Southwest Airlines ending free checked bags policy for many passengers for first time in its 54-year history
Southwest Airlines has its passengers’ “bags of free flight” but not long.
Starting May 28 – Just in the busy summer travel season, only Southwest’s best-selling fast rewards to Class A-favorite members and passengers who book their top-tier business fares to get two free checked baggage. Frequently used flyer A-List members, credit card holders of Southwest Brands and other selected customers will be allowed a check-back bag.
The carrier said everyone else will charge a fee for the first and second checked baggage on flights booked on or after May 28.
This is Southwest’s 54-year-old rest time.
“This is how you break the brand. This is how you break the preferences of your customers. This is how you break loyalty. I think that will put the Southwest to the end of finance,” Henry Harteveldt, an airline industry analyst with the Atmospheric Research Group, told CBS News Senior Transport Correspondent Kris Van Cleave. “With these changes, the Southwest is just another airline.”
Just last September, Southwest CEO Bob Jordan told Van Cleave Bags that he would continue to fly.
“The bags will still fly freely,” Jordan said. “This is the third thing customers look for after the fare and schedule: the bags fly freely. Ninety-seven percent are people who know our policies. So, it’s a huge consumer advantage. So the bags are definitely free to fly.”
But when they are always free-flying, he admits: “Well, never say never say it. … It’s like saying that open seats never change 20 years ago. Consumer preferences change, but starting from everything we’ve seen, there’s no reason to rethink that, especially now.”
“When 97% of customers say they are driving you because of your ‘bag free’ policy and you’ve made a huge change to that, you’re telling almost all customers, ‘Your business is no longer important to us anymore,'” Harteveldt said. “We’re watching the airlines self-destruction. This is equivalent to deliberately driving the boat into an iceberg. ”
The cost of checked baggage has not been announced yet, but airline sources say it will compete with other carriers.
The move comes as Southwest, the fourth largest airline in the United States, has suffered huge pressure from activist investors to improve its financial performance after striving to keep pace with its post-pandemic customer preferences.
Southwest recently announced its first ever layoff, embarking on its first Redeye flight and intending to end its long-running open seating policy next year. Instead, the airline will offer seating tasks and sell additional leg seats for an additional fee.
Announced Tuesday was a change in Southwest’s fast rewards for regular flyer programs – adding points for flyers to earn higher priced business choice fares while reducing points for cheaper “wanna Wannawes sway and Wannage Escape” fares. The airline will also begin dynamic or variable pricing to redeem points for high demand and lower demand flights.
More importantly, starting May 28, Southwest will add discounted base economic fare shifts, which will ensure flyer seats on the plane, but may bring restrictions similar to basic economic products for other operators.
Jordan said in a video statement Tuesday morning that the changes “will help us return to the profitability we all expect and support our collective long-term success. It’s also about adapting to what customers want.
“After a lot of things change: the loss of short-distance demand, the increase in premium demand, and the change in customer preferences.”
“More choices are always a good thing. Lower fares are always a good thing. Southwest is big enough that if they use the basic economic fare the right way, I believe they will force other airlines to be more aggressive in pricing.”
Southwest Airlines is the last major airline in the U.S. to offer basic economic products, and the airline launched the airline to compete with ultra-low-cost airlines such as Frontier and Spirit.
Although products vary by airline, basic economy tickets usually do not have an early seat task and are often the last boarding crew, which may limit the number or size of carry-on luggage. Check bags and other privileges come with fees. This is very popular with airlines. United Airlines reported that basic economic income rose 20% last year.
“Southwest remains committed to its core tenet – amazing people who provide good hospitality to all Southwest customers, a strong network, the most uninterrupted flights in the U.S., and a loyalty program that brings real value to fast reward members,” the carrier said in a statement.
But do people know the Southwest?
“Yes,” Hartwild said. “This change is the same as the changes in the Southwest. What I worry about is that the financial damage to the airline is greater than what helps.”
