SWOT on SouthWest Airlines
Stretch • Higher frequency of flights with lower ticket costs • No seat assignment enables faster turnaround time between each flight • Not having a hub enables a more convenient point-to-point flight for passengers • Having only one type of aircraft reduces training time and maintaining costs • Having a comfortable and exciding work environment allows Southwest’s employees to easily perform their excellent customer service in the industry Weakness • Not having a Hub creates a barrier to expand their coverage area • In the airline industry in general the majority of costs are fixed. Therefore, a company like Southwest, which operates on such tight budgets, is very sensitive to changes in the environment, the market or the behavior of its suppliers/customers Opportunities • Explore new ways to increase the number of seats on a given plane while keeping the seats comfortable for the passengers. For example instead of using their conventional seating, they could design bed style seats that could possibly stack multiple rows on top of each other to fit-in more passengers in each flight • Merger of Southwest with one of its major suppliers (Boeing, Exxon-Mobile, Comcast, Xbox, etc.