The southwest airline company is one of the major American airlines with its headquarters in Dallas, Texas. The airline has over sixty thousand employees and operates over four thousand departures a day. The southwest airline is otherwise known as the largest low-cost carrier in the world. The company overall follows the guidelines of the low-cost carriers business model. Southwest airlines have had a robust strategy. The strategy has ensured that they remain successful despite them being a low-cost carrier. Some of the aspects that they have focused on include having low fares, which generally attract people who would not want to pay more despite the limited luxuries(Harvey & Turnbull, 2020).
The company has also adapted using cheaper airports, which in the long run, reduce the cost of landing in one. Southwest airlines have also adopted using a single fleet type. By using a unique aircraft model, the company minimizes the training that would be needed for both pilots and mechanics to ensure that the machines run smoothly. Other low-cost carrier's characteristics that the airline has adopted are maintaining a schedule that has short turnaround times, ensuring that all the planes in the airport are used efficiently. Finally, their sharp point to point demand routes that they provide operates at a high frequency.
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Despite being primarily seen as a low-cost model, the additional characteristics that are exhibited by the airline generally classify it as a hybrid. The airline has begun offering networks and various connection flights. The airline is also code sharing and, at the same time, partners and fixed quotas getting negotiated with tour operators. The company offering some of the preflight and onboard practices ideally make it a hybrid as it integrates both the FSNC and the LCC business models. Thus, over time the southwest airline is transitioning from a low-cost carrier model to a perfect hybrid carrier model that, despite the low costs, offers quality to its customers.
LCC and FNSC have various characteristics that define them. The multiple assessments conducted in comparison to the two models include fleet composition, route structure, product offering, and aircraft cabin configuration.
The fleet composition in southwest airlines is majorly on one type of plane, the Boeing 737. In the utilization of a single airplane model, the low-cost model is thus more effective in this case scenario. The management of the airport will, therefore, have to incur more fees that will be used in cases such as training pilots in case of a change of planes. In reducing the costs that would be born in any form of training, the southwest airlines to ensure that at all times, they maintain the low-cost business model. Unlike other business models where there is a range of planes that generally increase the cost of training and overly increased the costs of the entity, which hurts the general revenue of the airline.
Route structure in the southwest company, as described earlier in its strategy, is a nonstop service. By coming up with uninterrupted service, the airliner ensures that at all times, the customers get to pay fees that are ideally economical and would thus not cost them much (Dellana & West, 2020). Unlike other business models where we have routine stopovers, the leading company aims to ensure that they minimize the number of stops and, at the same time, aim at reducing the amount of time generally used in fights.
Product offering at the company is based on an FNSC model where the company, despite being a low-cost carrier, tries to give out a variety of products at a low cost or free to their customers. Some of the product offerings that the southwest airlines offer include the early bad check-in, the southwest gift card for customers, Wi-Fi services, and community coffee, among many others. The company ideally tries adopting the FSNC model in this aspect to ensure that the customers at least get services that may encourage them to use the airlines more.
Aircraft cabin configuration in the southwest has a model that allows a seating capacity of a hundred and thirty-seven passengers in a single class. The flights are mainly short to medium. If one has a small flight that has less than two hours, then one will be served with pretzels. The company also allows one to carry his or her food during the flights. Some of the services, as earlier mentioned, which are low-cost carriers model-based, include complimentary coffee and beverages that are served in flights.
One of the biggest competitors to the southwest airline is the delta airline. The delta airline has a higher CASM compared to the southwest airlines. Based on statistics in the domestic cost per available seat in the third quarter of 2018, Delta had an average of fourteen dollars per seat while southwest had nearly twelve dollars per seat, which shows a significant difference.
The load factor in both companies is enormous. The differences in price are mostly due to demand. Delta demand increase their overall cost. However, it is essential to note that Delta ensures that they offer different ranges of services that are ideally not present in the southern airlines (Bravman, 2016).
Utilization in southwest airlines can be termed as more significant since they try maximizing all their planes, which is not similar to Delta. The various companies airlines model in the Delta is also different compared to the southwest airlines. Trip length in Delta airlines is significantly more significant compared to the southwest airlines. Delta also has less point to point travel, which generally increases the price due to the stopovers.
In conclusion, southwest airlines is a company in transition. The company, over time, has been characterized by the low-cost carrier model. However, over time the airline has tried incorporating measures in the airline that automatically shifts it from a low cost to a hybrid model. Integrating the FSNC model in the company comes with numerous benefits. In time the southwest airlines aim at ensuring that they satisfy the customer's need in terms of cost and quality, which in general will lead to higher demands and thus more profits to the large airline. Integrating both models in any airline seems like the best approach that various airlines can adapt to ensure that they remain competitive in the aviation industry.
References
Bravman, J. (2016). Southwest Airlines and Delta Air Lines: A Review of Key Planning Optimization Activities and Their Execution During 2015.
Dellana, S., & West, D. (2020). Service Triad Alignment and Profitability: An Empirical Study in the US Airline Industry. Journal of Supply Chain and Operations Management , 18 (1), 140.
Harvey, G., & Turnbull, P. (2020). SOUTHWEST AIRLINES. Case Studies in Work, Employment and Human Resource Management , 80.
