Less than a year after King sketched his vision for the future on a napkin, he had Air Southwest Co. formally incorporated on March 15, 1967, changing its name to Southwest Airlines Co. four years later.

It also uses the internal practice of ranking "employees first, customers second". Bob Jordan, formerly executive vice president of corporate services, became Southwest's sixth CEO on February 1, 2022, replacing Gary C. Kelly. Kelly continues as chairman of Southwest Airlines.

On July 30, 2009, Southwest Airlines made a $113.6 million bid for bankrupt Frontier Airlines Holdings, the parent company of Frontier Airlines. Southwest planned to initially operate Frontier as a stand-alone carrier, eventually absorbing the airline and replacing Frontier's aircraft with Boeing 737s.

When was Southwest Airlines' Initial Public Offering (IPO)? Our initial public offering was on June 8, 1971 for 650,000 shares at approximately $11. The principal underwriters were Thomson McKinnon Auchincloss, Inc. and Model, Roland & Co., Inc.