Map
Case

Southwest Airlines and Herb Kelleher: the low-fare, single-aircraft model

Southwest Airlines began service on 18 June 1971 with three Boeing 737s serving Dallas, Houston and San Antonio (10-K); Herb Kelleher and pilot Rollin King founded it in 1967 (CNBC). Kelleher was CEO from September 1981 to June 2001; the airline flew one aircraft type, one class and no meals (CNBC). Its 2018 10-K records a 46th consecutive profitable year, 750 Boeing 737s and operating revenues of $21,965 million. Kelleher died on 3 January 2019. Illustrates a low-cost strategy.

Industry
Low-fare airline (USA)
Frameworks applied
Generic strategiesValue disciplines
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Frameworks applied

This case is read through the frameworks below.

  • Generic strategiesA small business owner watches a bigger rival cut prices: should the firm compete on lower cost or on differentiation, and across the whole market or in one narrow segment?
  • Value disciplinesWhen setting strategy for a firm trying to excel at everything, should the CEO choose to lead on operational excellence, product leadership or customer intimacy?

Sources

References

Listed A–Z by author surname, Harvard style. A source with a DOI links to https://doi.org/…; one without links to its page or says plainly that it has no DOI.

  1. Josephs, L. and Colville, W. (2019) Southwest Airlines founder Herbert Kelleher dies at age 87. CNBC.No DOIcnbc.comSource page
  2. Southwest Airlines Co. (2019) Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended 31 December 2018. Washington, DC: U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.No DOIsec.govSource page