Rollin King and Herb Kelleher started Southwest Airlines in 1971 with this idea: If they could...
Fantastic news! We've Found the answer you've been seeking!
Question:
Transcribed Image Text:
Rollin King and Herb Kelleher started Southwest Airlines in 1971 with this idea: If they could take airline passengers where they want to go, on time, at the lowest possible price, and have a good time while doing it, people would love to fly their airline. The result? No other airline in the industry's history has enjoyed the customer loyalty and extended profitability for which Southwest is now famous. There's more to the story, however, than making promises and hoping to fulfill them. A large part of Southwest Airlines's success lies in its ability to plan long-term capacity to better match demand and also improving the utilization of its fleet by turning around an aircraft at the gate faster than its competitors. Capacity at Southwest is measured in seat-miles, and even a single minute reduction in aircraft turnaround time system wide means additional seat-miles being added to the available capacity of Southwest Airlines. As soon as an aircraft calls "in range" at one of Southwest's airport locations, called a station, the local operations manager notifies the ground operations team so that they can start mobilizing all the parties involved in servicing the aircraft in preparation for its next departure. The grounds opera- tions team consists of a baggage transfer driver who has responsibility for getting connecting flight bags to their proper planes, a local baggage driver who moves bags to baggage claim for passenger pickup, a lavatory truck driver who handles restroom receptacle drainage, a lead gate agent to handle Baggage transfer starts less than 40 seconds after engine shutdown at Southwest Airlines. Pearson Education baggage carts and track incoming and outgoing bag counts, and a bin agent to manage baggage and cargo inside the plane. The ground operations team knows it must turn the plane around in 25 minutes or less. The clock starts when the pilot sets the wheel brakes. Inbound and outbound flights are coordinated by the supervisors between all of Southwest's airport stations through the company's Operations Terminal Information System (OTS). Each local supervisor is able to keep track of their flights and manage any delays or problems that may have crept into the system by keeping in touch with headquarters in Dallas for systemwide issues that may impact a local station, along with using the OTIS Information coming from stations sending flights their way. Just what, exactly, does it take to turn around an aircraft? In-bound flight 3155 from Phoenix to Dallas' Love Field is a good example. In Phoe- nix, the operations coordinators and ground operations team push back the plane as scheduled at 9:50 A.M. The flight is scheduled to arrive at 3:35 P.M. in Dallas. The Phoenix team enters into OTIS the information the ground operations team will need in Dallas, such as wheelchairs, gate-checked baggage, cargo bin locator data, and other data needed to close out the flight on their end. This action lets the Dallas station know what to expect when the plane lands. In Dallas, the local ground operations coordinators have been monitor- ing all 110 Inbound flights and now see Phoenix flight 3155 in the system, scheduled for an on-time arrival. When the pilot calls "in range" as it nears Dallas, the ground crew prepares for action. As the plane is guided to its "stop mark" at the gate, the lead agent waits for the captain's signal that the engines have been turned off and brakes set. Within just 10 seconds, the provisioning truck pulls up to open the back door for restocking supplies such as drinks and snacks. The waiting fuel truck extends its hose to the underwing connection and in less than 2 minutes picks up refueling instructions and starts to load fuel. As soon as the aircraft is in position, the operations team steers the jetway into position and locks it against the aircraft. The door is opened, the in-flight crew is greeted, and passengers start to deplane. Outside, less than 40 seconds after engine shutdown, baggage is rolling off the plane and gets placed onto the first cart. Any transfer bags get sent to their next destination, and gate-checked bags are delivered to the top of the jetway stairs for passenger pickup. While passengers make their way out of the plane, the in-flight crew helps clean up and prepare the cabin for the next flight. If all goes well, the last passenger will leave the plane after only 8 minutes. By this time, pas- sengers waiting to board have already lined up in their designated positions for boarding. The gate agent confirms that the plane is ready for passenger boarding and calls for the first group to turn in their boarding passes and file down the jetway. At the completion of boarding, the operations agent checks the fuel Invoice, cargo bin loading schedule with actual bag counts in their bins from the baggage agents, and a lavatory service record confirming that cleaning has taken place. Final paperwork is given to the captain. The door to the aircraft is closed, and the jetway is retracted. Thirty seconds later, the plane is pushed back and the operations agent gives a traditional salute to the captain to send the flight on its way. Total elapsed time: less than 25 minutes. Managing Southwest's capacity has been somewhat simplified by stra- tegic decisions made early on in the company's life. First, the company's fleet of aircraft is all Boeing 737s. This single decision impacts all areas of operations-from crew training to aircraft maintenance. The single-plane configuration also provides Southwest with crew scheduling flexibility. Since pilots and flight crews can be deployed across the entire fleet, there are no constraints with regard to training and certification pegged to specific aircraft types. The way Southwest has streamlined its operations for tight turnarounds means it must maintain a high capacity cushion to accommodate variability in its daily operations. Anything from weather delays to unexpected maintenance issues at the gate can slow down the flow of operations to a crawl. To handle these unplanned but anticipated challenges, Southwest builds into its sched- ules enough cushion to manage these delays yet not so much that employees and planes are idle. Additionally, the company encourages discussion to keep on top of what's working and where improvements can be made. If a problem is noted at a downstream station, say bags were not properly loaded, this information quickly travels back up to the originating station for correction so that it does not happen again. Even with the tightly managed operations Southwest Airlines enjoys, com- pany executives know that continued improvement is necessary if the company is to remain profitable into the future. Company executives know when they have achieved their goals when internal and external metrics are reached. For example, the Department of Transportation (DOT) tracks on-time departures, customer complaints, and mishandled baggage for all airlines. The company sets targets for achievement on these dimensions and lets employees know on a monthly basis how the company is doing against those metrics and the rest of the industry. Regular communication with all employees is delivered via meetings, posters, and newsletters. Rewards such as prizes and profit sharing are given for successful achievement. As for the future, Bob Jordan, Southwest's executive vice president for strategy and planning, puts it this way: "We make money when our planes are in the air, not on the ground. If we can save one minute off every turn system-wide, that's like putting five additional planes in the air. If a single plane generates annual revenue of $25 million, there's $125 million in profit potential from those time savings." Rollin King and Herb Kelleher started Southwest Airlines in 1971 with this idea: If they could take airline passengers where they want to go, on time, at the lowest possible price, and have a good time while doing it, people would love to fly their airline. The result? No other airline in the industry's history has enjoyed the customer loyalty and extended profitability for which Southwest is now famous. There's more to the story, however, than making promises and hoping to fulfill them. A large part of Southwest Airlines's success lies in its ability to plan long-term capacity to better match demand and also improving the utilization of its fleet by turning around an aircraft at the gate faster than its competitors. Capacity at Southwest is measured in seat-miles, and even a single minute reduction in aircraft turnaround time system wide means additional seat-miles being added to the available capacity of Southwest Airlines. As soon as an aircraft calls "in range" at one of Southwest's airport locations, called a station, the local operations manager notifies the ground operations team so that they can start mobilizing all the parties involved in servicing the aircraft in preparation for its next departure. The grounds opera- tions team consists of a baggage transfer driver who has responsibility for getting connecting flight bags to their proper planes, a local baggage driver who moves bags to baggage claim for passenger pickup, a lavatory truck driver who handles restroom receptacle drainage, a lead gate agent to handle Baggage transfer starts less than 40 seconds after engine shutdown at Southwest Airlines. Pearson Education baggage carts and track incoming and outgoing bag counts, and a bin agent to manage baggage and cargo inside the plane. The ground operations team knows it must turn the plane around in 25 minutes or less. The clock starts when the pilot sets the wheel brakes. Inbound and outbound flights are coordinated by the supervisors between all of Southwest's airport stations through the company's Operations Terminal Information System (OTS). Each local supervisor is able to keep track of their flights and manage any delays or problems that may have crept into the system by keeping in touch with headquarters in Dallas for systemwide issues that may impact a local station, along with using the OTIS Information coming from stations sending flights their way. Just what, exactly, does it take to turn around an aircraft? In-bound flight 3155 from Phoenix to Dallas' Love Field is a good example. In Phoe- nix, the operations coordinators and ground operations team push back the plane as scheduled at 9:50 A.M. The flight is scheduled to arrive at 3:35 P.M. in Dallas. The Phoenix team enters into OTIS the information the ground operations team will need in Dallas, such as wheelchairs, gate-checked baggage, cargo bin locator data, and other data needed to close out the flight on their end. This action lets the Dallas station know what to expect when the plane lands. In Dallas, the local ground operations coordinators have been monitor- ing all 110 Inbound flights and now see Phoenix flight 3155 in the system, scheduled for an on-time arrival. When the pilot calls "in range" as it nears Dallas, the ground crew prepares for action. As the plane is guided to its "stop mark" at the gate, the lead agent waits for the captain's signal that the engines have been turned off and brakes set. Within just 10 seconds, the provisioning truck pulls up to open the back door for restocking supplies such as drinks and snacks. The waiting fuel truck extends its hose to the underwing connection and in less than 2 minutes picks up refueling instructions and starts to load fuel. As soon as the aircraft is in position, the operations team steers the jetway into position and locks it against the aircraft. The door is opened, the in-flight crew is greeted, and passengers start to deplane. Outside, less than 40 seconds after engine shutdown, baggage is rolling off the plane and gets placed onto the first cart. Any transfer bags get sent to their next destination, and gate-checked bags are delivered to the top of the jetway stairs for passenger pickup. While passengers make their way out of the plane, the in-flight crew helps clean up and prepare the cabin for the next flight. If all goes well, the last passenger will leave the plane after only 8 minutes. By this time, pas- sengers waiting to board have already lined up in their designated positions for boarding. The gate agent confirms that the plane is ready for passenger boarding and calls for the first group to turn in their boarding passes and file down the jetway. At the completion of boarding, the operations agent checks the fuel Invoice, cargo bin loading schedule with actual bag counts in their bins from the baggage agents, and a lavatory service record confirming that cleaning has taken place. Final paperwork is given to the captain. The door to the aircraft is closed, and the jetway is retracted. Thirty seconds later, the plane is pushed back and the operations agent gives a traditional salute to the captain to send the flight on its way. Total elapsed time: less than 25 minutes. Managing Southwest's capacity has been somewhat simplified by stra- tegic decisions made early on in the company's life. First, the company's fleet of aircraft is all Boeing 737s. This single decision impacts all areas of operations-from crew training to aircraft maintenance. The single-plane configuration also provides Southwest with crew scheduling flexibility. Since pilots and flight crews can be deployed across the entire fleet, there are no constraints with regard to training and certification pegged to specific aircraft types. The way Southwest has streamlined its operations for tight turnarounds means it must maintain a high capacity cushion to accommodate variability in its daily operations. Anything from weather delays to unexpected maintenance issues at the gate can slow down the flow of operations to a crawl. To handle these unplanned but anticipated challenges, Southwest builds into its sched- ules enough cushion to manage these delays yet not so much that employees and planes are idle. Additionally, the company encourages discussion to keep on top of what's working and where improvements can be made. If a problem is noted at a downstream station, say bags were not properly loaded, this information quickly travels back up to the originating station for correction so that it does not happen again. Even with the tightly managed operations Southwest Airlines enjoys, com- pany executives know that continued improvement is necessary if the company is to remain profitable into the future. Company executives know when they have achieved their goals when internal and external metrics are reached. For example, the Department of Transportation (DOT) tracks on-time departures, customer complaints, and mishandled baggage for all airlines. The company sets targets for achievement on these dimensions and lets employees know on a monthly basis how the company is doing against those metrics and the rest of the industry. Regular communication with all employees is delivered via meetings, posters, and newsletters. Rewards such as prizes and profit sharing are given for successful achievement. As for the future, Bob Jordan, Southwest's executive vice president for strategy and planning, puts it this way: "We make money when our planes are in the air, not on the ground. If we can save one minute off every turn system-wide, that's like putting five additional planes in the air. If a single plane generates annual revenue of $25 million, there's $125 million in profit potential from those time savings."
Expert Answer:
Posted Date:
Students also viewed these general management questions
-
ANSWER ALL QUESTIONS M&M Micro Processors Ltd is in process of purchasing high - tech Equipment for its production of microchips for the electronic industry. In its search, it has gathered the...
-
Define each of the following terms. (a) Point estimate (b) Confidence interval (c) Level of confidence (d) Margin of error Question 1, 9.1.1 HW Score: 0%, 0 o Points: 0 of 1 on list stion A stion 2...
-
One published reference stated that Fly Species A will take 10-12 days from egg to emergence of adult fly at a constant 30C. Based on this information, the ADH value for T = 30C if time was 10 days...
-
Alleghany Community College operates four departments. The square footage used by each department is shown below. Alleghany's annual building rental cost is $320,000 What amount of rent expense that...
-
Under what conditions is the confidence interval [ z/2 (/n)] for valid?
-
Earlier in this chapter, you learned that most work in today's workplace is now being done by teams of employees. In your opinion, does the intensive use of self-managed teams make it easier or more...
-
How is the interest rate on a note stated?
-
Randy Duck out has been asked to develop an estimate of the per-unit selling price (the price that each unit will be sold for) of a new line of hand-crafted booklets that offer excuses for missed...
-
Come up with two very difficult questions that are doable for a calculus AB student, but require critical thinking. It can go beyond the difficulty of a AP FRQ. Please show work on paper (my brain...
-
MJB Ltd. sold $6,580,000 of 10% bonds, which were dated March 1, 2023, on June 1, 2023. The bonds paid interest on September 1 and March 1 of each year. The bonds' maturity date was March 1, 2033,...
-
Demographics of Toronto ontario Canada (brief description of the city i.e. location, population size of police force, any interesting factors that may contribute to youth crime etc.). What is the...
-
Part 1 Kristen, 25 years old, started her first job out of training in the operating room (OR) at a local hospital. During the routine screenings for hire, it was discovered that Kristen was...
-
What role does phase equilibrium play in the design and optimization of liquid-liquid extraction processes, and how can mathematical modeling be used to predict extraction efficiency ?
-
explain the significance of partition coefficients in determining the distribution of solutes between immiscible phases, and how does this concept guide the choice of solvents in extraction processes...
-
Let f(x) f'(x) 1 10 (2x + 5x+7) 0
-
Email back to the client, by addressing the critical elements listed below. Identify what additional documents the clients need to provide in order for you to do their taxes. Identify applicable...
-
Consider a closed, rigid tank with a volume of 0.8L, filled with cold water initially at 27C. The tank is filled such that there are no voids (air pockets) within. The initial pressure within the...
-
The primary purpose for using an inventory cost flow assumption is to: a. Parallel the physical flow of units of merchandise. b. Offset against revenue an appropriate cost of goods sold. c. Minimize...
-
Ace Auto Supply uses a perpetual inventory system. On March 10, the company sells two Shelby four-barrel carburetors. Immediately prior to this sale, the perpetual inventory records indicate three of...
-
T-Shirt City uses a periodic inventory system. During the first year of operations, the company made four purchases of a particular product. Each purchase was for 500 units and the prices paid were...
Study smarter with the SolutionInn App