Southwest Airlines 1998 Annual Report Download - page 18

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18
SOUTHWEST AIRLINES CO. ¤ SIX STORIES OF FREEDOM
“We give our People the freedom to consider
destinations in all regions of our country. We now fly
from the Pacific Ocean to the Atlantic Ocean, and from the
Canadian border to the border of Mexico.”
— Joyce C. Rogge, Vice President — Marketing
Our route system has grown at an annualized rate of approximately 14 percent over
the last decade. In 1988, we served 29 airports with 850 daily flights and earned a
profit of $58 million. Since then, we have added 24 new destinations and 1,520 more
daily flights and increased our profits 650 percent to $433.4 million in 1998.
From our beginnings as an intra-Texas airline in the 1970s, we expanded our point-
to-point network in the 1980s into neighboring states with the advent of deregulation. In
the 1980s, we were also earnestly developing our western region, primarily Phoenix,
Las Vegas, and California. In late 1991, we were able to significantly expand our
Chicago operation and ultimately added destinations such as Cleveland, Columbus,
and Louisville, along with Baltimore on the east coast. On December 31, 1993, we
further expanded our network by acquiring Morris Air in Salt Lake City and adding
destinations in the northwest, such as Seattle and Portland. In 1996, we landed in
Florida and the northeast (Providence, Rhode Island). And this year, we continued our
northeast expansion with the addition of Manchester, New Hampshire.
We’re the largest carrier at most of the airports we serve. For example, our top ten
cities’ daily departures are currently: Phoenix, 169; Houston Hobby, 146; Las Vegas,
141; Dallas, 139; Los Angeles, 118; Oakland, 112; Chicago, 102; St. Louis, 88; San
Diego, 76; and Baltimore, 74. Our heartland region (Texas and surrounding states)
constitutes about 16 percent of our capacity. Our western region has grown to be our
largest, at 49 percent of our system. The midwest is about 16 percent, while the east,
our newest and fastest growing region, has grown to about 19 percent of our total
capacity.