Tweet

Lesson #5: You Have to Fight to Keep on Flying

Article Overview: When the idea for Southwest Airlines first came about, it had some ardent opponents. It was going to be able to sidestep federal regulations and offer greater value to customers. It was going to push point-to-point flights between smaller airports and speed up turnaround times. And, it was going to have a lot of fun doing it.

Lesson #5: You Have to Fight to Keep on Flying

When the idea for Southwest Airlines first came about, it had some ardent opponents. It was going to be able to sidestep federal regulations and offer greater value to customers. It was going to push point-to-point flights between smaller airports and speed up turnaround times. And, it was going to have a lot of fun doing it.

As a result, other already established airline carriers started to worry. Lawsuit after lawsuit popped up against Southwest. “Nobody believed that it would work, and the other carriers thought that we were just an annoyance, not something permanent,” he says. In total, Kelleher was facing 31 legal challenges over his right to start a business. Even investors behind Southwest began to waver.

“It turned into a marathon because the incumbent carriers – Braniff, Trans-Texas, and Continental, didn’t want any competition,” recalls Kelleher. “I was involved in 31 separate administrative and/or judicial proceedings with those carriers over four or five years. I made three trips to the U.S. Supreme Court, and a judge at the District of Columbia Circuit Court of Appeals said: I have sat on this bench for 30 years, and this is the worst case of business harassment I've ever seen.”

For more than four years, Kelleher made fighting Southwest’s legal battles his new profession. But Kelleher was confident it would be a success if only it was allowed to get off the ground. He volunteered to work without pay in fighting the lawsuits, even taking on all of the legal costs himself. “We ran out of money in 1969, and the board of directors said: Let’s just shut this down,” recalls Kelleher. “And I said: I’ll pay all the costs out of my own pocket and work for nothing to see if we can get this thing going. And fortunately, it did go.”

It was not only the other airlines that proved to be a thorn in Kelleher’s side. It was the New York financial community as well. “Every time I’d go up there, they’d give me a lecture, and they’d say: Well, Herb, now that we’re deregulated, you’ve got to be just like the other airlines. And I said: No I don’t think so,” says Kelleher. “And after about maybe nine or ten years, [an analyst] with Credit Suisse First Boston got up at an investor seminar and said, ‘For 10 years we've been telling Herb Kelleher how to run Southwest Airlines, and for 10 years he's been telling us to bug off. Since they're the most profitable airline in America, how about if we all bug off?’”

Kelleher was willing to sacrifice his time, energy, and personal money to see his dreams take off. “If they want to fight a war, we’re ready to go to two years or five years or ten years,” says Kelleher, “whatever it takes – in order to be successful.”

In 1988, Southwest became the first airline to win the one-month Triple Crown service award for Best On-Time Record, Best Baggage Handling, and Fewest Customer Complaints. Between 1992 and 1996, Southwest won five consecutive Triple Crown awards. Kelleher’s refusal to give up paid off.

Related Articles
  Motivational speaker: Boxing Legend George Foreman
  Lessons in Teamwork from Wild Geese
  Marketing Strategy: Fight an Evil Enemy
  Who Is Your Proud Family?
  Lessons to be Learned When Politicians Attack the Media

Article Tags: airline carriers, annoyance, braniff, columbia circuit court of appeals, court of appeals, district of columbia, district of columbia circuit court of appeals, harassment, incumbent carriers, judicial proceedings, kelleher, lawsuits, legal battles, legal challenges, marathon, southwest airlines, thorn, time id, turnaround times, worst case



Related Forum Posts
Re: Flying Saucers: Good invention or not? Buy one in 2009 - Flying Saucers wow, I never thought I'd see the day! That is very fictional, but completely tempting, well if i had the money it definitely wouldn't hurt to own one in your...garage?
Dan Kennedy Marketing Methods - We haven't sent out the physical letter yet as the person owning the list wanted to make modifications to the letter that we knew would work well but the List owner had a point - it didn't reflect her personality so her clients would know it didn't come from her. Lesson learned for me. We're back to the drawing board with the list owner more involved in the development of the letter and emails. I should have known better being a Business Analyst in my day job that you never leave the end-user out. So Evan we haven't had the opportunity to test any of it yet but it's been a fun process for me to stand back and look at.


Share this article with your friends. Fund someone's dream.

Leave a comment below or share on the left and you'll help support entrepreneurs in Africa through our partnership with Kiva. Over $50,000 raised and counting - Please keep sharing! Learn more.

Tweet

Newsletter

Get advice & tips from famous business
owners, new articles by entrepreneur
experts, my latest website updates, &
special sneak peaks at what's to come!

Name:
Email:

Popular Articles

Build Corporate Credit for Your Small Business

Building a Business From 30,000 Feet

Starting a Business a Brave Move or a NoBrainer

Suggestions

Email us your ideas on how to make our
website more valuable! Thank you Sharon
from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for
your suggestions to make the newsletter
look like the website and profile younger
entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez.