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The Downfall of Southwest
Posted on 5/31/25 at 8:19 pm
Posted on 5/31/25 at 8:19 pm
Was reading another travel site and saw this video on there about the downfall of southwest. Pretty interesting to read how a lot of the recent events started with their December 2022 Christmas meltdown and how it's turned into Elliott taking over the boardroom and pushing through these changes for investors. Just a warning it's a 25 minute video so be warned
LINK
I don't have any flights booked on southwest for the rest of the year and these recent changes are a good reason for it. Bag fees mean I won't use them for ski trips any longer. I was indifferent to open seating vs assigned seating, but apparently they're reducing the normal seating legroom by 1" to add in the extra legroom seating on their planes. I haven't seen a good fare sale on Southwest for a while either.
LINK
I don't have any flights booked on southwest for the rest of the year and these recent changes are a good reason for it. Bag fees mean I won't use them for ski trips any longer. I was indifferent to open seating vs assigned seating, but apparently they're reducing the normal seating legroom by 1" to add in the extra legroom seating on their planes. I haven't seen a good fare sale on Southwest for a while either.
22
Posted on 5/31/25 at 8:39 pm to CuseTiger
The only advantage that they have left is that they still offer more direct flights than the others.
Posted on 5/31/25 at 8:44 pm to Hand
Got our November trip booked before the changes took effect this month.
I usually book with SWA exclusively as they’ve been the non-AA airline with the best options out of D/FW. All of these changes are very disappointing.
I usually book with SWA exclusively as they’ve been the non-AA airline with the best options out of D/FW. All of these changes are very disappointing.
Posted on 5/31/25 at 8:55 pm to bluestem75
quote:
The only advantage that they have left is that they still offer more direct flights than the others
Fair assessment especially for those on here in Louisiana. I have noticed an uptick in the low cost carriers stepping in for those random flights out of MSY and other smaller airports. It's worth a look now if Southwest is going to have sky high fares
quote:
Got our November trip booked before the changes took effect this month
Smart
. But curious, after your november trip, how often are you going to book with Southwest over AA going forward? Or is it just going to be a 'What is the cheapest flight I can get going from DFW to ___ including bag costs, seat assignments, etc?'
Posted on 5/31/25 at 9:14 pm to CuseTiger
breeze and spirit are much more enjoyable experiences than southwest out of MSY. I’ll never fly southwest again if I can help it
southwest is the ghetto airline
southwest is the ghetto airline
Posted on 5/31/25 at 9:26 pm to cgrand
quote:
breeze and spirit are much more enjoyable experiences than southwest
Have never flown breeze, but the one flight I took on the big yellow bus last year aka Spirit was good. On time, no issues during flight, got me where I needed to go for cheap. From MSY, breeze and spirit have some decent options nonstop
quote:
southwest is the ghetto airline
I experienced this with both passengers and flight attendants on Southwest within the last year
Posted on 5/31/25 at 9:35 pm to CuseTiger
SW is my preferred airline due only to my proximity to Love Field, but it’s gotten terrible over the last several years. Between getting more expensive, what seems like less directs from Love Field, and the pre boarding madness, I’ve been just driving out to DFW more often
Posted on 5/31/25 at 9:41 pm to Mingo Was His NameO
quote:
Between getting more expensive
$175-250 for a one-way is about normal now
quote:
less directs from Love Field
I'm not sure if this was a result of COVID, but most nonstops I see now are 7am or 9pm. Take away some flight routes that aren't profitable and give more options in the middle of the day
quote:
pre boarding madness
What's the most pre-boarders you've seen on a flight? Good general question for everyone here. I think I'm at 12 including some obese woman
Posted on 6/1/25 at 6:07 am to CuseTiger
quote:
What's the most pre-boarders you've seen on a flight? Good general question for everyone here. I think I'm at 12 including some obese woman
Are you talking about "Pre Boarders" and their +1's or 2s/3/4s depending on the gate agent?
Posted on 6/1/25 at 6:11 am to Lsut81
I counted 30 preboarders on a flight from Love Field year before last. I think there were 14 wheel chairs and the others with them.
Posted on 6/1/25 at 6:17 am to deltafarmer
quote:
I counted 30 preboarders on a flight from Love Field year before last. I think there were 14 wheel chairs and the others with them.
Yeah, think I'm at 28. Was PHX to HOU about a year ago.
I've only flown SW once in the past 6 months and will in December for a family trip. Burning RR points. All of my normal flying is on United these days. F SW and how they treat their best customers.
Posted on 6/1/25 at 6:48 am to CuseTiger
I use to fly them all the time, but now I pretty much only fly international. I will be keeping an eye to see how all this goes for them.
Posted on 6/1/25 at 7:09 am to Lsut81
We are flying Southwest at the end of this coming week. I’m not looking forward to it but they had the only nonstop flight to Las Vegas and the best departure and arrival times both ways within 3 hours of me. Southwest is still relevant but it sure isn’t the airline it used to be.
Posted on 6/1/25 at 7:19 am to deltafarmer
I was following them on Instagram for a while after the baggage announcement and they were getting obliterated on every post…
Crazy seeing a company sacrifice everything that made them what they were due to some activist investors.
The downfall of SW started with Covid and has been a snowball since.
Crazy seeing a company sacrifice everything that made them what they were due to some activist investors.
The downfall of SW started with Covid and has been a snowball since.
Posted on 6/1/25 at 7:31 am to Lsut81
quote:
The downfall of SW started with Covid and has been a snowball since
It's interesting that the video in the OP suggests it was actually that winter storm and the total meltdown Southwest had that did it. They actually seemed to recover better from COVID with more bookings than the big 3. I remember flying Delta home through Atlanta during that southwest mess and seeing hundreds of people camped out/lined up in ATL terminal C stuck in the middle of the cancellations. That event stuck with me to avoid southwest during holiday travel given their antiquated IT
Posted on 6/1/25 at 7:46 am to CuseTiger
quote:
It's interesting that the video in the OP suggests it was actually that winter storm and the total meltdown Southwest had that did it.
I’m sure the technical and mainstream consumer downfall was then, but for loyalists and their best customers, it was the influx of low class flyers and their failure to maintain control of the boarding process.
It went from 1-2 pre boarders to 10+ on every flight. So if you were preferred and normally 16-20 boarding position (depending on biz) you were instantly at the back of the first side of A boarding group (30ish).
Posted on 6/1/25 at 7:53 am to Lsut81
quote:
It went from 1-2 pre boarders to 10+ on every fligh
Very true, we've all seen it. Do we know if that's been addressed with these changes? I don't think I've seen anything about that actually
Posted on 6/1/25 at 8:00 am to CuseTiger
quote:
Very true, we've all seen it. Do we know if that's been addressed with these changes? I don't think I've seen anything about that actually
Well they won’t be able to hoard the first 5-8 rows like they currently do unless they pay for it now. So no reason to fake being unable to walk on with everyone else.
Haven’t seen new seat configs, but will have a few “first class” then “plus” then the normal seats.
I’d imagine it will take a while, but it will become normal like every other airline at that point. It’s amazing, SW is 10+ wheelchair bound people every flight and a normal United flight is 0-1 on average.
Posted on 6/1/25 at 8:09 am to Lsut81
quote:
Well they won’t be able to hoard the first 5-8 rows like they currently do unless they pay for it now. So no reason to fake being unable to walk on with everyone else
If you take away their incentive, I wonder if they'll just try to find another way to game the system? Maybe they need an extra legroom seat near the front for their disability?
quote:
Haven’t seen new seat configs, but will have a few “first class” then “plus” then the normal seats
Looks like here is the new seating chart. Standard legroom drops to 31"
Posted on 6/1/25 at 8:12 am to CuseTiger
quote:
Looks like here is the new seating chart. Standard legroom drops to 31"
Been flying United regularly for past 3yrs and get auto plus upgrades… when I flew SW a few weeks back, it was miserable how tight the seats are as of now. At least on the older 737 I was on. The Max wasn’t so bad
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