Several years ago, I wrote a post which shared my love for Southwest Airlines. There were plenty of reasons why I preferred flying Southwest, but one of the biggest was the “Bags Fly Free” policy – an extra benefit that made travel simpler and cost-effective.
This, along with the open seating policy, made Southwest’s travel experience different than the other major airlines. Beyond that, the airline’s friendly, irreverent crew made traveling genuinely enjoyable.
In May, 2025 Southwest ended the ‘Bags Fly Free’ policy for most fares. In January, 2026 they ended the open seating policy. This is a major change to the air travel experience. Southwest is changing the product offering, making it less compelling to loyal customers and redefining its product so it’s there’s no difference between it and its competitors.
It’s expected that bag fees along with the fees associated with upgraded assigned seating will be a tremendous financial windfall. At the same time the downside is clear—customer frustration, potential operational inefficiencies, and the loss of differentiation from other major airlines. Additionally, industry estimates expect that Southwest could lose money due to passenger departures, making the financial equation harder to justify.
Looking at the broader implications:
- Customers are losing a long-cherished benefit, which for many (myself included), is a keyselection criterion.
- Since the ‘Bags Fly Free’ policy has been eliminated, increased carry-on baggage willslow down the boarding and deplaning process.
- On some flight segments, Southwest can have tighter layover times than other airlines.Slower boarding and deplaning inefficiencies may result in more frequent delays.
- Southwest once had unique benefits among its peers. Now, there’s no discernible difference between major airlines.
The rationale for bag fees is that the bags fly free policy isn’t necessarily attracting more passengers. Southwest’s other challenge is purely for financial – they need to increase revenue.I understand this; I question whether alienating a loyal customer base is the best approach to generating incremental revenue.
As I wrote in my post from a few years ago, better to leave some money on the table than to leave all of it there.
Looking at this through a Product lens: there’s no discernable factor that pushes customers to make a feature-based selection. The sole selection criterion is price; most other buying criteria have been eliminated or greatly diminished.
