Southwest Airlines Professor William Wan Market Capitalization 2002 Current Market Cap Southwest vs Combined 2002 Net Operating Income millions of dollars American America West Continental Delta Northwest Southwest Transworld United USAir 1990 103 32 191 176 57 82 134 34 437 1991 40 79 218 115 132 62 233 412 233 1992 251 64 183 225 17 182 191 354 397 1993 357 121 56 335 203 281 63 184 143 1994 432 146 145 123 268 290 81 262 466 1995 989 114 120 340 725 393 139 735 75 1996 1316 69 472 571 1134 350 199 1130 369 1997 1447 163 646 1621 1108 524 29 1226 586 1998 1748 198 621 1793 1203 684 65 1435 990 1999 1003 197 449 1261 769 782 343 1358 202 2000 1243 13 589 1459 664 1021 233 741 44 2001 2558 320 323 1383 395 631 503 3743 1181 Other Accolades examples Airlines Triple Crown Awards Fortune Magazine Best Employer Between 72 and 92 stock price rose a compounded 21 000 Rarely lost money in any single quarter Never experienced major labor strike 1980 6 days mechanic strike The last two items may not sound very impressive but considering what history of the airline industry what SW has achieved is nothing short of remarkable Southwest Airlines Value Chain HR Management SW Selection training bonus stock option no layoff legend union smaller crew Industry union confrontational R D SW ticketless no computerized reservation system online industry ticket agent computerized reservation system Procurement SW all 737 no meal secondary airport young fleet Industry full service primary airport SW low cost reservation no meal few fare options Industry high cost ticket office agent Inbound Logistics SW high efficiency no meals no seating assignment Industry full service SW point to point fast turnaround short haul Industry hub spoke long short haul Operations Outbound Logistics SW fun compete with SW rapid driving etc reward Industry business Industry mileage Marketing Service