Passengers checked in on Southwest Airlines flights at Chicago Midway International Airport on February 18, 2025 in Chicago, Illinois.
Scott Olson | Getty Images
There is almost no guarantee in life. Of course it’s not the weather, electricityhealthy, tariff or egg. But for more than 50 years, American consumers can count on Southwest Airlines Let them check the bags for free.
The southwest of Dallas is End Policy in May. The customer is unhappy.
“That’s the only reason I flew to the southwest,” said singer and actress Makeensey Kaye Alford, 21, who lives near Birmingham, Alabama.
Alford, who plans to move to New York City later this year, said she “definitely” considers taking another airline now.
Southwest’s customer-friendly policies survived the recession, oil prices rose and even the 199 pandemic, winning years of kindness and loyal followers, even if it has grown. Except for the Southwest, there is no other airline more people.
Now, the airline has unparalleled profitability (almost never released the New Year’s Day) lossWith large competitors outweighing the pressure on airlines. So it was a evasion over the years that they would remove the idea that they would collect their luggage from their customers and added other business model tweaks, e.g. Allocated seats This gives it more common ground with all other airlines.
Errol Joseph, 36, a sales consultant based in New York and Dallas, said he will now consider flying Delta gas line If the price is the same as the Southwest, because its aircraft has a seatback screen, it is different from the Southwest. Joseph added that with the change in luggage policy, there was “few reason to be loyal”.
Baggage policy takes longer than most women get credit cards alone without a man’s signature. But those days are over. No more freebies, USA.
Retailers, restaurants and airlines are the businesses that have been continuing Free benefitsSince the pandemic, from free birthday coffee to free packaging benefits.
More and more loyalty program members or customers who purchase more expensive air tickets are allowed to use the airline’s privileges.
Delta offers free Wi-Fi to customers, but only for those who have signed up for their Skymiles loyalty program. United Airlines Meanwhile, a similar move is being taken to install devices on its aircraft so customers can quickly connect to Elon Musk’s Starlink Satellite Wi-Fi free If they are a member of the airline’s Mileage Prius program.
Companies often need real financial pressure to return to the giveaway, but not unprecedented. Starbucksfor example, get rid of Dairy alternatives Attract customers to try to reverse the sales downturn.
Clients and investors
Passengers checked in to Southwest Airlines flights at Chicago International Airport on February 18, 2025.
Scott Olson | Getty Images
Southwest’s decisions make investors invest in their clients.
Radical hedge funds, as of last year, the Greater Southwest shareholder Elliott Investment Management has been increasing pressure on airlines to boost profits as competitors like Delta and Manchester United are already leading the way. Elliott has driven faster changes for operators, which has been hesitant and therefore can increase revenue. The company won five board seats last year settlement and Southwest.
In fact, its stock rose nearly 9% this week after the Southwest unveiled luggage shifts and other policy changes, while Delta, United and Americans fell more than 11%. CEO of all operators Gave people’s attention About weaker travel demand, but the Southwest shocked the trend as it expects to increase changes Hundreds of millions of dollars Go to its bottom line.
“Secondary activism is reshaping LUVs into a company we think investors will eventually attract as he raises the price target for Southwest stock to $39, thanks to a “macro background” that he raises his price target for Southwest stock to $39,” wrote Dan McKenzie, an airline analyst at Seaport Research Partners, in a note Wednesday.
Southwest Airlines with Delta Airlines and American Airlines
The decision to abandon the two-checked bag is part of the airline’s large makeover seeking profits, in which it is abandoning other long-standing products such as open seating and single-story cabins for seating allocations, as well as additional legrooms for higher prices.
It will also begin offering no-frills, no changes to basic economic tickets. Flight points will also have an expiration date soon. Last month, there was First layoffs everreducing the number of jobs in companies by about 15%. It also cuts out unprofitable flights.
Air travel has not stopped for the past half century, and while it is fixed on many core principles, the Southwest has not. Over the years, it has gradually changed, such as starting to sell things like early boarding. Southwest executives believe that as air travel breaks new records, allocated seats are necessary for customers to make the work of employees easier.
Approximately noodle
Southwest leaders repeatedly said the charge for check bags exceeded its fees. (American Airlines received more than $7 billion in baggage fees in 2023.)
Southwest said it would charge bags in a speech on Investor Day last September, but lost $1.8 billion in market share and would earn $1 billion to $1.5 billion.
Southwest executives say this has changed.
“In contrast to our previous analysis, actual customer booking behavior through our new booking channels, such as metasearch, does not indicate that we are gaining benefits from the bundled bags with free bags, which leads us to update the assumptions,” CEO Bob Jordan said at a Morgan gan industry conference on Tuesday, hours after introducing the news to clients.
Jordan added that the operator has new executives, “direct experience implementing baggage fees at multiple airlines will also help further validate the new assumptions.”
Mavericks’ Airline Transformation
But thousands of people join the consumer’s cri de coeur.
Southwest release Instagram Two days after the bombshell announced, Thursday said “It’s not like we trade Luca” and it’s right Shocking February deals Dallas Mavericks superstar Luka Doncic goes to the Los Angeles Lakers. As of Friday afternoon, the post also included information about the changes, receiving more than 14,000 replies, and the account will typically receive more than a few hundred replies.
Instagram user rappid_exposure replied: “Prepare a screenshot of this because it will be a thumbnail for the Harvard Business Review Case Study.
Indeed, no other company can study the same way the Southwest region can do, said Frances Frei, a professor of technology and operations management at Harvard Business School.
“I definitely hope it’s not that radical investors come in and stick to a series of decisions that they will have to endure,” she said. “Great organizations will be built over time. It doesn’t take long to destroy organizations, and I really don’t want this to be an example.”
Betting on the house
Southwest Airlines Napkin has long touted carriers’ free luggage policy and other privileges.
Zac Jankovsky
Southwest Airlines’ two checked duffel policies officially ended on May 28, but slogans are still found on board, printed on cocktail napkins.
There will be exceptions: Customers with Southwest Airlines’ shared brand credit cards can get one free package, and customers of its highest service level (read: higher-priced tickets) or members of the top loyalty program will get one to two free shipping bags.
Whether the client is giving up on the Southwest or reacting to the change, it remains to be seen.
Delta, United and Spirit CEOs said this week they saw an opportunity Win customers Who might leave the Southwest.
However, many travelers will not have many other options, but there is so much merger between American Airlines and the center of strongholds, although they may have to venture to other airports.
Southwest Airlines owns 73% of the Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport, more than 83% of the shares in the San Francisco Bay Oakland International Airport and 89% of the shares in Long Beach, California, according to Aviation-Data company Cirium.
continue
The real test will be whether bag replacement will slow down Southwest operations, with more and more customers bringing carry-on bags to avoid the cost of checked bags, said Frei of Harvard University.
“I’m just worried about the expense being underestimated,” she said. “If they’re walking slowly, that’s a real harm to the Southwest.”
Southwest Airlines is already preparing employees for a slam to attack customers’ luggage at the door.
After the announcement on Tuesday, Southwest told employees in a memo that customers “will undoubtedly have more luggage than before.”
Gate-style agents will receive mobile label printers “reduce demand for string bag labels” and the company will design new carry-on guides so customers can see if their luggage is suitable for operations, which is a staff memorandum of operating the EVP, and a copy of CNBC’s copy, Adam Decaire, Adam Decaire, Adam Decaire, Adam Decaire, Adam Decaire, Adam Decaire, Adam Decaire, Adam Decaire, Adam Decaire, Adam Decaire,
The airline also plans to speed up its transformation Boeing 737-800 and the largest aircraft come with larger overhead boxes.
Unlike Costco’s $1.50 hot dog, the cost of not charging a bag is not a loss leader, a loss for a company to sell, just to win customers who may buy more expensive and profitable items, Fry said.
Despite being loved by customers, checked baggage policies also help airlines turn their aircraft faster.
“The reason is not because it’s customer friendly. It’s because it’s a fast turnaround airline,” she said. “If I’m going to collect my luggage, you’ll be more likely to carry more luggage on the boat. When you carry more luggage, I lose the advantage of fast turnaround.”
Southwest Airlines is confident that it is ready for the increase in door bags and car baggage.
“We have a series of workflows and the current business is in progress so that this doesn’t affect our turn period,” Andrew Watterson said in an interview.
Time will tell how it works. Currently, we have a Costco hotdog for $1.50.
