Southwest Airlines: How one Airline Positions.
How does Southwest position itself as a "different" kind of Airline? How does not assigning seats contribute to the Southwest difference?.
Southwest Airlines positions itself as a different kind of airline in many ways. Southwest distinguishes them as customer based operation. They indicate they are in the customer service business and just "happen" to provide airline transportation. Southwest ahs built their customer service commitment into their official Contract of Carriage. Southwest has contributed more to this industry's advancement than its competitors, by instituting ticketless travel, same day freight delivery, and offering a frequent flyer program based on number of trips and not number of miles. These revolutionary contributions set Southwest apart. Southwest only uses Boeing model 737 planes in their fleet making their mechanics and engineers more specialized to this particular aircraft. This gives the customer confidence that these Southwest employees are insuring safe travel 100 percent of the time.
Southwest has also sacrificed number of seats, thus extra revenue, in exchange for more passenger comfort and space, and more room for carry-on luggage. In addition, Southwest has also committed to refurbishing their entire fleet to having a tan leather interior, canyon-blue exterior and lush blue carpet, all contributing to calming and comfortable travel. Lastly, Southwest has committed since day one to the unassigned seating profile. The "first-come, first-served" unassigned seat philosophy appeals to the customers desire for timeliness and lower fare costs. Southwest's history has shown this approach has proved to offer a more timely experience and consistently lower fares, once again setting Southwest apart from its competitors. .
How has Southwest used the word "love" as a promotional too? What does the word "love" have to do with the history of the airline?.