How profits were targeted is also a major point of comparison with the competition. People Express, an imitator, though it grew rapidly, failed to meet its profit targets and were not able to cope up. Major airlines that came up with their low-cost brands also failed at this as they inherited management and cultural problems which their full-service airline faced. Economically and socially, the customers to whom Southwest catered to were price-sensitive-mostly business and pleasure fliers and Southwest catered to them exceptionally well. Why has Southwest been so much more successful than its competitors? Southwest offered unique alternatives in response to competitors who clearly wanted to engage in price wars. Southwest did engage in price wars (e.g. with Braniff International with its $13 offer), but it competed not merely on the basis of price but also of value proposition (e.g. giving incentive in the form of gifts to customers who paid $26 instead of $13). These alternatives were embraced by Southwest passengers. The things Southwest did not do proved to be one of their most significant key success factors. For instance, it did not adopt the hub-and-spoke route system (which almost every airline adopted)since it would be inconvenient for their passengers who preferred point-to-point flying.Their also refrained from connecting with other airlines, using interline baggage checking as these do not support their low-cost strategy, and implementing the conventional assignment of seatsto provide further convenience to passengers. Southwest was very successful at cost reduction measures whilst competitors struggled to make their own measures as effective. The reduction of turnaround timeand innovation in other operational processes (e.g.automated ticketing) also paid off for Southwest in this regard. More notably, Southwest negotiated the price of its fuel to suppliers, thereby saving several more millions.>