Ryan McHugh
Marketing Plan
Southwest Airlines Green Initiatives

Executive Summary Southwest Airlines was formed in 1971 as a small airline in texas offering services between Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio. Its goal at the time was to provide to customers an airline that got passengers to their destinations on time, for a low price, while making it an enjoyable experience overall. By taking these simple goals and making them a reality for customers, Southwest has been able to expand into a well know and recognized domestic airline. Today the company is able to fly over 100 million passengers a year to 66 cities across the U.S. offering over 3,000 flights daily. Southwest is focused on serving its customers with respect and satisfying customer needs to the best of their ability while maintaining the highest quality service and lowest prices. The company has been able to take advantage of the gaps within the domestic travel market where competitor airlines have failed. These gap exists in low cost service, onboard amenities, excellence in customer service, and the realization of a need for more environmentally friendly airline services. Research and projections indicate that the use of the current business plan coupled with the introduction of Green Initiatives will be sufficient in maintaining the current success and increasing future revenues for the initiatives. In 2007, Southwest began reporting on their current and future environmental initiatives. They have stated "Environmental Stewardship is a responsibility Southwest takes seriously, and efficient operations are the hallmark of our Company and the foundation of our environmental commitment." To Southwest, this means being committed to effectively using resources in order to minimize waste and better protect the Earth. In the future Southwest will continue to report on their environmentally