Encore: Southwest vs American Airlines | The Darling of Deregulation | 4

Business Wars

Wondery

History, Business, David Brown, Management

4.6 • 13.2K Ratings

🗓️ 5 July 2021

⏱️ 27 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

As deregulation dawns, Southwest Airlines’ founder and CEO are locked in a power struggle. In the middle is Herb Kelleher, Southwest’s corporate attorney. And after 18 months serving as a punching bag for the company’s top brass, he’s had enough.

But as Southwest deals with a succession crisis, American Airlines is facing another emergency. It needs money, fast. The company is cash-poor after investing in its proprietary online reservation system, SABRE. The situation is so dire CEO Al Casey turns to a drastic option — moving the company’s headquarters from its homebase in New York City to Dallas.

Just as American is getting a financial lift, Southwest takes a nosedive. Deregulation has the company eyeing expansion routes, but the powers that be will do anything to stop it.

Listen to new episodes 1 week early and to all episodes ad free with Wondery+. Join Wondery+ for exclusives, binges, early access, and ad free listening. Available in the Wondery App https://wondery.app.link/businesswars.

Support us by supporting our sponsors!

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Hey, prime members, you can listen to business wars, add free on Amazon music.
0:04.6	Download the app today.
0:07.0	A listener note, this episode originally aired in 2018.
0:16.3	It's June 27, 1977.
0:20.9	It's a banner day for Southwest Airlines.
0:25.9	It's trading on the New York Stock Exchange for the first time.
0:30.2	It's listed under the symbol LUV, a nod to its home airport code for Dallas's love
0:35.4	field.
0:37.3	Spirits are high and rising.
0:39.3	Why shouldn't they be?
0:40.6	The airline is debt-free and profitable.
0:43.3	It's got nine planes cruising the skies of Texas.
0:46.8	And as of this day, five million passengers aborted Southwest.
0:52.8	It still only operates inside Texas, where it doesn't have to worry about federal regulations
0:57.7	that govern other airlines flying between states.
1:01.1	But now, Washington is looking to deregulate the industry, and the other airlines are sensing
1:06.4	a down draft.
1:08.5	Without regulation that protects big carriers high fares, upstarts like Southwest could be
1:14.5	a threat.
1:15.9	Still, Southwest Airlines CEO Lamar Mews isn't popping champagne.
1:23.6	Instead, veins are popping out on his forehead.
1:25.9	He's squabbling with Roland King, Southwest's founder, board member, and chief pilot.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Wondery, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Wondery and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.