Southwest Airlines
The company I chose to research is Southwest airlines. It has been one of the most successful airlines in the US, and with very high customer service ratings. This is very impressive to attain by such a small company in a very tough industry. Southwest is able to achieve such levels by having a clear mission of providing low-fare travel using a point-to-point system and not having a hub-based system. The company operates in relatively shorter routes and only maintains one plane type, its famous Boing 737.
Southwest as an organization has this unique culture of “Oneness”. Southwest employees and personnel act like a team, anyone can do the job if they can. First time I flew Southwest, I was actually checked in at the gate, by the same Southwest employee who was loading the luggage onto the plane minutes earlier. I cannot imagine any other airlines employee doing that. I got very fascinated by this company and read more into it. I found out that this togetherness was actually found in the company since its early days, when the airline was faced by the decision to layoff employees to overcome cash flow difficulties, Herb Keller, the company’s owner at the time, met with his ground service crew and challenged them to reduce the airplane turnaround time at the gate from 55 minutes to 15 minutes, the ground service personnel agreed and successfully did so, saving their and other Southwest employees jobs. This culture of efficiency was only achievable when everyone was willing to load the luggage and board passengers, and the company also came with innovative ways to speed up the boarding process for passengers by not assigning seats for example, and allowing passengers to quickly board the plane and sit wherever they like. The company rewards its employees by basically providing this relaxed culture that allows the employees to have fun at work and have them empowered to best serve the passengers.
Anyone who ever travelled using Southwest airlines can testify that
Southwest as an organization has this unique culture of “Oneness”. Southwest employees and personnel act like a team, anyone can do the job if they can. First time I flew Southwest, I was actually checked in at the gate, by the same Southwest employee who was loading the luggage onto the plane minutes earlier. I cannot imagine any other airlines employee doing that. I got very fascinated by this company and read more into it. I found out that this togetherness was actually found in the company since its early days, when the airline was faced by the decision to layoff employees to overcome cash flow difficulties, Herb Keller, the company’s owner at the time, met with his ground service crew and challenged them to reduce the airplane turnaround time at the gate from 55 minutes to 15 minutes, the ground service personnel agreed and successfully did so, saving their and other Southwest employees jobs. This culture of efficiency was only achievable when everyone was willing to load the luggage and board passengers, and the company also came with innovative ways to speed up the boarding process for passengers by not assigning seats for example, and allowing passengers to quickly board the plane and sit wherever they like. The company rewards its employees by basically providing this relaxed culture that allows the employees to have fun at work and have them empowered to best serve the passengers.
Anyone who ever travelled using Southwest airlines can testify that
References: * http://www.southwest.com/html/about-southwest/index.html?int=GFOOTER-ABOUT-ABOUT * Nuts! Southwest Airlines Crazy Recipes for Business and Personal Success, Kevin Freiberg, Jackie Freiberg: 1998 Broadway Books * Lessons in Loyalty: How Southwest Airlines Does it – An Insider’s Point of View, Lorraine Grubbs 2010.