| Ralph Waldo Emerson said it a little more eloquently with “Necessity is the mother of invention”. A weed is a plant whose virtue has not yet been discovered. Southwest Airlines had to pull up its own weed in May of ’72 when a court ruling forbidding out-of-state charters forced the company to sell its fourth aircarft. That plane had been used for charters as well as regular flights. With only three planes to serve 29 daily flights, the airline devloped the 10-minute “turn” – getting each plane to pull into the gate, perform maintenance, stock supplies, load passengers, and push back in just 10 minutes. The industry average at the time was 30-40 minutes…..and who is leading the way today for quick “turns” as well as adding flights consistently, showing positive growth and having a blast doing it? The weed farmers….Southwest Airlines, a great case study if you’ve not researched them lately. |
