Southwest Airlines Analysis
Holly Guill
Bellevue University

MBA652 Marketing Strategy
Professor Anne Marie Johnson
May 2nd, 2015

Case recap Southwest Airlines is a well-known airline company that flies within the United States and some neighboring countries. It is popular for its “Bags Fly Free” offer and non-stop passenger flights as well as exceptional customer service. They have three fare structures based on customer needs. They are Wanna Get Away, which has the lowest fares but are non-refundable. The Anytime flights are refundable and changeable and can accumulate higher frequent flyer miles. The Business Select is refundable, changeable, and has added benefits like priority boarding and complimentary beverages. Southwest Airlines is complimented on how well they engage and are committed to their employees. There are also many competitors for Southwest Airlines such as American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, United Airlines, US Airways, to name a few.

Problem Identification
Southwest Airlines has had issues with the turnaround time between connecting flights which compromised the operations and overall budget of the airline company as well as customer satisfaction. The main focus of the company remained strong in the area of customer service so this greatly assisted Southwest Airlines when performance was not up to par. The company has also expressed issues with weather delays and not having enough time between flights to make up for these weather conflicts. This has brought on customer dissatisfaction which in turn inevitably brings down profits. Identify the root problem components The components involved in identifying continual problems become key in resolving current issues and creating different strategies to overcome these matters. The focus for the company has been increasing customer turn time while still maintaining customer satisfaction and increased profitability. This company had added extra seating on some of its planes but this also slowed down turnaround time as more people and more luggage had to be unloaded thus leading to slower or delayed turnaround times. The aspect of interfering weather conflicts brings about that either more time had to be allowed for the geographic areas or are these routes still feasible for the company?

S.W.O.T.

Evaluation of alternatives While Southwest Airlines is well known for being a well-run business with high profitability, there are other options for increasing efficient operations and maintaining the high standards of customer service. The employee importance aspect has maintained the integrity of the business and would not be recommended to change. The high cost of fuel would impact the low cost pricing of the ticketing and it is yet another cost that is variable and dependent on outside resources. The extra amenities, ample seating space, complimentary beverages, of an airline and the customer service is what stands out for the consumer.
The marketing and promotional aspects of the company could allow for the company to use further discounts for faithful flyers and introductory pricing for new or come back customers to Southwest Airlines. The variable cost pricing can motivate customers to buy in offseason and off times when more seats are open. This would assist with keeping as many seats full as possible to offset operating costs. The company could promote these