Southwest Airlines 1994 Annual Report Download - page 13

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Spirit
Southwest Airlines – 1994 Annual Report Page 13
Spirit
A multitude of challenges faced the People of Southwest Airlines in 1994. The mark of a true champion is
the ability to “ rise to the occasion” and meet challenges. We believe our Employees showed their true
Southwest Spirit in 1994, accomplishing three- or four-fold what a normal year would bring.
First, Morris Air was acquired in December 1993. By October, an unprecedented seven new cities had
been converted from Morris to the Southwest route system. Morris’ Utah Reservation Center was
converted to Southwest in October. All 21 Morris aircraft have either been acquired by Southwest or
secured pursuant to long-term lease. By first quarter 1995, all Morris aircraft will have been reconfigured
to match the Southwest livery, and all operations will have been transferred to Southwest. Morris was
profitable as a separate entity each month it operated, well ahead of our expectations. By all accounts, it
was one of the smoothest and most successful mergers ever.
In May 1994, the computer reservations systems (CRSs) used by some travel agencies and owned by
United Airlines (Apollo) and Continental Airlines (System One) disabled their automated ticketing
function for Southwest travel. Rather than pay the fees demanded by these CRSs, we responded quickly
with our own travel agency solutions: direct access and ticketing for the 50 largest agencies (SWAT);
overnight delivery of Southwest-produced tickets for approximately 300 large travel agencies; improved
access to Ticket By Mail for direct Customers by reducing the time limit from seven days out from the
date of travel to three days; and Ticketless travel, which eliminates the need to print a paper ticket
altogether. We also committed to provide agencies with automated booking capabilities into our
reservations system in 1995. We recently defined and negotiated an agreement with SABRE to allow for
full CRS participation in a very cost-effective manner, which satisfies this commitment for agencies using
SABRE.
We successfully concluded a labor agreement with our Customer Service Employees, represented by the
IAM, and an unprecedented ten-year agreement with our Pilots, represented by SWAPA.
Intense marketing campaigns were mounted to counter industry fare sales and increased competition in
shorthaul markets. Despite heavy advertising costs to support seven new cities and these campaigns, our
overall cost per available seat mile actually declined in 1994 as our People posted record earnings.
Another Triple Crown was earned for Customer Service Excellence.
While this doesn’t cover all that our People accomplished in 1994, it gives you an idea of their strength,
unity, alacrity, and dedication. Thanks to our People and their tremendous Southwest Spirit, Southwest is
positioned strategically stronger than ever, while, at the same time, posting superior results.
Revenue Passengers Carried
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19,831
27,839
36,995 42,743
22,670
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