Southwest Airlines stock certificate 2012

Very nice modern airline cert.  Nice vignette of a modern female figure with air control tower in the backgraound and a jet aircraft flying above.  Issued and not cancelled. Dated 2012.

Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE: LUV) is a major U.S. airline and the world's largest low-cost carrier, headquartered in Dallas, Texas. The airline was established in 1967 and adopted its current name in 1971. The airline has nearly 46,000 employees as of December 2014 and operates more than 3,400 flights per day. As of June 5, 2011, it carries the most domestic passengers of any U.S. airline. As of November 2014, Southwest Airlines has scheduled service to 93 destinations in 41 states, Puerto Rico and abroad.

Southwest Airlines began with the March 15, 1967 incorporation of Air Southwest Co. by Rollin King and Herb Kelleher to fly within the state of Texas. Kelleher believed that by staying within Texas, the airline could avoid federal regulation.Three airlines (Braniff, Trans-Texas and Continental Airlines) started legal action which was not resolved for three years. Air Southwest prevailed in 1970 when the Texas Supreme Court upheld Air Southwest’s right to fly within Texas

On March 29, 1971 Air Southwest Co. changed its name to Southwest Airlines Co. with headquarters in Dallas. Southwest began scheduled flights on June 18, 1971. The rest of 1971 and 1972 saw operating losses. One of the four 737s was sold to Frontier Airlines and the proceeds used for payroll and other expenses. Southwest continued a schedule based on four aircraft but using only three, so the "ten minute turn" was born and was the standard ground time for many years.[

The Wright Amendment of 1979 is a federal law that governs traffic at Dallas Love Field, the pre-1974 airport in Dallas. It originally limited most nonstop flights to destinations within Texas and neighboring states. The limits began to phase out in 1997 and 2005; in 2006, the amendment was repealed, with some restrictions intact until 2014, but added a restriction on the number of gates allowed.

Southwest paid $60.5 million in stock and cash for Muse Air when Muse was on the verge of collapse in 1985. After completing the acquisition, Southwest renamed MuseAir as TranStar Airlines. TranStar became a wholly owned subsidiary of Southwest and operated as an independent airline. Unwilling to compete in a fare war against Frank Lorenzo's Texas Air, Southwest eventually sold TranStar's assets to Lorenzo in August 1987. Southwest acquired Morris Air, a competing airline based in Salt Lake City, Utah, in 1992. One founder of Morris Air, David Neeleman, worked with Southwest for a short period before leaving to found WestJet and then JetBlue Airways, a competing airline.

On March 16, 1995, Southwest became one of the first airlines to have a website. Originally called the "Southwest Airlines Home Gate", passengers could view schedules, a route map and company information at Iflyswa.com. Southwest.com is the number one airline website for online revenue.

Southwest remains the dominant passenger airline at Love Field, maintains its headquarters, hangars, training centers and flight simulators adjacent thereto and reflects its ties to Love Field in its winged heart livery and its stock exchange ticker symbol (LUV).

Southwest paid $7.5 million to acquire certain assets from bankrupt ATA Airlines in 2008. Southwest's primary reason for making the purchase was to acquire the operating certificate and landing slots at New York's LaGuardia Airport formerly controlled by ATA.

On May 2, 2011, Southwest Airlines completed the acquisition of AirTran Airways by purchasing all of the outstanding common stock, corporate identity and operating assets of AirTran Holdings, Inc., the former parent company of AirTran Airways.  The greatest impact on Southwest was the elimination of a direct low-cost competitor, access to Atlanta, international service and the addition of landing slots at New York-LaGuardia Airport and Washington-Reagan Airport. Throughout 2014, Southwest expanded service at Reagan-National in Washington D.C. and LaGuardia Airport in New York City through slot acquisitions from the American Airlines/US Airways merger.