First in Flight

As discovered through apprentice programs centuries ago, you can learn a great deal by studying successful leaders. I have greatly valued my ongoing dialogue during the past two years with the planning department at Southwest Airlines, which has provided an instructive window on how the finance function can enable a company to be great. This month's interview with Southwest Airlines CFO Laura Wright shows us how finance can help to build and sustain a great company.

Steve Player: The success of Southwest Airlines is so well known that it seems like you have always been flying. Laura, please give us a quick recap of where Southwest stands today.

Laura Wright: We have just celebrated our 36th birthday. We like to describe ourselves as being in the customer service business -- and we just like to say that we happen to be an airline.

Our customer service is enabled by 33,000+ employees serving 63 cities, all in the domestic United States. At the end of 2006, we had a fleet of 481 airplanes and revenues just in excess of $9 billion. Since August 2006, we have been carrying more passengers in the United States than any other airline. We have now been profitable for 34 consecutive years. We've grown steadily every single year since we started service in 1971. We do have an investment-grade balance sheet. We've got the most productive workforce in the industry and still remain the lowest-cost producer. We still rank first in customer service ratings. We've got very low employee turnover and a great safety record.