Southwest Airlines

Southwest Airlines Co. , operating as Southwest Airlines, is the largest low-cost carrier in the United States, and is headquartered in Dallas, Texas. The airline was established in 1967, adopting its current name in 1971. It is the largest airline in the United States based upon domestic passengers carried as of June 5, 2011#160;(2011 -06-05). Although it operated Boeing 727 aircraft for a short time during the 1970s and 1980s, between that time and 2012 the airline operated only Boeing 737 aircraft, and as of August 2012 is the largest operator of the Boeing 737 worldwide with over 572 of these aircraft in service, each operating an average of six flights per day. In May 2011, the airline acquired Orlando-based AirTran Airways, with full integration of the carriers expected to be complete by 2015. On March 1, 2012, the company was issued a single operating certificate meaning that from a technical standpoint, Southwest and AirTran became one airline. Southwest has more than 46,000 employees as of August 2012 and operates more than 3,400 flights per day. As of August 2012, Southwest Airlines operates scheduled service to 76 destinations in 39 states.