Group 2 (12:25 MWF)
Southwest Airlines:

Southwest Airlines has four main core competencies, guiding this airline to success in an economy where most others have failed to compete. One of the core competencies that make Southwest Airlines successful, is their fanatical culture focused around customer service and cost savings. Southwest takes great pride in how they treat their customers, which is paramount to their culture. Customer service is available 24 hours a day, no matter what time zone. The airline is diligent in caring for passengers with disabilities and food allergies. Southwest airline also allows each customer one checked bag and one oversize bag, free of charge. Southwest’s leniency on baggage is unlike any other airline. The customer service of this airline is so superior that the airline does not divide the plane into classes. They provide the same service to every customer.

The airline guarantees excellent customer service by hiring employees that fit the culture of the company. Southwest Airlines uses a panel of frequent Southwest fliers to assist in the applicant screening process. The panel must respond by telling the airline how they feel about new applicants. This process ensures that the airline is hiring individuals that will be helpful and welcomed by the airlines’ already existing customers.

Southwest Airlines enhances their customer service by providing discounted rates for dependable flights.   They currently offer 84% of the seats on their flights at a discount, and 25% of those discounted seats are still available even after the period in which to buy them expires.   The airline's flight completion rate, meaning the percentage of flights that get to the intended destination without delay or emergency landing in a different location, was 98.8% as of the first quarter of 2011.   Southwest also boasts another competitive advantage in that they consistently have the lowest ratio of complaints per passenger when compared to all other... [continues]

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