What's Up with Southwest?

Is Southwest Airlines Getting Ready to sell?

“I will take the stupidest move by an airline for $1000, Alex”

The problem with Southwest Airlines’ latest moves to save money and piss off its once loyal customer base: is that it wasn’t their first. But hopefully the last.

The second busiest airline at Las Vegas International Airport recently announced that they are removing the last reason people have to fly the airline and killing off a killer tagline: “Bags Fly Free.”

For those of you who may have missed the announcement, on May 28, Southwest Airlines will start charging a fee for each checked bag. That is on top of the new “premium” seating and assigned seating starting in the fall of 2026.

So now we are left with the question: Is there any reason to fly Southwest??
And from what is being said in the travel forums this week, I’m saying “NO”

I guess they forgot what the airline founder, Herb Kelleher, said about being like everyone else: “Conventional wisdom put a hell of a lot of airlines out of business”

Ok, some of us didn’t like the free-for-all in the boarding process. But you need to give up something for those cheap fares and entering flight attendants.

Southwest built a large and loyal following mainly by being different then the other guys. Because you knew what you were getting and didn’t need to read the fine print before purchasing a ticket.

Go down the line at check-in and ask people why they flew Southwest and not the other guys, “Bags Fly Free” will be the number one reason. Now they are eliminating that. They are eliminating one of the biggest reasons people choose Southwest Airlines.

Who Will Buy Southwest

On the business side of the airline, the one thing management never did, was to invest in the airline itself. Any improvements or upgrades were made only after it was exposed that they were running on old technology and processes that every other airline abandoned years ago.

The moves they are making are not to improve the airline's performance or increase its ridership. The changes are only to make Southwest Airlines look more like every other airline.

Making Southwest abandon its client base and making these changes to make the airline look and feel like every other airline out there, will make it easier to merge the systems into another airline.

They want to sell the airline so the new activist investors can make their money back as fast as they can.

Are you on the “No Free Bags, No Fly” Side?

Do you think Southwest is up for sale?

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