Southwest Airlines took to the air in 1971 with just three aircraft and a three-city route network, allegedly mapped out on a paper napkin in a bar. The airline's founders, Herb Kelleher and Rollin King, bemoaning the lack of cheap flights around Texas, felt the state could benefit from a low-cost, short-haul airline such as California's Pacific Southwest. Kelleher, who semi-retired three years ago, said: "I drew a triangle on a paper napkin linking Dallas, Houston and San Antonio. In the short-haul markets, most people will drive those distances instead of fly. I said we would offer fares so low that people could not afford to drive. "We took a great idea and made it fly." Now a fleet of 388 Boeing 737s operate over 2,800 daily departures to 59 airports in 31 states right across the USA. Southwest Airlines has become the fourth biggest airline in the country and, if its current rate of growth is maintained, could next year become the third largest airline in terms of passengers carried.
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