Articles tagged “southwest airlines”

Southwest has survived by being different. That gets harder, but the lessons of its past success may help define its legacy. The Texas-based airline is one of the subjects in Skift’s recent sixth anniversary book, For the Long Haul, Lessons on Business Longevity, whose chapters we are excerpting for you here.

Southwest Airlines wants to keep its passengers happy, booking quickly, and coming back. In this video, Chief Revenue Officer Andrew Watterson explains some of the ways the airline achieves that goal.

You have to give Southwest Airlines CEO Gary Kelly credit. Analysts are constantly prodding him to embrace tried-and-true approaches for generating ancillary revenue. For the most part, he resists. He doesn't want to mess with the airline's secret sauce.

When Delta Air Lines launched Basic Economy, it allowed a free carry-on bag. When American Airlines subsequently launched a similar fare type, it barred free carry-ons, and that has turned out to be a poor decision because American has been losing market share to Delta.

The Department of Transportation's inspector general has several ongoing audits trying to measure the effectiveness of the Federal Aviation Administration. That's probably a nuisance to the FAA, but it's not necessarily a bad thing. Oversight is important.

In the airline industry, bigger is almost always better. But Hawaiian Airlines is betting its unique niche will help it as more competitors add capacity in its markets. Still, the airline could someday be a takeover target for another airline that wants to grow.

Hawaiian Airlines executives are talking a big game about how they're ready for competition from Southwest Airlines. Is it true? Or are Hawaiian's executives nervous behind the scenes as they prepare for Southwest's Hawaii expansion?

Poor Gogo. Its stock is getting pummeled in public markets, and there doesn't seem to be a lot of hope among investors. How will the company respond?

On one hand, Delta's frequent flyers have a less-effective loyalty program. But on the other, they're flying a great airline.

Southwest began its life in 1971 as a short-haul airline shuttling commuters around Texas. So perhaps it is fitting that it will try to do something similar in Hawaii. But expect Hawaiian Airlines to vigorously defend its turf.