Southwest Airlines Takes Flight with Dell; Airline Standardizes on Dell Notebooks, Desktops Across Business Operations

The Dallas-based airline has invested $12 million during the pastthree years to standardize its corporate and nationwide terminaloperations on about 10,000 Dell (NASDAQ:DELL) OptiPlex(TM) desktop andLatitude(TM) notebook computers. The result: excellent performance andvalue.

"One of the decisions to standardize on Dell products was drivenby the need to automate our boarding process and further enhance thecustomer experience," said Robert Quintanilla, director of technicalservices for Southwest Airlines. "The performance and value deliveredby the Dell systems has enabled us to achieve both goals."

Southwest Airlines seamlessly replaced its well-known,brightly-colored plastic boarding passes with an electronic system atairport gates by turning to Dell for 350 touch screen ticket readerspowered by Dell OptiPlex desktops. The move allowed Southwest toautomate the reconciliation process at the boarding gate, which hadbeen done manually, according to Quintanilla.

Dell OptiPlex desktops are also used at all Southwest ticketcounters for reservations, ticket sales and other business operations.

"Like Dell, Southwest Airlines is recognized for the value itdelivers to customers. By investing in open, industry-standardtechnology, companies like Southwest can enhance business operationsand pass along cost savings and value to improve the customerexperience," said Bill Rodrigues, vice president of Corporate BusinessGroup, Dell Americas.

About Southwest Airlines

Southwest Airlines, the nation's largest carrier in terms ofdomestic passengers enplaned, currently serves 61 cities in 31 states.Based in Dallas, Southwest currently operates more than 3,000 flightsa day and has more than 31,000 employees systemwide.

About Dell

Dell Inc. (NASDAQ:DELL) is a trusted and diversifiedinformation-technology supplier and partner, and sells a comprehensiveportfolio of products and services directly to customers worldwide.Dell, recognized by Fortune magazine as America's most admired companyand No. 3 globally, designs, builds and delivers innovative, tailoredsystems that provide customers with exceptional value. Company revenuefor the last four quarters was $52.8 billion. For more informationabout Dell and its products and services, visit www.dell.com.

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