Southwest Airlines' Organizational Culture

Southwest's objective was to provide safe, reliable and short duration air service at the lowest possible fare. With an average aircraft trip of roughly 400 miles, or a little over an hour in duration, the company had benchmarked its costs against ground transportation. Southwest focused on short-haul flying, which was expensive because planes spent more time on the ground relative to the time spent in the air, thus reducing aircraft productivity. Thus it was necessary for Southwest to have quick turnarounds of aircraft to minimize the time its aircraft spend on the ground. Southwest limited the turn time for each plane to ten minutes or less. It has managed to limit airplanes' turn time to (about 20-25 minutes) over the years (Refer Table II.)...

Since its inception, Southwest attempted to promote a close-knit, supportive and enduring family-like culture The company initiated various measures to foster intimacy and informality among employees. Southwest encouraged its people to conduct business in a loving manner. Employees were expected to care about people and act in ways that affirmed their dignity and worth. Instead of decorating the wall of its headquarters with paintings, the company hung photographs of its employees taking part at company events, news clippings, letters, articles and advertisements.