Airline Profile: Southwest Airlines
The Facts:
| Founded | 1971 |
| Alliance | N/A |
| Focus Cities |
Chicago-Midway Baltimore-Washington Las Vegas Denver Phoenix-Sky Harbor Dallas Love-Field Houston Hobby Orlando Oakland Los Angeles Atlanta St. Louis San Diego Nashville Fort Lauderdale |
| Headquarters | Dallas, Texas |
| Frequent Flyer Program | Rapid Rewards |
| Skytrax Rating | N/A |
| Parent Company | N/A |
| Travel Classes |
Economy Class – Business Select (priority boarding, flexible ticket) – Anytime (flexible ticket) – Wanna Get Away |
| Fleet Count | Around 744 |
| Website | southwest.com |
| Fun Fact | Southwest Airlines only operates one type of aircraft: the Boeing 737. However, they do operate multiple types of 737s, including the Boeing 737-700, 737-800, and the Boeing 737 MAX 8. |
| Logo |  |
A Southwest Airlines Boeing 737-700 in the Old Livery at Denver International Airport
7 Reasons Why I Love Southwest:
Southwest Airlines is different from any other airline. In many, many ways. For example, seating on the airplanes is first come first serve. But the best thing about Southwest is that you know exactly what you are going to get on the flight. I have flown Southwest multiple times in my life. Read on to see why I like Southwest so much.
1. Boarding: Southwest has one of the most efficient boarding processes that are in use. Based on the fare you paid and how early you checked in, and whether you paid for early boarding, you get assigned a letter and a number. The letter (A, B, or C) represents when you get in line to board: first (A), second (B), or third (C). For those of you who don’t know: Southwest has stands/poles which have numbers on it which tell you where your number is, and where to stand. Passengers on one side of the pole have smaller numbers, and on the other side have higher numbers. When boarding is called, the Group A passengers line up according to their number next to the stands and then board. When A passengers on one lower numbered side of the pole are boarded, the group B passengers line up there. This happens so on and so on until the last passengers of group C are boarding. I love this boarding process because it is highly structured, there are no extremely long lines, and passengers can stay at their seats until a reasonable time to line up.
2. Free Seating: Most of you probably know that there is free seating on Southwest Airlines. When you board, you can choose any seat on the entire aircraft, as long as it is not occupied. The people who board earlier (the people who are in the A group with the lowest numbers) get the best seats on the plane, while the highest numbered Group C passengers get the worst seats on the plane. So why do I love this? Because you can know exactly what seat you are choosing on the plane. If you pay a bit more money, you can know at a glance what the best seats are on the plane, and get them without looking at seat maps before the flight.
3. Entertainment: Every Southwest Airlines plane is equipped with personal device entertainment. This means that you bring your device on board, connect to wifi, and have access to free entertainment. In flight, there are many free live channels and free tv shows. However, if you would like more options, there are movies and access to the internet available for purchase. I love that there is always free entertainment on every flight, even on the shortest ones.
4. The Food: Although Southwest does not offer any real meals, they do provide on every flight mini bags of pretzels and crackers (longer flights only). Nothing spectacular about it, but it is the same on every trip. I love the consistency. I mean, flexibility (in a good way) is the one thing that makes Southwest special.
5. Transparent, Low Fares: Southwest offers some incredibly low fares, especially compared to the full-service carriers. For example, on a flight from Chicago to Los Angeles, on the same date, when most fares on Southwest are around $240, most tickets on a full-service carrier such as United are approximately $390. And what does that come with? Free entertainment, two free checked bags, a free carry on, free snacks, and a non-chaotic boarding process. Unlike Spirit or Frontier, Southwest has no hidden fees or extra charges. Just the base price. That is incredibly low. You cannot get any better than Southwest regarding low fares that have no hidden costs
6. Its Route Network: Southwest offers a vast route network for travelers who want to fly between any two places in the United States. You can travel between most cities within the United States with only one stop. Southwest focuses on being point to point, and getting travelers between cities as fast as possible, without long connection times or distant transfers. Yes, Southwest doesn’t fly to Canada or Europe, but they don’t need to because that is not their business model. They are great if you want to get to your destination within the USA or Central America as fast as you can without luxury but also while not having back pains at your destination because of ultra-thin seats (I’m thinking of Frontier right now). Just the sheer amount of routes within the US from Southwest astounds me.
Conclusion
While you won’t get Etihad’s Residence or even Delta’s domestic first class on Southwest, you will get a really low fare with no extra surcharges. When you fly Southwest, you know what you will get, and you don’t get anything ultra memorable: either memorably awful or memorably excellent. What you do get is constancy. In a good way.
Have you ever flown on Southwest Airlines? Share about your experience below!
