Complete 9 pages APA formatted article: Southwest Airlines Americas low-cost airlines.

Complete 9 pages APA formatted article: Southwest Airlines Americas low-cost airlines. Southwest has continuous plans of expansion and continued increase in the Available Seat Miles (ASM) or its capacity when most of the airlines have started reducing their ASM.

Southwest Airline’s business model is focused directly at only one area i.e. Low-cost flights for short distances. The main competitive edge that the company has is that it has designed its business model in a manner where the company’s main aim is to keep the price low to increase profitability rather than increase its market share. The company has analyzed the market well and it understands the specific market niche. This can be considered as the company’s biggest advantage over other competitors as the business model is well focused and the flight works on point to point rather than hub – and – spoke system. The company has also been the first to take up the initiative to start a website which is now the number one airline website in the industry and more than 69% of the passenger's check-in using the website (Henkle, et al, 2008). Also, the company is the pioneer in the ground keeping time of the aircraft and the company is the only one with the least amount of ground time for the flights – an average of the maximum of 20 minutes to maximize profits. Also the company believes in providing its personnel with all the critical information of the company and the decision - making rights to solve issues at a faster and more effective rate. All these apart from its well - built brand name and image over the years can be considered as the company’s main competitive edge in the market.

Currently the business stands well above the industry standards. It is the sixth-largest in terms of revenues. Southwest Airlines has created an image for it that has led the customer perspective of the company to be efficient and effective.