Southwest Airlines Co. · Dallas, TX United States ·(NYSE: LUV)

Southwest Airlines will fly any plane, as long as it's a Boeing 737, and let passengers sit anywhere they like, as long as they get there first. Sticking with what has worked, Southwest has expanded its low-cost, no-frills, no-reserved-seats approach to air travel throughout the US to serve about 65 cities in more than 30 states. Now among the leading US airlines, Southwest nevertheless stands as an inspiration for scrappy low-fare upstarts the world over. The carrier has enjoyed 35 straight profitable years amid the airline industry's ups and downs. In August 2009 Southwest made a move to expand westward when it placed a $170 million bid to buy troubled airline Frontier, but the bid was rejected. To read the full description, subscribe now.