WASHINGTON, DC – Southwest Airlines has purchased shares in the UATP Network becoming an active UATP shareholder effective immediately. Southwest is a current UATP merchant and accepts all UATP corporate cards in all sales channels.

“Southwest continuously looks at ways to strategically grow the airline and by becoming a UATP shareholder we will position ourselves to enable new product offerings to the end-user,” said Kevin Krone, vice president of marketing, sales, and distribution of Southwest Airlines. “This provides us with another way to deliver innovative solutions to Southwest Airlines customers.”

Southwest has been a UATP merchant for several decades and joins 20 shareholder airlines worldwide.

“Southwest is a smart airline; they have always operated in a manner which puts the customer first while returning outstanding value for their shareholders. Deepening their relationship with UATP will meet both those objectives,” Ralph Kaiser, president and CEO, UATP, said. “We look forward to working with Southwest and the opportunity to make an already great airline even better by helping them to deliver outstanding products and services, which their customers have come to expect.”