| Southwest Airlines Co. (Southwest) is a passenger airline that provides scheduled air transportation in the United States. As of December 31, 2008, the Company operated 537 Boeing 737 aircraft and provided service to 64 cities in 32 states throughout the United States. The Company focuses principally on point-to-point service, rather than hub-and-spoke service. As of December 31, 2008, Southwest served 438 non-stop city pairs. Approximately 78% of the Company's customers fly non-stop. Southwest predominantly serves short-haul routes with high frequencies. It complements this service with more medium to long-haul routes, including transcontinental service. The Company's average aircraft trip stage length for the year ended December 31, 2008, was 636 miles with an average duration of approximately 1.8 hours. |
