Doing business at Southwest

Southwest Airlines has dedicated a management team to support the growing impact of its corporate booking tool, the company says. Enrollments are up 72% in the program last year as opposed to 2002, according to Southwest Airlines. The company says it draws business travelers with its low air fares, frequent flights to desired destinations, and flexible fare rules such as no required Saturday night stays. “No matter the size of an expense account, everyone wants the best value for the money,” said Rob Brown, Southwest’s director of corporate sales. He said Southwest in its 33 years has always attracted business travelers, but travel managers have not always been able to tie internet purchases on the airline’s stand-alone system into traditional “back office” accounting systems. The development of the new system allows corporate travel managers to purchase all Southwest tickets on existing accounting systems without paying an additional booking or change fee. The system also allows corporate bookings to be customized. Growth of the new booking tool so far has come mostly from word-of-mouth, Southwest said. –Report by David Wilkening–