Technology in the Sky Iris Palacios southwest.com

Its Beginning Southwest Airlines began in 1971and has now turned into a multi million dollar business becoming a member of the FORTUNE 500 and an Employer of Choice flying throughout 57 cities in 29 states.

Establishing a Trend Southwest was the first airline to establish a home page on the Internet southwest.com

Developing Success with the Aid of Technology Initially, five employees comprised Southwest's web site development team The site took about nine months to create Today there are more than 45 fulltime employees on the airline's marketing automation team, with about half of them working on the software development team

Attracting the Consumer More than 2.7 million people subscribe to Southwest's weekly Click 'N Save s Click 'N Save provides notification of weekly specials found only on the web Double credit promotion lets you fly free after just 4 roundtrips by simply purchasing your travel at southwest.com

The Economic Impact Southwest reported that approximately 30 percent, or $1.7 billion, of its passenger revenue for 2000 was generated by online bookings via southwest.com

The Savings Southwest's cost per booking via the Internet is about $1, and the cost per booking via a travel agent is about $10. The cost per booking to Southwest via the airline's reservations agents lies somewhere in between.

Who Benefits from the Savings Stakeholders –Increase number of consumers = higher yields in returns Consumers –Lower prices = greater accessibility for trips Employees –Job security due to increase profit generation –Possibility of creation of new jobs due to growth

What Happens after our Nation’s Tragedy While most airlines decide to do away with Internet-only fare offers, Southwest Airlines says role of web site remains critical during National Crisis