Respond to the below discussion about Southwest airline: Cost and sources of funds for implementing strategy and consistency and direct links with other parts of the strategy proposal.

In an industry with multiple competitors all offering similar products, it becomes difficult to stand out amongst your rivals. You've made several good points as to how Southwest can achieve its strategic goal of growing 10% annually. The first indicator is in the industry characteristics as explained by the economies of scale. If planet earth isn't growing any bigger and distances are not becoming wider and fuel engine economy rapidly increasing, then this can ramp up even tougher competition. As you've mentioned, Southwest has a much higher valuation than competitors mentioned in the report, Jetblue and Delta therefore this will give shareholders and then public alike much more confidence about any new products they roll out in the future.

The question of how different industries within a mature industry can tap into new markets is a highly strategic one. I believe that by investing in better fuel airplanes and adding greater mileage to the Airplanes would produce a great result for this airline company. In your Five Forces, you've mentioned that the Boeing corporation is Southwest's main supplier of airplanes. Southwest could negotiate a feasible contract in purchasing entire fleets of Boeing 787-9 to add more mileage per tank of gas. This will inevitably cost capital, but Southwest should weigh out the exact competitive edge this proposal will have over its rivals.

Southwest Airlines is known for its no frills in-flight package. This means no assigned seating, no food and no in-flight entertainment. I believe that there could be two tiers of markets that could be further tapped into, one being the in-frequent flier and the other being the frequent-flier who doesn't care much for in-flight frills. New services and mileage accrual programs such as the Gold, Silver or Bronze star programs could incentivize consumers who are otherwise loyal to another Airline company. For those who fly less than 5 times a year, the low cost of Southwest airlines may appeal to them, but those flying more than 5 times a month might find the new member rewards a mileage club enticing if the "no-frills" starts to dampen their loyalty to the brand.

The quick turnaround time and lack of fees for baggage is another source of funding for achieving your strategy goal. Southwest does not allow its airplanes to sit idly at an airport for more than 1 hour, and additionally it does not park its aircraft in premium priced gates. Southwest understands that the more time the aircraft spends in the air and the cheaper cost airplane is on land the more money, the more money it can make. This is another strategic scale of economy, however the downside will be packing enough air travelers within the aircraft to offset the fuel, staff change and other necessary remedies needed to get the airplane up in the air and flying again.

It's clear that Southwest airlines is positioned to achieve growth, and with the different tools that the company has the end-run offensive strategy will take them to the finish line at growing 10% annually. The first indication is global industry confidence in the health of the company, as its valuation is marked above its competitors. Investing in fuel saving air crafts will give Southwest an advantage over its competitors due to more distance per tank of gas as well as appealing to the environmentally conscious consumer. This airline can dive into member reward and point accrual programs to entice customers who are loyal to other airline companies and thus grow market share. Lastly, the quick turnaround time from landing to back flying in the air is beneficial to Southwest, but at its optimum it must fill enough seats to justify speed of turnaround.