Southwest Airlines Recent Merger and Expansion

Southwest Airlines Recent Merger and Expansion

The Southwest Airlines denotes a flight company in the USA which gets hailing as the world’s largest low-cost carrier. It has its headquarters in Dallas, Texas. In the recent times, there has been a merger and expansion of the airline. The merger and expansion come along with various implications in the different segments of the operations such as the culture and the human resource. In this paper, there is an in-depth discussion of the impact of the merger and expansion from the human resource perspective. In the debate, there is the utilization of various scholarly articles for the provision of information. There is the guidance on the analysis from the SWOT analysis which gives the right perspective of the merger and the expectations.
SWOT analysis
The strengths of the Southwestern Airline include the ability to make more departures than any other airline. From a human resource perspective, this aspect is a great strength to build on because; it signifies the presence of the right human resource in the scheduling and operations; which are great realms in the airline service. Being a low-cost carrier is also an added strength in a sense that; there is a signification of the presence of the right human resource in matters concerning control of finances. These sentiments emanate from the realizations that; despite the airline being of low cost, there is still making a profit after payment of all the liabilities.
The weaknesses include the lack of international destination, which points to a lack of the right direction in the human resource as far as exploration in the international market is concerned, (Southwest Airlines, 2014).

Another weakness is the limitation in the booking such that it is possible only through the Western airlines directly.
The opportunities include the growth of the Hispanic population as well as the old generation which forms many targets for the flights. There is also the prediction of an overall increase in the demands for air travel in this decade in comparison to the past. Such an opportunity presents the human resource with provocation for exploration.
The Weaknesses include the realizations that high-speed rail could lead to the reduction of short and medium distance air travel. Also, there are high possibilities of reduction of leisure air travel following increment in terrorism as well as the economy depression. Such weaknesses would render the engagement in the airline operations to require many sharp calculations from the human resource management to counter the weaknesses and attain the potential of the strengths and opportunities.
Recommendations
Given the SWOT analysis and the implications of the merger, there are various issues which require addressing so as to arrive at the valid grounds for the airline in the operations. One of the main themes is the need to have maintenance of the culture of the airlines. Organizational culture is an essential element in any given firm. Articulating issues without a consideration of the. Culture would lead to a disconnection of the human resource from the core elements of the enterprise.
Upon the merger, therefore, there would be a need for the human resource management to ensure that there is an articulation of the culture of the organizations in the workforce. This aspect would be essential in both the existing and the new workforce that would be inevitable following the expansion. The culture binding the human resource has to peg on three core issues. The core issues touch on the element of working hard; secondly having fun in the accomplishment of duties and finally, treating everyone with respect. Maintenance of such a culture would go a long way in ensuring that there is the delivery of the right kind of work while maintaining harmony at the workplace, (Jo & Park, 2016).
In the merger of the airlines, there are possible issues of redundant positions. This element regards a situation whereby; each of the airlines has a functioning human resource hence, ending up having the same post with two or more personnel. In such instances, there is the problem of cost whereby; if the human resource management decision were to sustain the two personnel, there would be a double price in the remuneration. On the other hand, there is the inevitable consideration of the ethical perspective whereby; it would not be viable to lay off a loyal employee just like that. There would be the need for highly calculated moves in addressing the issue of the redundant positions.
For instance, there could be rotations within the airline whereby; the workforce that would be redundant would get other positions, which would be inevitable in the expansion of the air operations. Where it would be utterly impossible to keep the additional personnel, the human resource would consider giving out packages to the staff getting layoffs so that they can be able to start off from other places after the exit. Such packages would not be as straightforward as they would have been in the past operations of the Southwest Airlines before the merger. There has to be a consideration of the regards of the two sides so as to arrive at a consensus.
Tasks for recruiting and hiring
Following the merger and expansion of the southwest airline, there would be a great need for recruitment and hire in the different global locations, (Tully, 2015). The hiring and recruitment would entail various task, which the human resource has to undertake with due diligence to achieve success. The duties include the development of the job description for the different posts. This function gives way to the advertisement of the positions which has to be on the best media to reach the right candidates.
The next task is to review the applicants so as to come up with the qualified ones. This task requires keen observation of every detail provided by the applicant. These views follow the consideration of the realizations that; without such keen observation, there are high likelihoods of embracing subjectivity in the short listing of the candidates. There is a strong recommendation that there are high degrees of objectivity when it comes to the selection of the candidates for the different positions, (Figueiredo, Pais, Monteiro & Mónico, 2014). These stances apply both for the shortlisting and also in the final selection of the employee. This task paves the way for the development of the right open-ended questions for the interview. The queries must take into consideration the nature of the position in question as well as the overall expectations in the organization.
The other task entails performing a background check on the employee. From there, there are legally oriented tasks which involve verification of the legal stance such as the right to work in the United States. Finally, there is the work of obtaining the compensation insurance for the employee.
Evaluation metrics for the expansion
It would be essential to embrace the metrics for evaluating the outcome of the enlargement from the human resource perspective. Such lengths would go a long way in ensuring that there is the maintenance of the positive aspects while discarding the negative elements. The first item of the metrics would be the retention of employees. Sustenance of human resource in the organization would mean that there is the right direction in the expansion. Satisfaction of the human resource is another metric for evaluating the development. The achievement is measurable through review of performance as well as the collection of feedback from the employees, (Unnikrishnan, 2016). Improvement in performance would signify success in the expansion just like positive feedback from the employees through various media. Attainment of high productivity would also mean that the expansion is in the right direction and that the human resource is heading in the right perspective.
Conclusion
The merger and expansion of the airline is a welcome move especially in considerations of the threats in the aviation industry. However, there is a significant challenge in the alignment of the human resource functions so as to avoid redundant positions. In the efforts of preventing such occurrences, it is essential that there is consultation in the human resource management, which ought to be a composition of both sides, so as to see active dealing with the issue. With the right alignment, it would be possible to tackle the weakness of having no other alternative booking apart from doing it directly through the airline.
References
Figueiredo, E., Pais, L., Monteiro, S., & Mónico, L. (2014). The Role of Human Resource Management in Knowledge Management: The cases of Training and Career Management. Proceedings Of The European Conference On Knowledge Management, 1353-361.
Jo, S. J., & Park, S. (2016). Critical review on power in organization: empowerment in human resource development. European Journal Of Training & Development, 40(6), 390-406.
Southwest Airlines Co. SWOT Analysis. (2014). Southwest Airlines Co. SWOT Analysis, 1-10.
Tully, S. (2015). Southwest’s radical new flight plan. Fortune, 172(5), 128-136.
Unnikrishnan, M. (2016). Southwest’s Strained Labor Relations Reflect Business Model Changes. Aviation Week & Space Technology, 1.