y and loyalty. "Southwest Airlines has been named a charter member of the International Airline Passenger Association's Honor Roll of Airlines among the World's Safest Airlines" (Southwest Press Office, 1999). The company has achieved this status by employing the most highly skilled pilots in the world. Southwest has state-of-the-art training facilities across the United States. On April 6, 1998, Southwest opened its new ten million dollars flight operations training center. This facility is the key to Southwest's flight training for more than twenty-six hundred pilots. It is well equipped to handle the flight training needs of this airline, well into the twenty-first century. Pilots must spend at least one thousand hours training for Southwest during their careers. Their focus and commitment to safety is supported by this training, and has earned them distinction among their competitors.Rather than invest all revenues into exploring new markets, Herb Kelleher preferred an approach, which expanded the company only when enough resources could be committed to do so. As leader, his company would only reach new markets when enough flights would be able to fly into a city ten to twelve times a day. Kelleher's strategy was to establish as a major competitor in one location before disbursing his resources to a larger region. This philosophy of conservative growth has reduced losses due to rash investment choices. Southwest Airlines has consistently had fewest customer complaints in the airline industry. "Southwest has ranked number one in fewest customer complaints for the last eight consecutive years, as published in the Department of Transportation's Air Travel Consumer Report" (Southwest Fact Sheet, 1999). Several factors contribute to this high customer satisfaction. Southwest offers the lowest airline fares in the industry, due to cost containment factors previously discussed. Second, the company's baggage handling practic...
