Southwest Airlines: Analysis

Southwest Airlines
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Southwest Airlines
Southwest Airlines is one of the biggest airlines in the U.S. The airline has been serving the American people since its inception in 1967. The headquarter of the airline is in Dallas, Texas, and the current CEO is known as Gary C. Kelly. Globally, Southwest Airlines is considered the largest low-cost carrier, and even though its international plans are limited, the airline does appear ready to take over the world. However, despite the company’s success, there have been several problems or issues that have been associated with the airline. While these issues have not been enough to taint the airline’s reputation and ruin business, they do need immediate attention, or else Southwest Airlines may find itself losing ground to its competitors.
One major issue that Southwest Airlines has been struggling with, albeit away from the eye of the public, involves maintenance. Apparently, the company has had numerous maintenance problems, many of which have been kept away from the public. However, the few that have made it to the public happen to cost the airline millions of dollars (Josephs, 2019). Josephs’ article indicates that the airline has had hundreds of flights canceled because of maintenance issues. The implication of the above is that the airline continues to increase its losses. The FAA or the Federal Aviation Administration has been faulted for being too lenient with the airline. Pasztor and Sider (2020) report that the FAA has been faulted for conducting what they call ‘ineffective oversight’ on Southwest Airlines. This means that millions of passengers have had to travel in planes that are not in the best state.
Another problem that Southwest Airlines has been reported to have is the litigation issue. While it is not news for a company like Southwest Airlines to have lawsuits brought against it, it is worrying when the lawsuits are speaking to an existing problem. Apparently, Southwest Airlines had a lawsuit brought against it because of its maintenance problems. According to Escobedo (2020), the lawsuit claimed that because of its maintenance problems, shareholders of the air...