Southwest Airlines founder Herb Kelleher
Friday, January 19th, 2007
Southwest Airlines is one of the greatest entrepreneurial success stories of all time. Prior to takeoff of their first commercial flight, they spent three and half years in legal battles defending their right to fly. Two battles went all the way to the United States Supreme Court which ultimately upheld Southwest?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s right to fly. The date of the Supreme Court decision, December 7, 1970, is considered by many to be the beginning of deregulation in the airline industry. Southwest has grown into the largest US airline in terms of passengers flown, and yet since 1987 they have maintained the fewest overall customer complaints of any domestic airline and the lowest operating cost structure in the industry. They have been profitable for 33 consecutive years, in an industry where no other company has been profitable for even five consecutive years. Over the past 10 years, shareholder returns have been more than double the S&P 500, and their market cap is larger than the combined market cap of the next three largest airlines — American, United and Delta. Nearly every US competitor has tried to emulate their pioneering business model. Fortune has called Herb Kelleher perhaps the best CEO in America, and among all corporations in the United States, the magazine lists Southwest Airlines as the third most admired. Download the mp3 to hear how it came to be that you are now free to move about the country.
The philosophical issue that kept Herb fighting four year legal battle for Southwest Airlines' survival and how that shaped the company. [2:36m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download Herb kelleher's rule of thumb for raising funding for a startup [0:43m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download Childhood influences that shaped Herb Kelleher's character, leadership ability, ethics and vison. [3:37m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download How Herb Kelleher got the idea to start Southwest Airlines and fought four year legal battle for the right to fly [5:44m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download Complete interview with Southwest Airlines founder Herb Kelleher [27:24m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download
you see in your local supermarket. Coinstar processes more coins each year than the US Mint produces. When Coinstar installed their pilot kiosks in Los Angeles, they so significantly impacted the velocity of money flowing through the hands of consumers, the Federal Reserve called them up to find out what they were doing. Prior to launching, Jens surveyed over 1500 people as they exited local supermarkets. From his research, he estimated US households were sitting on $8 billion in loose change. The market opportunity was enormous, but Jens was equally motivated to prove that public, private and non-profit benefits can exist in one organization. Download the mp3 to hear how he did it.
