Southwest Airlines in Baltimore: Case Analysis on Business Expansion Plan
SOUTHWEST AIRLINES IN BALTIMORE
Issue at Hand: Baltimore is one of the eight mega stations for Southwest Airlines. The airline plans to expand operations there, rapidly. But the operational performance at Baltimore station is lagging behind the system-wide average of the airline. The challenge is to overcome this impediment so that the station can accommodate additional growth as planned.
Q 1: Comparative Advantages:
• Strategic business policy which envisions car and bus as Southwest’s rivals, thus creating a commitment to most inexpensive fares and most frequent flights between urban markets separated by 500 miles or less.
• Use of a single operating platform i.e., Boeing 737 gives enhanced efficiency of spare parts, maintenance and ramp operations.
• Use of less congested airports with easy access to large metropolitan areas. This choice saves both money and time for the company as well as passengers.
• No in-flight meals and no transfer baggage to other airlines also save major hassles.
• Open single class seating does away with the need of computer hardware and software required for sorting purposes. Moreover, this system encourages the passengers to board quickly so as to lay claim to their desired seats (in-built mechanism).
• Decentralized control making the system more responsive to circumstantial need.
• Maintaining a young fleet bestows the reliability of service necessary to deal with rigour of use.
• Effective human resource practices and a well defined and rigorous selection process ensure that applicants are tested for attitude, teamwork and service orientation.
• Strong training emphasis for new recruits as well as the old employees says a lot about commitment to human capital development.
• Company has a culture of empowerment as well as that of forgiveness. This ensures a steady stream of new and bold ideas for operational and service improvement.
• A high priority is given to resolving conflicts between functional groups. This
Issue at Hand: Baltimore is one of the eight mega stations for Southwest Airlines. The airline plans to expand operations there, rapidly. But the operational performance at Baltimore station is lagging behind the system-wide average of the airline. The challenge is to overcome this impediment so that the station can accommodate additional growth as planned.
Q 1: Comparative Advantages:
• Strategic business policy which envisions car and bus as Southwest’s rivals, thus creating a commitment to most inexpensive fares and most frequent flights between urban markets separated by 500 miles or less.
• Use of a single operating platform i.e., Boeing 737 gives enhanced efficiency of spare parts, maintenance and ramp operations.
• Use of less congested airports with easy access to large metropolitan areas. This choice saves both money and time for the company as well as passengers.
• No in-flight meals and no transfer baggage to other airlines also save major hassles.
• Open single class seating does away with the need of computer hardware and software required for sorting purposes. Moreover, this system encourages the passengers to board quickly so as to lay claim to their desired seats (in-built mechanism).
• Decentralized control making the system more responsive to circumstantial need.
• Maintaining a young fleet bestows the reliability of service necessary to deal with rigour of use.
• Effective human resource practices and a well defined and rigorous selection process ensure that applicants are tested for attitude, teamwork and service orientation.
• Strong training emphasis for new recruits as well as the old employees says a lot about commitment to human capital development.
• Company has a culture of empowerment as well as that of forgiveness. This ensures a steady stream of new and bold ideas for operational and service improvement.
• A high priority is given to resolving conflicts between functional groups. This