Despite the heavy turbulent events for most airlines in the past few decades, Southwest airlines has been able to not only stay but flourish in the US market because it has thrived in the management of its people. As an airline that is found in most major cities in the US, it is not the only airline, which offers flying services at low cost, but very few can match its services. Southwest is an airline that started in the early 1970s and had a steady growth since then. It certainly is a successful airline because if it not, it would have collapsed a long time ago.
Southwest manages its human resources very well. The people include the cabin crew, the people in charge of customer service, and many others. For an airline to be successful, one must ensure its people are comfortable, and the working conditions are good. It involves ensuring that they have frequent meetings where the employees openly express their complaints and suggestions. It also involves giving them motivation awards, money, and tours so that it can enhance the teamwork. The airline must also ensure that they pay them on time and avoid delays in implementing changes that address their complaints. They should also promote the people as they keep doing a good job. Southwest is one of the rarest companies because it gives its employees valentine cards and birthday cards for their employees (Starkman, 1995, n.p). Such gestures will help in cementing the relationship between the employer and employees, and can result in excellent services to customers.
The airline had also introduced hot pants, worn by the crew. In my point of view, this was not a right move. Although its aim was a marketing strategy, it does not take into account that each member of the crew is comfortable with the attire. Southwest airlines claim that they were an airline of love (LUV airline), should not give them the freedom to dress their staff in hot pants. They could show that they are a love airline in other ways, for example, by the simple hearts embedded in their uniforms (Starkman, 1995, n.p). This type of dressing would attract a certain group of people who are the young men. The older generation may not feel as comfortable having to fly in a plane full of a cabin crew where all the cabin crew women are in hot pants. The marketing department of the airline had made the wrong advertisement move. They could have chosen a decent outfit that showed the cabin crew staff as beautiful and dignified. One can be decent and still look good and be able to attract many customers because of the services they offer.
The airline has a strategy by which they attract customers. They have reduced their fares. Many people opt to travel with an airline that is affordable at all times and the services are still good. The strategy leads to attraction of many customers. The fares are simple and not too low, as people would start questioning why they are too cheap. As you know, people say anything that seems too cheap in the end it is still expensive. They keep their fairs at a reasonable price. The airline also ensures that they make frequent flights. It is a case where if I want to travel to another state, I do not have to stay waiting for very long to complete my travel. In case of an emergency, the customer will definitely be late. The company ensures the frequent flights serve the customers conveniently and they do not have to take late flights or be late for meetings in their destinations due to flight delays. The company also takes advantage and makes flights to areas that are underutilized. It is because many airlines will opt to make flights to areas where they are assured of continuous flow of customers. Southwest airline tries to beat the odds and create flights to areas where the other airlines are in fear of venturing. This increases its customer interest because they see that the company is also considering the less frequently visited areas. They also see that they have come to provide flight opportunities for most people who would want to travel, but the means available are not favorable.
The company can raise its customer base by changing the brand name. It can be the case whenever the number of customers has reduced significantly. They can change the brand name, and this may attract customers, as they want to know what has changed in the airline company. Some of the customers who had left will come back to see an improvement in the company’s services in flight attendance or in customer service. A change in the brand name brings in another perspective of the company. A company can also use advertising as a strategy in which they will attract more customers to fly with them. Through advertisement, people who are not aware of the airline will know about it, and they will come to try their services. Advertisement can be of many forms. Radio, TV, Internet advertisements, and giving of pamphlets to the customers as they go home will get more people to know about the airlines. It is a way of marketing used by many companies to get more customers and more profits. If the types of services offered are good, the new customers will be there to stay and this will raise the company’s income and profits significantly. The company can afford to give pay raises to their employees every year that is a motivation to work hard for them.
The type of training given to the employees also matters a lot. The company is supposed to make sure that they have a strategic way of working and giving services to their customers. The services must be similar in that when one is served by one customer there should not be a notable difference in the type of service they give. It must be similar and of high quality. New employees must be inducted well into the company culture so that they can learn to work as competently as the rest of the people in the company. The Southwest Airlines has also come up with a strategy in which they help the customers who are in need. The types of help they offer to customers include taking care of the customer’s dog until he comes back. It is one of the rare services offered by a company, but it ensures the customers also come back. Such a customer will not go to another airline because these people helped so much at a time when the customer was caught up with problems.
An airline company is said to grow when its profits are always increasing over the years. It is also seen to grow when they buy other airline companies and make them their own. It shows that the company family is growing. The southwest airlines leader has fears of the rapidly growing population of employees. It shows that the company is growing significantly. The only way to ensure that they are in check is that they should ensure the relationship between the employees is good and that they are all ready to work together. An airline company should ensure that they are making advancement within the area. It explains that the company should not remain the same way it was 20 years ago. Upgrading of machines and the outward look of the airline should also be considered. Many customers would also want to experience the growth of the company and not coming to find the same old facilities there. There should be noticeable new equipment, and the machinery should be up to date.
Finally, the company should involve its customers’ opinions when they want to make major decisions. It involves conducting interviews and getting their opinions on different topics and situations. Through this, the customers will also feel involved in the company’s business, and this is a strategy to keep their customers. It helps the customers feel more appreciated by the company and feel that the changes being made in the company are for their betterment.
Southwest airlines have improved in the past few years, and they do not seem to have stopped working hard to face up with the competition. Competition is healthy, and it keeps the company on its toes to provide the right services to the people at the right time. For a company to be the preferable by people, it must make sure that it is outdoing all the other competitors in their service provision.
Work cited
Edward J. Starkman, Airline Analyst, PaineWebber, 1995
