Southwest Airlines

Southwest Airlines was founded in 1967 by Herb Kelleher and Rollin King as Air Southwest Co., conceived around the idea of providing low-fare, high-frequency air service within the state of Texas. The airline faced immediate legal challenges from established carriers Braniff International, Texas International, and Continental Airlines, who sought to prevent Southwest from operating. After years of litigation, Southwest finally took to the air on June 18, 1971 with service between Dallas Love Field, Houston, and San Antonio. The founding of Southwest is often celebrated as the birth of the modern low-cost carrier model.

Herb Kelleher, who became CEO in 1982, shaped Southwest into one of the most distinctive corporate cultures in business history — one built on humor, irreverence, and an obsessive focus on employee happiness and customer service. Southwest's "Love" branding (its stock ticker is LUV) and employee-first culture became the template studied by low-cost carriers worldwide, including Ryanair, easyJet, and AirAsia. Through the 1980s and 1990s, Southwest expanded aggressively beyond Texas, consistently turning a profit even as competitors suffered during industry downturns. Remarkably, Southwest remained profitable every year from 1973 through 2019 — an unbroken 47-year streak of annual profitability unmatched in US aviation history.

The airline expanded into near-international service to Mexico and the Caribbean following the 2011 acquisition of AirTran Airways. In 2022, Southwest faced operational challenges during a severe winter storm that led to thousands of cancellations, resulting in significant management and operational reforms.