Southwest Airways, lengthy well-known for its Baggage Fly Free coverage, is ditching its signature perk and can begin charging passengers for checked baggage later this 12 months.
The service introduced the change on March 11, marking a significant shift in its identification because the final main U.S. airline to supply complimentary checked baggage. Southwest has by no means charged for luggage in its 54-year historical past. The brand new baggage charges will take impact for many tickets bought on or after Might 28, 2025. The precise value construction has not but been disclosed.
“We now have great alternative to . . . appeal to new buyer segments we don’t compete for as we speak, and return to the degrees of profitability that each we and our shareholders anticipate,” Southwest Airways CEO Bob Jordan stated in a press release concerning the airline’s up to date insurance policies.
Not everybody must pay up, although. Enterprise Choose fare prospects and members of Southwest’s Speedy Rewards loyalty program on the A-Checklist Most well-liked degree will nonetheless get two complimentary checked baggage. A-Checklist members and Southwest bank card holders will probably be allotted one free checked bag.
“Southwest has at all times been generally known as a family-friendly airline, offering customer-focused insurance policies, corresponding to flexibility when plans change and free checked baggage,” Jennifer Yellin, a journey knowledgeable at Factors Path, a browser extension that permits customers to see the value of a flight in each money and miles concurrently, informed Afar. “With these new adjustments, Southwest is shifting their focus to align themselves with the opposite main U.S. carriers and shifting away from their core roots of being customer-friendly.”
As not too long ago as Southwest’s investor day in September, the airline stated the free-checked-bag coverage wasn’t going anyplace, at the same time as different adjustments have been underway, corresponding to the tip of its open seating method. Nonetheless, on condition that Southwest has been below rising stress from buyers to spice up profitability, particularly as rising gasoline prices, labor bills, and post-pandemic journey fluctuations—to not point out a catastrophic tech meltdown in the course of the 2022 vacation season and corresponding fines issued by the federal government—have strained the airline’s backside line, the transfer isn’t precisely stunning.
Different airways have made lots of of tens of millions of {dollars} from baggage charges (an estimated $7 billion complete in 2023 alone, in response to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics), and by following go well with, Southwest has the potential so as to add a substantial income stream. If vacationers maintain flying with them, that’s.
“The commentary on-line, even throughout the first few hours of this information, has been purely unfavourable,” stated Katy Nastro, journey knowledgeable at flight offers app and web site Going. “When a buyer goes to e-book a flight, until Southwest has a nonstop choice or maybe a greater time, when it comes down to cost, it will possible shift long-time ‘LUV’ers’ elsewhere.” (The initials LUV are Southwest’s inventory trade code and have been affectionately utilized to insurance policies corresponding to Southwest vouchers. Additionally, Southwest’s brand is a coronary heart image.)
Southwest constructed its model by refusing to observe the instance of different main airways, successful over loyal vacationers who appreciated its clear, unrestrictive pricing. However now, because the airline pivots to match its rivals, it dangers dropping the very distinction that after set it aside.
“As a substitute of carving out a transparent area of interest, Southwest is straddling two worlds—now not the fee-free airline, but additionally not a full-service competitor,” stated Sally French, a journey knowledgeable at NerdWallet. “This center floor might alienate its most loyal prospects who noticed Southwest as a refuge from nickel-and-diming. In making an attempt to be the whole lot to everybody, Southwest might turn out to be a one-size-fits-none airline.”
Mario Matulich, president of Buyer Administration Observe, a agency that has helped manufacturers corresponding to United Airways, Movie star Cruises, and Alaska Airways to construct higher customer-experience practices and retain shopper loyalty, echoed that sentiment. He stated that the adjustments might trigger customers to lose belief within the model and that the airline must actively create differentiators between its rivals to maintain its core vacationers.
“Passengers need transparency,” Matulich stated. “They should understand how this variation advantages them in different methods, whether or not via decrease base fares, improved flight reliability, or new perks for frequent flyers. Airways that prioritize a easy and environment friendly buyer journey will come out on prime, even with new coverage adjustments that originally frustrate customers. Shoppers need airways to strike a stability between profitability and passenger worth, and Southwest needs to be ready to deal with buyer frustration and doubtlessly lose long-standing prospects.”
Extra adjustments at Southwest
Southwest isn’t simply rolling out baggage charges; it’s making sweeping adjustments to its total enterprise mannequin.
New premium seating classes and red-eye flight choices might attraction to prospects. Different adjustments, such because the introduction of a extra restrictive Primary Financial system fare (just like these supplied by American, Delta, and United), might be irritating for vacationers, particularly those that appreciated that Southwest didn’t have complicated ticket tiers.
On the loyalty entrance, Speedy Rewards can be getting an overhaul. The airline is tweaking how factors are earned (with prospects incomes extra factors on business-class seats and fewer on primary financial system seats). Flight credit will now include expiration dates, a stark departure from the flexibleness Southwest beforehand championed.
The airline additionally plans to disband its open seating coverage in favor of assigned seats, which was met with combined reactions from fliers when introduced in July 2024.
Collectively, these modifications sign a brand new path for an airline that has constructed its fame on doing issues in a different way. Whereas different adjustments stay to be seen, it’s clear Southwest is pivoting towards a extra conventional airline playbook—whether or not passengers prefer it or not.