Southwest Airlines Fact Sheet
Updated: December 15, 2008
- Leadership
- Headquarters
- About the Company
- Daily Departures
- Employees
- Stock
- 2006 Financial Statistics
- Cities Served by Southwest
- Fleet
- Southwest Airlines' Top Ten Airports
- Reservations Centers
- Fun Facts
- Southwest Airlines Distinctions
- Southwest Airlines' Recognitions
- southwest.com
Leadership:
Gary Kelly - Chairman of the Board, and Chief Executive Officer, and President
Headquarters:
P.O. Box 36611
2702 Love Field Drive
Dallas, TX 75235
About the Company:
Southwest Airlines was incorporated in Texas and commenced Customer Service on June 18, 1971, with three Boeing 737 aircraft serving three Texas cities - Houston, Dallas, and San Antonio. Today, Southwest operates more than 500 Boeing 737 aircraft between 64 cities. Southwest topped the monthly domestic originating passenger rankings for the first time in May 2003. Yearend results for 2007 marked Southwest’s 35th consecutive year of profitability. Southwest became a major airline in 1989 when it exceeded the billion-dollar revenue mark. Southwest is the United States’ most successful low-fare, high frequency, point-to-point carrier. Southwest operates more than 3,300 flights a day coast to coast, making it the largest U.S. carrier based on domestic departures.
Daily Departures:
More than 3,300 flights a day
Employees:
More than 35,000 total Employees throughout the Southwest system.
Stock:
Common stock is traded under the symbol "LUV" on the NYSE.
2007 Financial Statistics:
- Net income: $645 million
- Total passengers carried: 101.9 million
- Total RPMs: 72.3 billion
- Average passenger load factor: 72.6 percent
- Total operating revenue: $9.9 billion
Cities Served by Southwest:
Southwest flies to 64 cities in 32 states.
| Albany | Indianapolis | Philadelphia |
| Albuquerque | Long Island | Phoenix |
| Amarillo | Jackson | Pittsburgh |
| Austin | Jacksonville | Portland |
| Baltimore/Washington | Kansas City | Providence |
| Birmingham | Las Vegas | Raleigh-Durham |
| Boise | Little Rock | Reno |
| Buffalo | Los Angeles (LAX) | Sacramento |
| Burbank | Louisville | St. Louis |
| Chicago (Midway) | Lubbock | Salt Lake City |
| Cleveland | Manchester | San Antonio |
| Columbus | Midland/Odessa | San Diego |
| Corpus Christi | Minneapolis/St. Paul | San Francisco |
| Dallas (Love Field) | Nashville | San Jose |
| Denver | New Orleans | Seattle/Tacoma |
| Detroit (Metro) | Norfolk | Spokane |
| El Paso | Oakland | Tampa |
| Ft. Lauderdale/Hollywood | Oklahoma City | Tucson |
| Ft. Myers/Naples | Omaha | Tulsa |
| Harlingen/South Padre Island | Ontario | West Palm Beach |
| Hartford/Springfield | Orange County | Washington, DC (Dulles) |
| Houston (Hobby) | Orlando |
Fleet:
Southwest currently operates 536 Boeing 737 jets (as of October 2008).
| Type | Number | Seats |
|---|---|---|
| 737-300 | 186 | 137 |
| 737-500 | 25 | 122 |
| 737-700 | 327 | 137 |
- The Company’s fleet has an average age of about 9 years.
- The average aircraft trip length is 626 miles with an average duration of one hour and 52 minutes.
- Southwest aircraft fly an average of seven flights per day, or 13 hours per day.
- Southwest was the launch customer for the Boeing 737-700 in 1997. Southwest was also a launch customer for the Boeing 737-500 and -300 series aircraft.
- Southwest has almost completed updating its traditional gold, red and orange paint scheme by adding Canyon Blue. All new aircraft will have the updated colors and interior. Existing aircraft are being retrofitted.
- Performance-enhancing Blended Winglets have been added
to our fleet of 737-700s, and all new 737-700 aircraft arrive from Boeing
with Blended
Winglets installed.
Additionally, Southwest began installation of Blended Winglets on approximately
90 of our 737-300 aircraft in early 2007.
Southwest Airlines' Top Ten Airports: (as of December 2008)
| Cities | Daily Departures | Number of Gates | Nonstop Cities Served | Established |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Las Vegas | 238 | 21 | 55 | 1982 |
| Chicago Midway | 214 | 29 | 47 | 1985 |
| Phoenix | 194 | 24 | 42 | 1982 |
| Baltimore/Washington | 162 | 26 | 38 | 1993 |
| Oakland | 134 | 13 | 21 | 1989 |
| Houston Hobby | 144 | 17 | 29 | 1971 |
| Dallas (Love Field) | 140 | 14 | 15 | 1971 |
| Los Angeles (LAX) | 127 | 11 | 18 | 1982 |
| Orlando | 106 | 14 | 33 | 1996 |
| San Diego | 108 | 10 | 18 | 1982 |
Reservations Centers:
Southwest Airlines currently operates six reservations centers located in Albuquerque, Chicago, Houston, Oklahoma City, Phoenix, and San Antonio.
Fun Facts:
- Southwest received 329,200 resumes and hired 4,200 new Employees in 2007.
- In 2007 Southwest served 64.9 million cans of soda, juices, and water; 11.3 million alcoholic beverages; 6.1 million bags of pretzels; 103.8 million bags of peanuts; 14 million snackpacks; and 32 million other snacks.
- Southwest consumed 1.5 billion gallons of jet fuel in 2007.
- In 2007, Southwest moved 223 million pounds of cargo.
- The shortest daily Southwest flight is between Ft. Myers (RSW) and Orlando (MCO) (133 miles). The longest daily Southwest flight is between Baltimore (BWI) and San Diego (SAN) (2,295 miles).
- Southwest has 1,165 married couples. In other words, 2,330 Southwest Employees have spouses who also work for the Company.
Southwest Airlines Distinctions:
- Southwest’s average passenger airfare is $124.38 and the average passenger trip length is about 846 miles.
- Southwest Airlines has consistently received the lowest ratio of complaints per passengers boarded of all Major U.S. carriers that have been reporting statistics to the Department of Transportation (DOT) since September 1987, which is when the DOT began tracking Customer Satisfaction statistics and publishing its Air Travel Consumer Report.
- The airline adopted the first profit-sharing plan in the U.S. airline industry in 1973. Through this plan and others, Employees own at least eight percent of the Company stock.
- The airline is about 86 percent unionized.
- Southwest Airlines is a member of the FORTUNE 500.
- The Ronald McDonald House program, cornerstone of the Ronald McDonald Children’s Charities, is the primary corporate charity of Southwest Airlines. Annually, the Company sponsors the Southwest Airlines LUV Classic golf tournaments whose proceeds benefit various Ronald McDonald Houses and have totaled close to $9 million over the past 20 years.
Southwest Airlines' Recognitions:
- Advertising Age Magazine recognized Southwest Airlines as a “Marketing 50 Case Study” for its “Freedom From Fees” campaign with GSD&M's Idea City.
- For the 12th year in a row, FORTUNE magazine recognized Southwest Airlines in its annual survey of corporate reputations in 2008. Southwest Airlines is the only airline to make the top 20 list and has also earned the top spot on the Most Admired Airline list.
- Southwest Airlines’ Rapid Rewards program was honored in InsideFlyer magazine’s 2008 annual Freddie Awards for Best Award Redemption, Best Award, and Best Member Communications.
- In a 2008 TIME.com survey of the friendliest and stingiest airlines, Southwest Airlines ranked no.1 for being the Friendliest Airlines.
- In July 2007, Southwest Airlines was included in the Top 100 Most Innovative Technology Organizations by InformationWeek Magazine.
- After soliciting feedback from almost 10,000 travelers, SmarterTravel recognized Southwest Airlines as “Best Airfare Prices” in its Readers’ Choice Awards in fall 2008.
- Southwest Airlines was named to Business Week’s list of “Customer Service Champs” in 2007 and 2008. The Business Week list ranks the best providers of Customer Service, and digs into the techniques, strategies, and tools they use to deliver great service.
- Southwest continues to rank as the largest U.S. carrier in terms of passengers carried, according to the most recent figures released by the U.S. Department of Transportation's Bureau of Transportation Statistics.
- In Zagat’s 2008 Airlines Survey, Southwest Airlines ranked #1 for “Best Airline Website.”
- Southwest Airlines was recognized as Corporation of the Year by MANA, a National Latina Organization.
- G.I. Jobs recognized Southwest Airlines in the Top 50 Military Friendly Employers of 2006. Southwest was the only airline included on the list.
- Southwest Airlines was voted “Overall Best Airline” in the U.S. by Frost & Sullivan’s CEO Leadership Forum in 2007.
- In October 2008, www.nutsaboutsouthwest.com was awarded “Best Blog” for the second year in a row. This prestigious honor is presented by PR News, the leading trade publication among communicators worldwide.
- The National Aviation Hall of Fame honored Herb Kelleher in its enshrinee class of 2008.
- Southwest Airlines was included in Hispanic Business Magazine’s Top 60 Diversity Elite for 2007.
- The Port of Portland presented Southwest Airlines with an Environmental Excellence Award in recognition of an exemplary effort in the category of Environmental Innovation in April 2007.
- The Express Delivery & Logistics Association (XLA) honored Southwest Airlines as the “2008 Airline of the Year.” This is the fourth consecutive year that Southwest Airlines Cargo has received this honor.
- Travel and Leisure Magazine ranked Southwest Airlines 4th for Top Domestic Carriers in 2007.
- Southwest Airlines received the distinctive honor of the Best Domestic Airline award by Travel Weekly in 2007.
- Corporate Research International ranked Southwest Airlines number one in the Customer Service Survey.
- In 2007, Southwest Airlines received the top rank in the Zagat Survey of Global Airlines in the categories for Frequent Flyer program and domestic website.
southwest.com
- In 2007,online bookings reached 74% via southwest.com, compared to approximately 70% in 2006.
- More than 6.6 million people subscribe to Southwest’s weekly Click ‘N Save e-mails.
- In 2007, approximately 70 percent of Southwest Customers are checking in online or at a kiosk.
- In June 2004, Southwest celebrated the launch of its Spanish booking engine, southwest.com/vamonos, where Customers can make flight reservations and find helpful information, including Southwest’s policies, travel tips, airport information, and route map entirely in Spanish. Southwest is among the first major airlines to offer such a service.
- SWABIZ, Southwest’s free online booking tool that allows business travelers to plan, purchase, and track business travel, increased sales 19% in 2007.
- 66 percent of Fortune 500 Companies are enrolled in SWABIZ as of 2006.
- Southwest was the first airline to establish a home page on the Internet. Initially, five Employees comprised Southwest’s web site development team, and the site took about nine months to create.
- In 2007, southwest.com was the number one airline web site for online revenue according to PhoCusWright. Nielsen/Netratings also reported that southwest.com was the largest airline site in terms of unique visitors.
- The “Southwest Shortcut” feature on southwest.com is the first online tool that helps Customers find the lowest fare based on availability over an entire month.
- DING!, a downloadable desktop application, available for both PC and MAC users, was introduced in February 2005, to notify Customers of exclusive hot offers,. Southwest was the first airline to implement this type of tool.
- In addition to flights, Customers are also able to make car, hotel, cruise, and complete vacation package reservations on southwest.com.
