ABSTRACT
Southwest Airlines was founded in 1971 by Rollin King and Herb Kelleher. Their idea was to establish an airline company that flew between major Texas cities with low fares and no frills. The company started with only three Boeing 737 aircraft in 1971 and went public in 1975. The Airline Deregulation Act of 1978 allowed Southwest Airlines to enter markets outside the state of Texas. In the 1980s, Southwest’s annual passenger count tripled. At year-end 2001, Southwest was operating 355 Boeing 737 aircraft and providing services to fifty-nine airports in fifty-eight cities in thirty states throughout the United States.
