Southwest Airlines is one of the world's most admired airlines, offering its one-of-a-kind value and service at 121 airports across 11 countries. Southwest took flight in 1971 to democratize the sky through friendly, reliable, and low-cost air travel and now carries more air travelers flying nonstop within the United States than any other airline.
1973 marked the informal beginning of Southwest Cargo, with shipments of small packages via passenger request over the ticket counter. Then, in May 1990, Southwest Airlines management allowed the cargo unit to function as an independent department. Since then, Southwest Cargo has committed to provide specialized air cargo products to its customers, what the airlines calls, a relentlessly reliable airport-to-airport service.
In this episode of Cargo Masterminds, Reji John, Editor, STAT Media Group, speaks to Wally Devereaux, who has been with Southwest Airlines for 31 years. Devereaux has been in the cargo department of Southwest for the last 16 years. He is now the Vice President of Cargo and Charters at Southwest Airlines. He talks about the the significance of cargo business for the word's biggest low-cost carrier that has a fleet of 800 narrow-body aircraft and operates 4000 flights a day.