What's the Southwest secret?The carrier provides customers what they want: low cost, good serviceApril 21, 1998Web posted at: 12:02 p.m. EST (1702 GMT) DALLAS (CNN) -- Airlines are constantly competing for customers -- bragging about on-time arrivals, superior service and improved in-flight meals. The latest Airline Quality Rating lists Southwest Airlines as the number one carrier -- the third year in a row for the Dallas-based airline. The carrier's success in the quality rating comes as no surprise to many of the more than 15,000 passengers who fly it daily, nor to spokesman Ed Stewart. "I think a lot of people, especially in different parts of the country, are not familiar with Southwest Airlines," Stewart said. "But we fly coast to coast and border to border and even that's going to be expanding starting June 7th up in Manchester, New Hampshire." Travel experts applaud the company for smart management decisions.
"One is they've got a fleet of very new planes," said CNN business travel consultant Chris McGinnis. "Two -- they fly into airports that are not that busy, therefore there are not the problems that you have at the airport with crowds and tension ... And the fact that they fly into smaller airports means that their on-time performance is going to be better." On-time performance was one of 19 criteria cited in the survey -- airlines also were judged on safety, financial stability and number of denied boardings. But while the survey found airline service across-the-board is at an all-time high, it also found more consumer dissatisfaction than ever before. "You have load factors that are higher than they've ever been in 50 years," said Karen Goodwin, editor of Frequent Flyer Magazine. "You have more people flying today than quite a long time." Southwest was number one in on-time flights, and had the fewest number of complaints per passenger of the 10 major airlines rated. But when it comes time to buy a ticket, cost is often the deciding factor. "The main reason people are drawn to Southwest Airlines is because of its fares, said McGinnis. "Every time Southwest goes into a market, fares tumble." Southwest serves over four dozen cities in the U.S., from its newly expanded markets in the Northeast, into the south central states, through California and into the Pacific Northwest. Twenty-one states currently have no direct Southwest service. The airline has also entered into a marketing agreement with Icelandair, giving it access to European routes from Chicago, Providence, Louisville or Cleveland. 
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