[Writer Name]
[Supervisor Name]
[Subject]
[Date]
Economic System
Company Overview
Southwest Airlines (Southwest) is an air-carrier that primarily provides short haul, high frequency, point-to-point, low-fare services in 31 US states. The company operates only in the US. Southwest has been ranked the top US domestic airline by the Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) of the US Department of Transportation (DoT). It is headquartered in Dallas, Texas and employs about 31,000 people.
The company recorded revenues of $6530 million during the fiscal year ended December 2004, an increase of 10.0% over 2003. The increase was primarily attributable to an increase in revenue passenger miles (RPMs) flown and an improved load factor for the airline. The operating profit of the company during fiscal 2004 was $554 million, an increase of 14.7% over fiscal 2003. The net profit was $313 million during fiscal year 2004, a decrease of 29.2% from 2003.
Business Description
Southwest is a domestic US airline that provides short haul, high frequency, and point-to-point, low-fare services to and from 60 airports in 59 cities across 31 US states. The airline has been ranked the top US domestic airline (in terms of number of passengers) by the BTS.
The company operates a point-to-point route system that provides direct routings for customers. As a result there are fewer connections to be made on routes, so total trip time and delays are minimized. Approximately 78% of the company's customers fly non-stop. In addition, Southwest serves many conveniently located satellite or downtown airports, which are typically less congested than the hub airports of other airlines.
The company does not assign seats and customers are dealt with on a first-come first- ...