Southwest Airlines
Airline info
On-time performance and safety record
Founded by the legendary Herb Kelleher, Southwest Airlines was the first low-cost airlines in the world when it started operations back in 1971. His business model was so revolutionary in those times that after incorporating the company initially as “Air Southwest Co.” in 1967, Kelleher faced four years of setbacks and legal challenges from competitors that culminated in winning key cases before the Supreme Court of the United States in December 1970 and the Supreme Court of Texas in June 1971. The first flights finally took off on June 18, 1971. Today, SW is the world’s largest LCC and the N°1 airline in the US in terms of domestic passengers. It flies to 100+ destinations across the US, the Caribbean and Central America. In many instances, Southwest flies to smaller airports in major cities (such as Chicago Midway and Dallas Love Field) in an effort to reduce costs. Its 700+ aircraft fleet is made entirely by Boeing 737 (in an all-economy configuration), including the latest model, the MAX 8 (Photo Wikimedia Commons / Quintin Soloviev)
- - 5 STARS: Awarded to airlines achieving a very high, overall quality performance. It recognizes high standards of onboard product together with consistent and excellent standards of staff service across airport and cabin environments
- - 4 STARS: Awarded to airlines that deliver a good overall quality performance and provide good product standards across different travel cabins
- - 3 STARS: Awarded to airlines delivering a fair quality performance equating to the industry 'average' of acceptable product and service standards
- - 2 STARS: Shows airlines delivering a lower total quality performance, in some instances below the industry average across many rating categories
- - 1 STAR: Represents a poor quality of product delivered across the assessment sectors
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