Southwest Airlines
1. Southwest Airlines is a marketing driven company. It views cars and busses as its main
competition. They use less congestive airports that provide easy access to metropolitan areas. A
focus on hiring and controls is implemented. Only one operating platform, the Boeing 737, is
used. Costs are cut though limited flight services being offered. A chief focus for Southwest is
providing quick turnaround, directing traffic swiftly through the gates. They have a commitment
to offering cheap fares and frequent flights. Employees are given the freedom to make
decisions, keeping a focus on customer service at all times. Employees are cross-trained, and
encouraged to change jobs within the company.
Advantages Southwest Airlines has are lower costs, quicker turn-around, open and single class
seating. The work environment is fun –filled with a focus on family and team and service
orientation. Each agent is assigned only one flight, allowing the agent to give complete focus to
ensuring the success of this flight.
2. Per Matt Hafner’s decision, ramp supervisors have the responsibility of managing two gates, in
addition to ensuring that both gates are not scheduled at the same time. This could result in a
possible bottleneck in the case of a schedule error or delayed flights, causing two gates to be
filled at the same time. There is a maximum of 16 gates. In the event of having several delayed
flights, there will not be enough gates to accommodate all flight traffic.
One problem concerning resource utilization at the Baltimore Station is that its bag sorting area
has reached its capacity. This can also result in a bottleneck for the company, as it slows down
the entire flight process.
As Southwest is able to turn around a jet in 15 minutes, this proves to be an efficient process. A
continuous coordination and communication among all departments should be evaluated.
3. One reason that Southwest Airlines is eroding is its current turnover. There is a current lack of
employee retention, which is affecting the company having fast turnarounds. This is a direct
problem that requires attention. The employees are only well-trained in their individual job and
do not have a functional understanding of the overall work process. The night shift workers are
the lowest-seniority and are not able to respond in a timely fashion when conditions change
suddenly. Passenger connections are a challenge in that the passengers are not able to connect
flights that are scheduled in less than 35 minutes of each other. Connections have been in the
20% range for the past ten years. At Baltimore, they are 30%. The Baltimore Station has reached
maximum capacity in its bag sorting area, slowing down the entire flight process. This problem
also requires immediate attention.
4. One recommendation is that group leaders could be just like flight attendants, and fly in on a
scheduled basis. This would ensure having a leader that is qualified and well-trained. An
investment in a new and more efficient bagging system should be made. This would alleviate
connection problems. Another recommendation is that Matt Hafner could seek advice from
Phoenix, as they successfully implement a more efficient connecting system. Southwest also
needs to cut the amount of overtime employees are currently working. There is a direct
correlation linking current employee overtime with the amount of complaints coming from
customers about bagging.