I recently flew what may be one of my final Southwest trips ever. This is crazy to say, since Southwest has been my default airline since I was a kid. (My family used to fly them often, and that loyalty carried over to my adulthood.)
Back in the 2000s, Southwest hedged fuel costs and locked in great deals before fuel prices shot up. So between their legendary service and low fares, there was no reason not to choose Southwest. While they no longer have the advantage on significantly lower fuel costs, I've stuck with Southwest because of the brand factor.
In fact, Southwest has been more expensive than other airlines in recent years, but I was still happy to pay a premium for friendly service, flexible terms, free bags, and most importantly, the ability to grab any seat I wanted to.
On top of that, there were countless other small moments throughout a journey on Southwest that sparked joy and made them different from every other airline:
$8 for wifi all-day, super important since Southwest has fewer direct flights and more layovers. You didn't have to pay per leg.
Free live TV
No change fees and credits that don't expire
A boarding process that actually made boarding faster
Exit row seat configuration (with only 2 seats)
Actually friendly flight attendants who didn't appear to hate their lives and take it out on the customers
Sometimes if you made a flight attendant smile, you might even get a free alcoholic drink
Got an expired drink coupons? Yeah they'd still take 'em.
And for me, someone who is constantly working on a laptop, they were one of the first airlines that generally turned a blind eye to typing away during takeoff and landing.
In fact, there were ways to "hack the system" as a frequent traveler, and Southwest turned a blind eye.
In 2013 when my co-founder and I frequently traveled from Southern California to the Bay Area for our startup, he would book weekly trips even if he didn't plan on using them. He'd book in case of an opportunistic investor or customer meeting ("I'm actually going to be in town tomorrow!"). If nothing important came up, he'd cancel the flights and use the credit later. (You could cancel up to 10 minutes before the flight with no penalty.)
It's this sort of flexibility that earned Southwest so many fans.
Combining this experience with the perks of the Southwest credit card (free upgraded boarding passes and annual flight credit) has made Southwest my airline for decades. It wasn't even worth comparing prices in most cases - I flew Southwest for the experience that couldn't be matched by the likes of the other national carriers.
But then Elliott Investment Management got involved...
Leave it to Wall Street to destroy a once-iconic brand. When Elliott flexed their muscle, bought up 10% of the company, and took control of the board, things immediately started going downhill from a customer experience standpoint.
One of the first things to go was the $8 all-day wifi. Now you'd have to pay per segment.
Sure, $8 isn't much in the scope of things. But also... isn't $8 not much in the scope of things for Southwest? How much did they grow revenue by charging an extra $8 for wifi for people on multi-leg journeys?
Since Elliott took over, here are some of the other things that have changed (or are changing in the near future):
Charging bag fees (except for frequent flyers)
Assigned seating
Division of cabin classes/premium seating
Flight credit expiration
In other words, they're becoming just another airline. And it might be profitable for them. But they lost what made them special, and what earned them customer loyalty.
Have you ever taken a bus or train where you were enthusiastic about the brand or experience? That was Southwest. Now they're becoming just another bus in the sky.
I'm sure Elliott's bet is that the American consumer will typically go for the lowest price or best route option, in which case will still very often be Southwest. Does brand have that much of an impact on an airline? You could make a case on both sides of this argument.
Other airlines have perks for frequent travelers, the most common of which is first class upgrades and code sharing. (Have you ever met a Delta loyalist? They are rabid.)
Seat upgrades were never needed on Southwest because a) the routes were typically shorter and thus had less of an impact on passengers, oh and b) there was only one fare. In a sense, they diversified how they earned customer loyalty, and found it in many different ways. (I mean hello, I'm still stuck on the $8 all-day wifi, because to me, it's about not nickel and diming.)
So how much of an impact will Southwest's sabotage of brand loyalty actually have on the long-term business? Maybe less than I'd hope.
But at least for me, I'm canceling my Southwest Visa card and will no longer default to opening southwest.com when I'm booking my next flight.