Introduction Every entrepreneur would have come across the success story of "The Southwest Airlines" from time to time. Founder Herb Kelleher in one of his interviews on CNBC says that there were key moments in the airline's history where things could have gone terribly wrong, but he found out-of-the-box solutions that not only saved his business, but he made it prosper. When Southwest started in 1971, it was just a small regional carrier flying from Houston to Dallas. But to make themselves unique, they selected beautiful flight attendants with unique personalities and then put on hot pants and go-go boots. They've made some great, non-traditional choices while operating in a very traditional industry. This is how they brought differentiation into the picture. In the initial stages, they realized that they had to achieve more with less (M4L strategy). They knew that if they bought all the same types of planes – Boeing 737s – they could save on maintenance costs. They wouldn't have to train mechanics and carry parts for different types of aircraft. Today they still operate a single model of airplane, and this has allowed them to save a great deal of money in the long term. But when competitors lowered prices (even below its own costs), Southwest was forced to think outside the box once again. If they matched those prices, Southwest would go out of business. Instead they decided to offer all frequent flyer passengers a free bottle of whiskey every time they flew Southwest. For a few months, Southwest Airlines was the largest whiskey distributor in Texas. And then came the peanuts. While all other airlines served in-flight meals, Southwest chose to be the no-frills airline by offering only... paper half... schedules are strictly followed to minimize delays, customer complaints and loss of luggage. . A well-defined and distinctive set of people management practices has led to shared goals, knowledge and mutual respect which are useful as work is highly interdependent, uncertain and time-bound. Some of the strategies adopted to make the business model of South West airlines sustainable are:  Maintain and promote a human-friendly corporate culture.  They provide leadership to the constantly changing workforce.  They hire people who are culturally suited to the job role. They have incorporated techniques to eliminate waste production through source reduction, recycling and reuse. They have optimized aircraft to have greater fuel efficiency and are looking of alternative energy options. So their operating model is sustainable.