce costs in repairs and get a bulk discount on the purchase. Weaknesses of Southwest Airlines Swot Analysis • Does not offer segmented seating options.
People have high expectations on the London-based airline because of its reputation for an outstanding service. Likewise, they also expect that the high premium charged should be compensated by an excellent service. 2. Information technology structure. Considering the information provided in the case, McPherson himself made some assumptions that the airline flying to London should have identified him off their computer as a close- connecting passenger and that considering the fare paid by a passenger like him; he should have been placed in a moderately loaded flight.
“Southwest is one of the most honored airlines in the world known for its commitment to the triple bottom line of Performance, People, and Planet.” (Southwest Investor Relations: Company Profile). Related Party Transaction Before 2011, Southwest Airlines and AirTran Airways were the two biggest discount airlines, but on May 2, 2011 the two companies merged into one. Both AirTran and Southwest are confident that this merger is best for everyone; for consumers, employees of both companies, and shareholders. Southwest is best known for their low fares and no-fee baggage policy. Many consumers are relieved that they will continue their no-fee baggage policy and
WestJet vs. Air Canada Reliable: Looking at online reviews of each airline, more customers are happy with what WestJet actually does for them. WestJet offers a rewards program that they act very well on. Offering a MasterCard, and WestJet dollars, customers are very satisfied by the company’s program. Air Canada has a rewards program called “Aeromiles”, but fewer customers are satisfied with this because they do not offer much, and reviews say it is difficult to get any rewards. Responsiveness: Both airlines offer personal accounts to email or contact someone to ask questions or book flights.
It comes to a surprise that US Airways Group is capable of doing so well despite the low quality of service they seem to provide. US Airways Group has recently merged with a competitor within the airline industry, American Airlines, and the two companies are expected to do very well as a team. The airline industry is one of a kind, as it does not have very much competition within the industry. As US Airways Group has shown; the little amount of competition makes it easy to do well even with poor service. The airline continues to grow and keep companies like US Airways Group in business mainly due to the rapidly growth of the industry.
Virgin Atlantic Virgin Atlantic's Mission Statement is “To grow a profitable airline, that people love to fly and where people love to work.” There are many parts to Virgin Atlantic's Customer Service plan but the main parts are: Offering the lowest fare available, Notifying customers of known delays, cancellations and diversions Delivering baggage on time Allowing reservations to be held at the quoted fare without payment or cancelled without penalty for at least 24 hours after the reservation has been made Provide prompt refunds where due Assisting and enabling customers with Special needs Meeting customers essential needs during lengthy tarmac delays Handling flight oversales Disclosing cancellation policies and other information Notifying customers in a timely manner of changes to travel itineraries Ensuring responsiveness to customer complaints Identifying the services provided to mitigate passenger inconvenience resulting from flight cancellations and mis-connections. On their website they state, “Customer service and commitment to our passengers has been the driving force behind our brand. We strive to get it right, first time, every time. Occasionally things do not go as planned. We believe that you have the right to know what level of service you can expect from us all the time, even in those rare moments when we fall short of the very high standards we have set ourselves.” This shows that they are a very customer care orientated company.
“They began with one simple notion: If you get your passengers to their destination when they want to be there, on time, at the lowest possible fares, and make darn sure they have a good time doing it, people will fly your airline”(Southwest.com, 2011). The mission of Southwest Airlines is dedication to the highest quality of Customer Service delivered with a sense of warmth, friendliness, individual pride and Company Spirit” (Southwest.com, 2011). Most people who fly Southwest Airlines will agree, the company is friendly and very customer- oriented. The values of Southwest Airlines (Southwest) and the culture of Southwest are what make Southwest what it is today. Southwest believe in a Fun-LUVing Attitude and ask that their workers have fun, enjoy their work, celebrate their successes, and to be a passionate team player.
Discuss the socio-economic impact of the invention of the aeroplane during the second great transition (2008) Capable of crossing any mountain and ocean within a day, the airplane is the definition of today’s modern, easy travel. The idea was nonexistent to the normal civilian in the early days, with travel from one city to another taking days of hard work on foot or a good amount of money for trains or ships. International travel was excessively slow and expensive. The invention of the aeroplane changed the scenario completely, allowing for fast, secure but still relatively costly access anywhere within a country and beyond for mankind. As a result of one of the most significant inventions of the 20th century, the long time dream of steered flying was finally made plausible by the aeroplane.
What is it that you like or dislike about the strategy? What I like about their low cost/ low fares strategy is that even though it’s a ‘cheap’ airline, they still aim for the highest levels of customer satisfaction possible, and by doing this they give their customers more value for less money instead of less value for less money. I also like Southwest’s strategy of letting employees come first and customers second and in that way ensuring that employees give the best possible service to their customers. Does Southwest have a winning strategy? I