| |
| |
|
|
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
|
|
|
WHEREAS, Southwest Airlines is celebrating its 50th |
|
|
anniversary in 2021; and |
|
|
WHEREAS, In 1967, Herb Kelleher and Rollin King founded the |
|
|
company with a concept simple enough to fit on a cocktail napkin; |
|
|
they envisioned a triangle connecting Dallas, Houston, and San |
|
|
Antonio, and after victories in court against challenges by |
|
|
competitors, Southwest carried its first passengers on June 18, |
|
|
1971; two years later, despite a fare war waged against its |
|
|
Dallas-Houston route, it turned its first annual profit; it soon |
|
|
began service to Harlingen in the Rio Grande Valley and bought its |
|
|
fifth Boeing 737; in 1976, it received permission to fly to Austin, |
|
|
Corpus Christi, El Paso, Lubbock, and Midland, and by the end of the |
|
|
following year, it owned a fleet of ten 737s; and |
|
|
WHEREAS, Airline deregulation in 1979 allowed Southwest to |
|
|
begin an era of rapid expansion, although the Wright Amendment |
|
|
limited flights from its Dallas Love Field airport hub to states |
|
|
bordering Texas; as the carrier grew, it maintained its core values |
|
|
of low fares and good customer service; it added its 60th |
|
|
destination in 2003, and that year, it flew over 65 million |
|
|
passengers; in the middle of the decade, it launched service in |
|
|
Denver, Colorado, which became an important base of operations; it |
|
|
also finally won the ability to offer connecting and one-stop |
|
|
direct flights from Dallas Love Field across its entire system; and |
|
|
WHEREAS, In 2011, Southwest closed on its acquisition of |
|
|
rival AirTran Airways and also received permission from the U.S. |
|
|
Department of Transportation to fly internationally; it has |
|
|
continued to move into new markets, including Central America, the |
|
|
Caribbean, and in 2019, Hawaii; and |
|
|
WHEREAS, Since its inception, Southwest has contributed to |
|
|
the economic prosperity of the Lone Star State, and today, as one of |
|
|
the nation's largest airlines, it plays an increasingly significant |
|
|
role as a valued corporate citizen; now, therefore, be it |
|
|
RESOLVED, That the 87th Legislature of the State of Texas |
|
|
hereby commemorate the 50th anniversary of Southwest Airlines and |
|
|
extend to all those associated with the company sincere best wishes |
|
|
for continued success; and, be it further |
|
|
RESOLVED, That an official copy of this resolution be |
|
|
prepared for the corporation as an expression of high regard by the |
|
|
Texas House of Representatives and Senate. |