Case Study: Southwest Airlines Competitive Advantages
For most of the last fifteen years, the U.S. airline industry has been one of the least attractive to be in. Following the 1978 deregulation of the industry, twenty-nine new airlines entered the industry between 1978 and 1993- This rapid increase in air line carrying capacity led to a situation of overcapacity. As more and more airlines chased passengers, fares were driven down to levels barely sufficient to maintain the prof itability of U.S. airlines. Indeed, twice since 1978 the indus try has been engulfed in an intense price war–first in the1981-1983 period and then again in the 1990-1993 period. So intense did the com petition become during these two periods that in 1982 the whole industry lost $700 million, while in the 1990-1992 period the industry lost a staggering $7.1 billion, more than had been made during the previous fifty-year history of the industry. Despite the obviously hostile nature Continue reading