# Southwest Airlines: Herb Kelleher (2016)

- Show: [How I Built This](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this)
- Published: 2017-09-25
- Length: 35m
- Page: https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2017-09-25-southwest-airlines-herb-kelleher-2016

## Summary

Herb Kelleher, co-founder of Southwest Airlines, recounts the 4.5-year legal battle against incumbent carriers like Braniff and Continental to launch the low-cost intra-state airline in Texas. He details the company's early operational strategies, including 10-minute gate turns and a no-frills model, which allowed fares 45% lower than competitors. Kelleher also explains Southwest's unique financial discipline, such as paying for planes with internal funds to avoid debt, and his philosophy of prioritizing profitability over market share.

## Chapters

- [0:00](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2017-09-25-southwest-airlines-herb-kelleher-2016#t=0) Introduction: Herb Kelleher and the Idea for Southwest
- [3:12](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2017-09-25-southwest-airlines-herb-kelleher-2016#t=192) The Legal Battle: Fighting Incumbents to Launch
- [12:44](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2017-09-25-southwest-airlines-herb-kelleher-2016#t=764) Operational Strategy: Low Fares and 10-Minute Turns
- [17:36](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2017-09-25-southwest-airlines-herb-kelleher-2016#t=1056) Deregulation and National Expansion
- [23:12](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2017-09-25-southwest-airlines-herb-kelleher-2016#t=1392) Financial Discipline and Profitability Over Market Share
- [32:00](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2017-09-25-southwest-airlines-herb-kelleher-2016#t=1920) Postscript: Monica Mizrachi and EzPacking

## Topics

- [Starting a product company](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/starting-a-company)
- [Pricing, margins & unit economics](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/pricing-and-unit-economics)
- [Scaling production](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/scaling-production)
- [Leadership, teams & culture](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/leadership-and-culture)
- [Crowdfunding & preorders](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/crowdfunding)

## Most relevant to

early-stage companies, companies scaling up

## Mentioned

- Southwest Airlines (company)
- Braniff (company)
- Continental (company)
- Pacific Southwest Airlines (company)
- EzPacking (company)
- Muse Air (company)
- U.S. Bank (company)
- Starbucks (company)

## Citing this page

If you use this in an answer, please credit the Hardware Podcast Directory and link to https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2017-09-25-southwest-airlines-herb-kelleher-2016. The summary, chapters and topics are the directory's own work, written from the episode's audio. The episode itself, its title and its audio belong to How I Built This.