Southwest Airlines went where its flyers believed it never would – doing what even its CEO promised just months ago was absolutely off-limits – when it eliminated free checked baggage from nearly all fares earlier this week. Along with other painful moves, it triggered a massive backlash and a chorus of once-diehard Southwest fans wondering: “What reason do I have to fly them anymore?”
After two days of radio silence to wait out the uproar, Southwest finally took to social media on Thursday to respond. Get a load of this.
Yes, that’s real. In its first public comments since breaking the news, Southwest really compared ending its beloved “Bags Fly Free” policy – which singlehandedly made Southwest stand out against the nation’s other penny-pinching airlines – with the (admittedly unpopular) trade of a Dallas professional basketball player to another team.
For anyone hoping Southwest would eventually backtrack on these changes, taking this tone should tell you that’s not happening.
Tongue-in-cheek social media is one thing – heck, fellow low-cost carrier Ryanair has basically built its brand around it over in Europe. But days after making inarguably the biggest and most unpopular move in the airline’s storied 54-year history, this just seems tone deaf.
And it’s not just me saying that. Like the response to Southwest’s baggage blunder itself, the comments in response are almost universally negative.
While trading Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers in exchange for Anthony Davis might have been lopsided for Dallas Mavericks fans, at least it was a one-for-one trade. What will Southwest flyers get from the airline … besides paying bag fees?
If you’re just getting caught up, Southwest shocked the travel world first thing Tuesday morning by announcing it would no longer include two free checked bags on all fares starting for new tickets purchased May 28 and onward. Only travelers who buy the priciest Business Select® tickets or have top-tier A-List Preferred status will continue to get two free checked bags, while travelers with A-List status or a co-branded Southwest credit card will get one free checked bag.
That was a major reversal. Just six months ago, Southwest executives promised its ultra-popular “Bags Fly Free” policy would remain untouched, insisting it was part of what made the airline different and a key factor in why passengers chose Southwest over other airlines.
CEO Bob Jordan’s tune changed on Tuesday.
“It’s about securing our future. We’re announcing changes to our business that will help us return to the levels of profitability we all expect,” Southwest CEO Bob Jordan said in a pre-recorded video timed for the announcement. “Our DNA isn’t open seating or even ‘Bags Fly Free.’ It’s a dedication to service and hospitality and to the Golden Rule for each other and for our customers.”
Jordan’s hand was no doubt forced by an activist investor, Elliott Management Group, which has been hounding Southwest for the last year to make more money … by doing what its competitors have been doing for years. So in just the last year, Southwest has radically transformed itself.
It began last spring, when Southwest fares began appearing on Google Flights and later, Kayak and Expedia – a monumental change for an airline that always forced travelers to use its site or app to buy tickets. And just last fall, Southwest announced it would finally begin assigning seats, ending its divisive open-seating policy in order to start charging for seat assignments while also installing some extra legroom seats on its fleet of Boeing 737s.
But the changes unveiled this week go beyond baggage.
The airline will introduce a stingy basic economy fare, breaking another promise the airline previously made. Worse yet, that cheapest fare option will replace the airline’s famous “Wanna Get Away” ticket type.
Just a few years after making flight credits good for life, travel credits with the airline will now last just one year from the date of purchase … or just six months for travelers who buy its new basic tickets. And a week after drastically slashing how many points you earn on paid fares, redeeming those points for (nearly) free flights could take a hit, too – Southwest warned that it would introduce “variable redemption rates across higher-demand and lower-demand flights.”
Bottom Line
Southwest Airlines first took flight in 1971 as a true pioneer, eventually reshaping the entire airline industry and winning diehard loyalty for decades by holding true to its roots: Simplicity and care. Now, it’s joining the rest of its competitors in nickel-and-diming travelers in the race to the bottom – not in pursuit of profitability but more profitability.
For a move that has once-loyal customers wondering whether this next chapter will be its last, trolling the travelers they’ll need to win back seems like an odd choice.
