Southwest Airlines Swot Analysis Essay
Section III. Identification of SWOT
Strengths
Point-to-Point strategy. Southwest gets more out of each plan than other major airlines by flying nonstop “point to point” routes evenly though the day (Tully 2015, p. 6). By adhering to the point-to-point strategy, it provides for an easier transition. The hub-and-spoke system operatesconcentrates most of an airline’s operations at a limited number of central hub cities and serves most other destinations in the system by providing one-stop or connecting service through a hub (Southwest Airlines Co. 2014, p.10). Fleet base. They have consistently controlled its costs in the “all other bucket” largely because of its unique approach to managing its fleet (Tully 2015, p. 6). Various destination …show more content…
The most notable example is Southwest’s showdown with Delta at the world’s busiest airport, Hartsfield-Jackson in Atlanta, GA (Tully 2015, p.7).
Short-haul flights. Their focus has been on short turnaround for its aircraft to minimize time spent on the ground.
Opportunities Growing tourist industry could help increase market position. In (Tully 2015) flight plan article, it was found that long-haul business travel is the biggest, fastest-growing segment in U.S. air travel. It was the AirTran purchase that gave Southwest a base of foreign routes (Tully 2015, p. 9) Integration of Southwest Airlines with AirTran improves route network. Now Southwest has converted many of AirTran’s flights to nonstop routes to major cities such as Houston, Denver, and Los Angeles in an attempt to steal Atlanta-based business travelers from Delta (Tully 2015, p.7) Utilizing major airports. The Wright Amendment restricted the number and destinations of flights in and out of Dallas’ Love Field until it was repealed on October 13, 2014 (Video 2014).
Threats Intense competition could negatively impact margins. Fluctuating fuel prices. When you have just two competitors on a route, and that’s the case on many routes, competition tends to be muted (as cited in Tully
Strengths
Point-to-Point strategy. Southwest gets more out of each plan than other major airlines by flying nonstop “point to point” routes evenly though the day (Tully 2015, p. 6). By adhering to the point-to-point strategy, it provides for an easier transition. The hub-and-spoke system operatesconcentrates most of an airline’s operations at a limited number of central hub cities and serves most other destinations in the system by providing one-stop or connecting service through a hub (Southwest Airlines Co. 2014, p.10). Fleet base. They have consistently controlled its costs in the “all other bucket” largely because of its unique approach to managing its fleet (Tully 2015, p. 6). Various destination …show more content…
The most notable example is Southwest’s showdown with Delta at the world’s busiest airport, Hartsfield-Jackson in Atlanta, GA (Tully 2015, p.7).
Short-haul flights. Their focus has been on short turnaround for its aircraft to minimize time spent on the ground.
Opportunities Growing tourist industry could help increase market position. In (Tully 2015) flight plan article, it was found that long-haul business travel is the biggest, fastest-growing segment in U.S. air travel. It was the AirTran purchase that gave Southwest a base of foreign routes (Tully 2015, p. 9) Integration of Southwest Airlines with AirTran improves route network. Now Southwest has converted many of AirTran’s flights to nonstop routes to major cities such as Houston, Denver, and Los Angeles in an attempt to steal Atlanta-based business travelers from Delta (Tully 2015, p.7) Utilizing major airports. The Wright Amendment restricted the number and destinations of flights in and out of Dallas’ Love Field until it was repealed on October 13, 2014 (Video 2014).
Threats Intense competition could negatively impact margins. Fluctuating fuel prices. When you have just two competitors on a route, and that’s the case on many routes, competition tends to be muted (as cited in Tully