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Southwest Airlines is taking the final steps in its transition away from being the most popular low-cost carrier in the United States to a run-of-the-mill mainline operator like any of the other ‘big three’ legacy lines, the reception has been scathing at best. Long-time customers have continued to share their frustration and ire at the airline’s betrayal as it completely reversed course on all of the policies that made it unique, affordable, and convenient.
Far from making operations smoother, the general consensus among travelers is that the new baggage and boarding policies have only made everything worse. To add insult to injury, Southwest used its Super Bowl commercial slot to mockingly ‘trash’ its longtime customers as if they were barbarians clambering for seats in a forest, as the Federalist described in its blistering report.
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Southwest officially ended the ‘bags fly free era’ last year when it began charging for checked bags. Combined with the open seating policy, these two features were the primary reasons why many customers considered Southwest to be the one and only airline that did not nickel-and-dime flyers for every part of the travel experience. Now that the carrier has essentially modeled itself after legacy airlines like Delta, 
United, and 
American Airlines, it has completely alienated itself from its customer base.
Flyers now say that while Southwest ‘ used to be the best,’ there is simply no reason to fly on the carrier anymore. This is especially true, as the Federalist pointed out, and its coverage, as loyalty rewards are essentially worthless under the new seating and baggage policies. The Federalist declared that ‘everyone hates’ the new system, with the boarding and deplaning process being the most noteworthy downgrade as a result.
Federalist CEO Sean Davis gave his take on the new policy changes, which have made the passenger experience both more expensive and more inconvenient, saying in a post on X:
“There’s simply no reason to fly Southwest anymore. You don’t have the lowest fares. Miles and status don’t matter because of how badly you dorked up boarding.”
Paying More To Get Less
While Southwest marketed its new policies as giving customers ‘more choice,’ many see it as a masked price increase. It is a bizarre case study in brand evolution. The ‘LUV’ loyalists who feel Southwest has effectively dismantled its competitive advantages to become a legacy airline clone without any of the benefits that would accompany such a business model.
The new assigned seats have led to confusion among gate agents, cabin crew, and customers. One of the worst problems of the new system is that passengers flying in the rear of the plane have apparently begun filling up overhead storage space with carry-ons before flyers who paid extra to sit at the front have a chance to store their bags. There’s been a dramatic rise in the number of carry-ons in the cabin, given that checked bags are no longer free, which is only making all the other changes more difficult to implement.
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Critics argue these changes were forced by activist investors, like Elliott Investment Management, who prioritized short-term profits and stock prices over the company’s legendary customer-centric culture. Recent policy changes for plus-size passengers and wheelchair travel have also sparked backlash regarding accessibility and passenger dignity.
The airline used its highest-profile marketing moment of the year to mock customers for preferring the old business model in a display of apparent self-loathing. The commercial depicted the former open-seating policy as a ‘Hunger Games’ style jungle scramble. The decision to air such an ad breaks from the company’s ‘LUV’ legacy as starkly as the new, wildly unpopular business model does.
Whatever ‘spin’ you put on the optics of the advertisement doesn’t change the simple observation that trying to discredit the historically popular system by reframing it as a contemptuous farce is distasteful to many members of the public.
