re: Southwest Airlines corporate layoffs

I bet the CEO didn’t take a pay cut

quote:

---

Allowing hipsters with dogs to get in ahead of everyone else by claiming disability hurt them.

---

Not just that, but half the airplane lines up to claim they have young kids, passengers with special needs, etc.

quote:

---

Southwest is in trouble Whatever you think about them… their differences made them stand out. Being like every other airline will hurt them.

---

Southwest lucked out int the early 2000’s with a sweetheart jet fuel deal that fixed their fuel cost for 10 years while everyone else suffered with a huge surge in pricing, particularly after the start of the gulf war.

Rather than take advantage of that extra revenue, the tried to undercut other airlines and build a base with their cheap ticket prices. Once they lost the contract and had to pay full price on their fuel, they never adjusted outside of gimmicky and stupid things like free choice seating.

Many of you love that stuff, but it was stupid. You could simply have had seat selection priority prior to flights based on the same thing instead of the free for all that tons of people also hated.

Their baggage policy is really the only good thing they had since everyone else was charging for checked bags. But that was $50-100 losses per passenger they have been making up with higher ticket prices.

In the end, their model was never going to last because it wasn’t really great and only got them this far because of the fuel deal.

quote:

---

All you have to do is get a credit card from your preferred airline to get a free checked bag

---

True, but it depends on 1) how much you fly, and 2) being sure it is not on a partner airline with a codeshare.

United screws a lot of people with that if a partner airline is the lead.

Also, most only cover one to two people’s bags, so if you have a family, it becomes not worth it.

quote:

---

Yep, I can’t imagine flying Southwest for more than a hop.

---

I don't know what services I'm missing out on from other airlines, but in the past 2 years I've flown southwest round trip from MSY to New York (5 times), Palm Springs, Long Beach (twice), and even from Eugene back to MSY (took United to Oregon). Nothing but good experiences as far as travel times and getting my baggage to my destination. All I want on a domestic flight is a drink and a snack, and they're adequate for that too. Yeah, there are people who abuse the preboard process, but I just go find an aisle seat, or a row if I'm with family, somewhere behind them. What else is there that I'd want with other airlines?

If you’ve been flying southwest the last 20 years this isn’t a shock. They lost the Luv

They had that old man who started and ran the company at the helm forever and didn't put up with any bullshite. The second he died, they were always gonna be doomed.

I hate flying SW, but often have no alternative… including later this week. Yay.

As a former SWA employee this makes me sad. It all started when they bought AirTran and grew too fast to be "like Delta Airlines". The SWA management turned their backs on everything that made SWA great.