1. Suppose you have been asked to write a report for Southwest Airlines discussing and displaying their share of the U.S. airline market. In your research, you are able to obtain from the Bureau of Transportation Statistics the following information on the Number of Passengers Carried in a recent year for the top seven U.S. airlines:
Southwest Airlines − 111,498,509
Delta Air Lines − 109,827,685
United Air Lines − 82,436,921
American Airlines − 80,113,333
US Airways − 52,955,303
ExpressJet Airlines − 30,576,553
JetBlue Airways − 27,836,405
Using at least two of the graphs and/or charts discussed in this chapter, present your findings on these seven airlines and briefly discuss the results.
2. Information gleaned from budgettravel.com and SITA (Specialist in Air Transport and IT Communications) indicates that there are at least five reasons that air passengers’ luggage is lost. These include:
1.) The routing label is damaged or lost,
2.) Lost during transfer from one plane to another,
3.) The wrong destination code is typed at ticketing,
4.) The luggage is loaded into the wrong plane to begin with, and
5.) The passenger forgets to pick up their luggage at the destination.
Suppose a study of 500 pieces of lost luggage is undertaken in which researchers are attempting to determine the main cause of luggage loss and it is determined that 98 of the pieces were lost due to a lost or damaged routing label, 255 were lost during transfer from one plane to another, 71 were lost due to the wrong destination code being typed at ticketing, 52 were lost because they were loaded into the wrong plane, and 24 were lost because the passenger failed to pick up their luggage at the destination. Use a Pareto Chart to analyze the results of this study. Based on your chart, what would you recommend as a way to attack the lost luggage problem?
3. Shown here are two scatter plots of data on U.S. airlines reported in a recent year by bga-aeroweb.com. The first scatter plot displays the number of passengers carried annually by the top nine airlines and the number of seats per aircraft for each airline. The second scatter plot displays the number of passengers carried and the number of flights by the top nine airlines in a recent year. Study the two scatter plots and comment on any insights you glean regarding the airline industry.
One night over dinner early in 1967 in San Antonio, Rollin King presented his idea for a new airline to Herb Kelleher by drawing a triangle on a napkin and labeling the three corners as Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio. King’s idea was to offer reasonably priced nonstop service between the three cities; and as a result, Southwest Airlines was created. Out of this initial meeting, Southwest Airlines was incorporated in Texas on March 15, 1967. Commercial service commenced on June 18, 1971, with three Boeing 737 aircraft serving three Texas cities Houston, Dallas, and San Antonio. Southwest Airlines grew rapidly; and on January of 1974, they carried their one-millionth customer.
In the next couple of years, several new jets and destinations were added including five new cities in 1977 alone. By mid 1988, Southwest had expanded its service to offer almost 900 flights each day across its route system covering 27 cities in 13 states; and by 1989, revenue had exceeded the billion-dollar mark. Southwest won its first Triple Crown Award, based on Department of Transportation statistics for the year 1992 ranking first in fewest customer complaints, best on-time performance, and best baggage handling. In 1993, Southwest was named one of the top ten best companies to work for in America—recognized for job security, opportunities, youngest companies, strongly unionized, and where fun is a way of life. In 1994, Southwest became the first major airline to offer ticketless travel; and in 1996, it became the first major airline to post a website with the launch of their “Home Gate” site. In 1997, the airline ranked first on Fortune magazine’s “100 Best Companies to Work For in America” list.
Southwest topped the monthly domestic originating passenger rankings for the first time in May 2003. In 2011, AirTran Airways became a wholly owned subsidiary of Southwest Airlines. In 2013, Southwest launched the first Southwest service to a destination outside the 48 contiguous states with service to San Juan, Puerto Rico. In July 2014, Southwest began its first international flights to Nassau, Bahamas; Montego Bay, Jamaica; and Aruba. Later in the year, Southwest continued its international launch with service to Mexico and the Dominican Republic. In 2015, Southwest’s international service grew to seven countries with new service to San Jose, Costa Rica, Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, and Belize City, Belize. Presently in its 44th year of service, Southwest Airlines (NYSE: LUV) continues to differentiate itself from other air carriers with exemplary customer service delivered by more than 47,000 employees to more than 100 million customers annually. Southwest operates more than 3,600 flights a day, serving 94 destinations across the United States and six additional countries. The mission of Southwest Airlines is “dedication to the highest quality of customer service delivered with a sense of warmth, friendliness, individual pride, and company spirit”.
