I will be providing evidence as to whether Southwest airlines focus on customer service is producing good
results.
SWA’s one report 2015;due to SWA providing constant excellent customer service since Dec 31 st 2015 they
have operate over 3900 flights day and they also serve 97 destinations across the US. Also they had a market
share of 24% of total domestic market share in 2015 which is nearly a quarter. SWA has won awards due to
their excellent customer service such as 18 th in Forbes magazine for having the best employees, 7 th worlds
most admired in fortune magazine which is customers liking them due to how they treat their customers,
favourite airline, best low cost carrier which they have won in 3 consecutive years and 21 st out of 100 for best
corporate citizens. In 2015 SWA had a net income of $2.2 billion, operating income of $4.1 billion, 32.7 per
cent on their ROIC, profit sharing of $620 million, free cash flow of $1.1 billion and return of $1.4 billion to
shareholders ,this is due to their satisfaction of customers. In relation to SWA’s revenue; they had passenger
revenue of $18.3billion which increased from 2014s $17.7 billion, which shows passengers are pleased, with
SWA’s service and how well SWA solve customer problems and communicate with customers. Operating
revenue was $19.8 billion. SWA’s rapid rewards program contributed to their revenue performance; they
have doubled their members, credit card holders and the revenue. SWA is the largest airline in the United
States and 24 per cent of the domestic market share which means they serve flights in the US the most out of
the other carriers; there are other airlines customers can take flights however they take flights with SWA
because SWA put their customers first. In terms of customer satisfaction SWA had a score of 78/100 which
shows SWA putting customer service first is being noticed by their customers. More than 6 million of SWA’s
customers per month checked in for their flight using their mobile (Southwest Airline, 2015).
SWA have more than 20 million people who have subscribed to their click n save emails which they send to
customers containing deals and promotions etc. In 2015 85 per cent of their customers checked in online for
their flight. Southwest was top site for customer experience out of other airlines and online travel agencies.
SWA have never made a loss and they have made profit for 43 consecutive years which has never been done
and they are still unmatched. Their flight completion was 98.9% in 2015 which shows they have provided
many flights. SWA received lowest complaints per passengers boarded of all popular U.S airlines. Southwest
employees volunteered over 130,000 hours to non-profit organisations which shows SWA’s attitude towards
their customers and employees has shown a good impression to their employees which could be the reason
they volunteered because they have a good example from SWA.SWA was rated as the 7 th most admired
company, chosen as travellers favourite airline, top 100 company, Top and best airline , Airline of the year and
Top 20 best employers by Forbes; SWA make sure their customers have a good experience every time such as
having low prices, well trained friendly employees, rapid rewards, app which makes travelling easier , click n
save for good deals and customer can sit anywhere on board. They were recognized as one of Americas
greenest company in 2015 which shows they care for the environment which their customers and employees
live in (SwaMedia,2017).
SWA boards over 100 million people a year. SWA has made a change and is now using social media to engage
with their customers such as to resolve customer issues. They also get the opportunity to share their brand.
They also use social media to celebrate with customers aside from the customers using their service. SWA
believe social media will help them to satisfy customers (Hickins,2015).Out of 6 airlines which are popular
and use Facebook; southwest airlines is the most popular airline , they have the most fans, fans post the
most to them and they engage with their fans the most on Facebook. Out of the same 6 airlines southwest
airlines is the second most popular on twitter; they have a high amount of followers however they do not
tweet as much as the most popular airline which could be the reason they are the second most popular
airline on twitter also their followers growth is 0.78% which shows they are still gaining
followers(tnooz,2013).SWA personalise the experience of the customer which is what they will be doing for
individual customers; they email deals to customers which they can access on their mobile, deals from
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