The management of Southwest Airlines is mainly reflected in the following aspects: First, improving the working hours of employees. Except for a few short-haul charter flights, Southwest Airlines currently has 377 passenger planes, all of which are Boeing 737 short-haul passenger planes, which provides convenience for pilots to pick up planes at any time. Many pilots and flight attendants often fly upside down for a long time. According to American government regulations, pilots should not fly more than 65,438+000 hours per month. The pilots of United Airlines who filed for bankruptcy only fly 36 hours a month on average, while the pilots of American companies only fly 38 hours a month. Southwest Airlines pilots fly 62 hours a month, twice as long as United Airlines and American Airlines pilots.
The second is to do everything possible to reduce costs. Southwest Airlines is one of the meanest companies in America. Only some soft drinks and peanuts are provided on the plane, and no laborious dining service is provided. Of course, Southwest Airlines has no long-distance flights that need meals, let alone international flights. Even the boarding pass is made of plastic, so put it away for next time. The result of "saving money" is that the ticket price of Southwest Company can compete with the price of long-distance bus.
Third, the company's flights are more convenient and fast. Southwest Airlines has the wrong seat, so you don't need to get on the plane to find a seat. There is no difference between business class and economy class. Find an empty seat when you go up, so that you can board the plane and take off soon. It not only saves passengers' time, but also saves the cost of staying at the airport. The time to get off the plane and wait for luggage is also shorter than that of other companies. In addition, the flights of Southwest Company are all point-to-point flights and never stop over, so they are always faster than other companies.
Fourth, strive to improve equipment utilization. Southwest Airlines' planes are the busiest among the major American airlines. Its passenger planes take off 7.2 times a day on average, and each plane spends about 12 hours in the air every day, making it the longest aircraft in the American aviation industry.
Through these seemingly unremarkable measures, Southwest Airlines has accumulated a small victory into a big victory. In the past two years, it has made an average profit of $2.96 from each passenger transported. In the five quarters after the "911"incident, Southwest Company flew 1 182484 sorties except charter flights. The average number of passengers per flight increased by 2.3. The cost per seat mile of Southwest Airlines is only 6.3 cents, ranking ninth among 10 companies in operating costs. The top three are American Airlines, United Airlines and American Airlines, which are 1 1 cent, 10.4 cent and 9.2 cents respectively.
Many practices of Southwest Airlines have been regarded as "irregular" by many airlines before, and have long been disdained or even ridiculed by other airlines. However, Fortune magazine, which has an authoritative position in evaluating the operation of enterprises, gave Southwest Airlines a very high evaluation and was rated as the most admired airline in the United States for seven consecutive years.