Business Ethics Case Study: Southwest Airlines Case

Improved Essays
Southwest Airlines Case
1. Objective Finding
● Website glitch and mobile app problems hindering the customers’ ability to manage their travel plans or check-in for flights as well as causing flights delay and cancellation.
● Violating safety standards; keeping plan maintenance issues hidden, or missed inceptions, subjecting the company to penalties from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)
● Complaints of racial misconduct from both Southwest’s employees and customers as well (e.g. manipulating overtime hours for African-American workers and priority of pre-boarding to white passengers)
● The shortage of de-icing fluid has cancelled over 1700 flights. Supply chain problems challenged the ground operations and provisioning of Midway Airport,
…show more content…
Since they have been waiting for so long on hold. Also, neither were they helped in finding accommodation nor refunded.
● The stiff competition with other airlines that could restrict Southwest’s ability to expand
● Inability to introduce other brands of aircraft to its flee as Southwest Airlines mainly utilizes Boeing aircrafts brands
● Labor and union issues including mistreatment of ground workers as well as an increased rate of termination (accused for firing too many people)
● Charges being filed against Southwest Airlines after a video of women being dragged off the airplane went viral (mistreatment of passengers)
2. Fact Finding
● (Refer to the excel document for financial ratios)
3. Problem Finding
● Technical glitch seems to be one of the most recent and recurrent problems for Southwest Airlines. The most recent glitch forced Southwest Airlines to cancel more than 900 flights, which ultimately harms the financial health of the company and damages customer satisfaction.
4. Idea

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