Airline · WN
Southwest Airlines
United States
AVA Navigate — CC BY-SA 4.0
History
The Story of Southwest Airlines
Southwest Airlines was founded on March 9, 1967, originally as Air Southwest Co. by Rollin King and Herb Kelleher, and commenced intrastate operations in Texas on June 18, 1971, linking Dallas Love Field, Houston Intercontinental, and San Antonio. Operating a low-cost, point-to-point business model that bypassed traditional hub-and-spoke networks, the carrier quickly established a reputation for low fares and high fleet utilization. For decades, its growth was shaped by regulatory constraints such as the Wright Amendment, which restricted long-haul flights from its primary base at Dallas Love Field. Following the phased repeal of the Wright Amendment and a major strategic acquisition of AirTran Airways in 2011, Southwest expanded aggressively into near-international markets across the Caribbean and Latin America.
Today, Southwest operates an extensive network serving over 100 destinations across the United States and international markets. Headquartered in Dallas, Texas, the airline maintains the distinction of operating an entirely single-family fleet composed exclusively of Boeing 737 aircraft. This operational strategy has historically optimized maintenance, crew training, and turnaround efficiencies, allowing Southwest to secure its position as one of the largest carriers in North America by passenger volume.
Branding
Livery & Visual Identity
Southwest Airlines has undergone three major visual branding evolutions, characterized by vibrant and distinct color palettes. The airline's original 1971 livery, known as "Desert Gold" (or sometimes the "Mustard Rocket"), featured a golden-yellow upper fuselage accented by stripes of red and orange, with the airline's name prominently displayed on the vertical stabilizer. In 2001, the carrier introduced the "Canyon Blue" paint scheme, which replaced the gold fuselage base with a deep, brilliant shade of blue while retaining the red and orange cheatlines and incorporating a stylized heart logo.
The current visual identity, unveiled in 2014, is known as the "Heart" livery. It features a dark blue fuselage, a prominent red-and-yellow heart motif wrapped around the underside of the forward fuselage, and a modernized, bold white "Southwest" logotype on the rear. The vertical stabilizer utilizes a multi-colored vertical ribbon design reflecting the primary tones of the heart symbol. In addition to standard fleet branding, Southwest regularly utilizes specialized, highly detailed thematic liveries celebrating individual states, partner cultures, and corporate milestones.
Safety Record
Notable Safety History
On August 27, 2016, a Boeing 737-700 operating as Southwest Airlines Flight 3472 experienced an uncontained engine failure and rapid cabin depressurization while climbing to flight level 310, resulting in a safe emergency diversion to Pensacola, Florida. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) determined the cause was a low-cycle fatigue crack in the dovetail of a fan blade, which fractured in flight and compromised the inlet structure, sending debris into the fuselage. Following this event, engine manufacturer CFM International issued service directives requiring enhanced ultrasonic inspections for specific fan blades.
On April 17, 2018, a similar mechanical failure occurred on Southwest Airlines Flight 1380, a Boeing 737-700 flying from New York LaGuardia to Dallas Love Field. While climbing through flight level 320, the left CFM56-7B engine suffered a fan blade separation caused by low-cycle fatigue, leading to the structural failure of the fan cowl assembly. Fragments from the cowl impacted the fuselage, causing a cabin window to blow out and resulting in a rapid depressurization and fatal injury to one passenger. The NTSB investigation led to safety recommendations focusing on improved fan cowl structural integrity standards, mandatory eddy-current inspections for fan blades to detect micro-cracks prior to overhaul limits, and modifications to engine inlet design criteria.
Covers officially investigated accidents only, per aviation safety authorities (NTSB, ICAO or equivalent).