Southwest Airlines 2001 Annual Report Download - page 6

Although enhanced security measures have not diminished our aircraft productivity or ontime performance, they have
resulted in longer checkin lines, at times, for our Customers. We understand how important convenience is to all of our Customers
and we have been working tirelessly to reduce wait times. We have made significant facility changes (where possible); have added
new screening devices; and are hiring Employees to help our Customers with the new security procedures. As a result, we have
been able to streamline Customer processing and have already seen a reduction in Customer lines. Although this remains a
challenge, we are committed to meeting the challenge as we continue to explore new methods and technology that will,
hopefully, continue this positive trend. We will also work diligently with the federal government as it begins assuming
responsibility for airport security on February 17, 2002.
Although this change will undoubtedly present new challenges, Southwest has demonstrated that our Employees are adaptable
to change and our business strategy is flexible under difficult operating conditions. Following September 11, our Employees
quickly restored operations, operating our normal full schedule of approximately 2,800 daily flights with exceptional ontime
performance and reliability. For the year 2001, Southwest had the best Ontime Performance and Highest Customer Satisfaction
record of all major airlines, based on statistics published in Department of Transportation consumer reports.
Our business strategy has served us well during what has been the most difficult period in airline history. And while we are
proud of our progress since September 11, we will continue to work hard to improve Customer convenience and maintain our low
costs so that we can continue to bring the Freedom to Fly to America for many generations to come.
MOVING AHEAD.
As we, along with our nation, continue to recover from September 11, we are prepared to move ahead. We took a number of
significant steps immediately following the terrorist attacks to stabilize cash and protect our strong financial position. As a result
of the extraordinary efforts of our Employees, we quickly restored operations with exceptional ontime performance and
reliability. Although demand for air travel dramatically declined following the terrorist attacks, we chose not to reduce our total
flights or postpone our new Norfolk, Virginia, service. This decision protected our 30-year history of complete job security for our
Employees and now places Southwest in a competitively strong position as we move ahead. To preserve cash following the
terrorist attacks, we temporarily deferred placing new aircraft deliveries into service, and with The Boeing Company’s greatly
appreciated cooperation, we arranged for a preferred new aircraft delivery schedule (as set forth in the accompanying table).
Although we are still in a recovery mode, we believe our overall performance has been strong enough to begin cautiously
resuming our growth plans. In February, we will add flights between the following cities, utilizing two previously deferred aircraft
deliveries: Baltimore/Washington to Manchester, Orlando, and Ft. Lauderdale; and Long Island/Islip to Orlando and Ft. Lauderdale.
In addition, we accelerated delivery of four more previously deferred aircraft into March and April to initiate our first nonstop
flights between Chicago’s Midway Airport and both Seattle and Oakland. We will also add an additional flight between Chicago
Midway and Phoenix in March.
SOUTHWEST AIRLINES CO. 2001 ANNUAL REPORT
6
11:20
11:15
11:10
11:05
11:00
Aircraft Utilization
(hours and minutes per day)
1997 1998 1999 2000 2001
11:12
11:09
11:10
11:18
11:10
400
300
200
100
Fleet Size
(at yearend)
1997 1998 1999 2000 2001
261 280 312
344 355
Firm Orders 1 1 21 23 24 22 25 6
13––
–––––
–
–
20 20 9 25
2020 177
177
217
436
132
87
11 21 36 44 42 54 51
Options
Purchase Rights
Type Tota l
Tota l
2009-20122002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008
Boeing 737-700 Firm Orders and Options