Book dossier

The Southwest Airlines Way

by Jody Hoffer Gittell

In an industry that regularly loses billions of dollars, Southwest Airlines has an unbroken string of 31 consecutive years of profitability. How do they do it? In The Southwest Airlines Way, you’ll learn the key to Southwest’s success—high performance relationships based on shared goals, shared knowledge, and mutual respect among all levels of management, employees, and suppliers.This in-depth profile, based on eight years of field research on the airline industry, reveals 10 practices that Southwest Airlines uses to build high performance relationships, and how they can be implemented in any organization—with dramatic results. You’ll learn how to implement Southwest-style management practices while learning from the successes and failures of American, United, Continental, and other airlines as they have struggled to adopt Southwest’s practices.Why is Southwest Airlines valued higher than all other major U.S. passenger air carriers combined?How, in the wake of September 11, could Southwest keep all of its employees working and continue its unblemished record of growth and profitability as other airlines laid off thousands, begged Congress for money, and filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection?Can the now-legendary “Southwest effect” be applied successfully in other industries?In The Southwest Airlines Way, you’ll find the answers to these questions and more.