HISTORY
Southwest Airlines was originally founded as Air Southwest Company in 1967 by Rollin W. King and Herbert D. Kelleher. The company incorporated as Southwest Airlines in Texas, and began customer service on June 18, 1971. The airline was started with a simple idea: if you get your passengers to their destination when they want to get there, on time, at the lowest possible fares, and make sure they have a good time doing it, people will fly your airline.
In 1971 Southwest began service between Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio. By 1974 Southwest had flow 1 million passengers. In 1977 Southwest carried it's five millionth passenger, and the New York Stock Exchange began listing Southwest stock as "LUV." In 1979 flying Southwest was made faster and easier by the introduction of self-ticketing machines in 10 cities. The same year service to New Orleans from Dallas commenced, making New Orleans the first city Southwest offered travel to outside of Texas. In 1985 Southwest chose the Ronald McDonald House as their primary charity. 1988 was a big year for the airline, Southwest and Sea World of Texas began working together to help promote tourism in Texas. The "New Friends," campaign Southwest was made the official airline of Sea World of California. The same year Southwest won the first Triple Crown, which consists of Best On-Time Record, Best Baggage Handling, and Fewest Customer Complaints. 1990 put Southwest at the billion dollar revenue mark and becomes a "Major" airline. The following year Southwest celebrated their 20th anniversary. In 1994 Southwest merged with Morris Air. 1995 marks the start of Ticketless Travel system wide for the airline. On May 5, 2000 Southwest held their first annual Phoenix LUV Classic Golf Tournament and Party; the procee ...