Swot Analysis Southwest Airlines - 1305 Words

The safest way to travel in the United States is through U.S. commercial airplanes. There are only .06 deaths per billion miles, which is tremendously better than cars and motorcycles who’s are 5.67 and 217 per billion miles (CNN 2015). Southwest Airlines is one of the major airlines in the US and the one of the world s largest low-cost carrier. The airline was created by Herb Kelleher in 1967. Their headquarters are in Dallas, Texas. By using the PESTEL analysis, Value Chain Analysis, and the Return Of Sales (ROS), I will analyze Southwest. It will compare them to their competitors such as Jet Blue, Delta, and American Airlines. In using the PESTEL analysis, only half of the components are a deciding factor in the airline industry.†¦show more content†¦Lastly, the technological factor is a big factor for the airline industry. Technology is rapidly growing in every industry, which only benefits the airline industry because it helps lower fuel consumption, cost of airl ine operation and improve efficiency (Makos 2015). Competition thrives off having the technological advantage. The Value Chain Analysis identifies the primary activities and related support activities that creates customer value (McGraw 2015). Under the primary activities, cost is the supply chain management, operations, distributions, sales and marketing, and services. The main activities that Southwest Airline uses are operations, sales and marketing, and services. First, operations are activities, costs, and assets associated with converting inputs into the final product form (McGraw 2015). This was a big factor in Southwest’s solution to the increasing price of fuel. â€Å"Installing â€Å"blended winglets† on all of Southwest s planes began in 2007. In 2014, they started to upgrade its aircraft fleet with newly designed split-scimitar winglets. These winglets reduced lift drag, allowed aircraft to climb more steeply and reach higher flight levels quicker, improved cruising performance, helped extend engine life and reduce maintenance costs, and reduced fuel burn† (McGraw: Southwest Case 2015). Since installing the winglets, Southwest has been able to