History Of Southwest Airlines. Southwest Airlines was founded by Rollin King and Herb Kelleher and began in 1971, servicing Dallas, Houston and San Antonio. ... Southwest Airlines was originally incorporated to serve three cities in Texas as Air Southwest on March 15, 1967, by Rollin King and Herb Kelleher. Mexico. Fly Into: San José Del Cabo (SJD), with nonstop flights available daily from John Wayne Airport in Southern California (SNA), Denver (DEN) and Houston (HOU). Belize. Costa Rica. Jamaica. Bahamas. Dominican Republic. Aruba. Southwest Airlines has a unique open seating policy – basically, seats are not assigned. When you check in for your Southwest flight, you are assigned a boarding group (A, B, or C) and a boarding position (1-60). ... Upon boarding the flight, you may choose any open seat. I hope this helps, it's always good to know some history on a company you want to work for. Good Luck!