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A cocktail napkin and a dream As Southwest Airlines likes to tell it, the fourth-largest U.S. airline (in terms of domestic customers carried) started out with a cocktail napkin and a dream. Rollin King, owner of a floundering commuter airline, was sitting with his lawyer, Herb Kelleher, in a San Antonio bar when the two decided to start a new, short-haul air carrier. Southwest Airlines has beaten the odds by capitalizing upon unbeatable fares, no-frills in-flight service, and Kelleher's well-publicized zaniness (flight crews crack jokes while giving pre-flight safety instructions and sing upon takeoff). Competing with ground transportation While many have tried to imitate Southwest's success, the airline remains the top short-haul, low-fare, high-frequency carrier in the country. Phoenix is Southwest's most popular departure city, with 170 daily departures to 28 cities; other top locations include Houston, Las Vegas, and Dallas. The company has been known as a flying bus service, but that ethos defines Southwest's budget-minded business. When the company first started, a major shareholder approached Kelleher and asked him to increase ticket prices by a few dollars. Kellerher refused, saying "We're not competing with other airlines. We're competing with ground transportation." Any kind of plane you like, as long as it's a 737 Since it first started flying in 1971, Southwest has gone from three airplanes to over 300 as of November 1999, with more than 2,000 departures to 54 cities per day. Recently, the airline broke into the New York-area market with service out of a small airport in Islip, Long Island, and anticipates high traffic to and from the Island. The airline also began service to several Florida cities in 1996. It currently has its eyes on the lucrative Northeast market, and is planning an expansion of its fleet. To save money on training and maintenance, Southwest uses all Boeing 737s.
Southwest Airline's home Web page, http://www.southwest.com/people/people.html, provides listings of current employment opportunities, which one can also obtain through the company's job hotline. Applicants can submit their resumes online, by fax or through regular mail. The site also offers helpful answers to frequently asked questions about working in various positions at Southwest. For even more information, pick up a copy of Nuts, by Kevin and Jackie Freiberg, which chronicles the rise of Southwest. Southwest actively cultivates its reputation as a quirkier, less conventional alternative to its competitors and therefore claims that all new employees must possess "a great sense of humor." After an initial group interview, candidates are interviewed a second time by recruiters and department managers. Sucessful interviewees reported relaxed interviews in which inteviewers "focus on your personality."
Elvis-crazy With a CEO who enjoys dressing in Elvis regalia, Southwest Airlines "goes the extra mile" to ensure that employees "are not just doing their jobs, but enjoying them." For the past two years, Southwest has been named one of the top ten companies in Fortune's annual list of 100 Best Companies to Work for in America. Says one employee, "We brag that one person typically does the jobs of 10 people, so it's a lot of hard work. But we love to have fun." Another insider had this to add, "We had frequent roof-top parties at the corporate headquarters in Dallas." The money is not outstanding, but... Working for a low-cost airline does have its drawbacks. "The money is not outstanding - we earn average pay scale for our jobs," says one source, though the company maintains that salaries are "competitive" withih the industry. Says another source, "A caring company is worth much more than the money, and the perks are outstanding. We can travel free to any Southwest Airlines city and pay discount rates on other airlines, hotels, and resorts." Every day is casual day From 1992 to 1996, Southwest won Department of Transportation rankings for best on-time performance, fewest customer complaints, and fewest mishandled bags. As a reward, Kelleher declared every day casual-dress day. "We have a permanent casual dress code, so that means anything tasteful," confirms one employee.
Alaska Air;America West;AMR;Continental Airlines;Delta;Mesa Air;Midwest Express;Northwest Airlines;Reno Air;TWA;UAL;U.S. Airways More Company Profiles For more career information, go to Vault.com ©2000, Vault.com Inc
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