Southwest Airlines is now forcing passengers to gate-check their carry-on bags early, claiming overhead bins are full even when plenty of space remains available.
This controversial practice, long associated with American, Delta, and United, marks a real shift triggered by Southwest’s recent adoption of assigned seating and checked bag fees, undermining their historical advantage in efficient boarding and angering customers.
Southwest Airlines used to be able to spend less time boarding their planes than other airlines, because:
- passengers lined up ahead of time, single file, to get on board as quickly as possible to get their preferred seat, since seating was ‘first come, first served’, and
- the airline didn’t charge for checked bags, so passengers didn’t bring as much stuff on board to avoid fees – they didn’t spend time stowing bags in the overhead bin, or discovering that the bins were full and having to gate check things at the last minute.
Fast boarding, less time on the ground, is a huge cost savings and revenue opportunity. They can fly more with fewer planes.
In 2011, when the airline was much smaller, they said that “It would cost us approximately 8 to 10 airplanes of flying per day if we were to add just a couple of minutes of block time to each flight in our schedule.”
Losing perhaps 16 aircraft a day now could cost them about as much revenue as checked bag fees generates (even if separating checked bag fees out from the fare didn’t reduce fares, which is unrealistic).
So for checked bag fees to work, they need to keep boarding just as efficient as before – even with assigned seating and passengers trying to carry belongings on board as if the plane is Noah’s Ark and whatever they can bring is necessary to save all the world’s species.
That’s why even with assigned seating they still line everyone up to board as before. Unlike American Airlines, you still need to queue in advance if you want to get on board early enough for overhead bin space.
Once onboard it’s a Hobbesian war of all against all for bin space. Flying a couple of days last week after the start of assigned seating, passengers were moving up and down the aisles trying to find space blocking the aisles.
And so Southwest Airlines has taken to following the lead of other airlines, to speed up boarding and avoid the last-minute need to gate check bags: lying to customers. Passengers are forced to gate check bags because ‘overhead bins are full’ even before bins are full. So when they get on board they see there’s actually still plenty of space.
@SouthwestAir forced a dozen of us to gate-check our carry-on to our final destination, claiming they were competely out of overhead space. Ensuring that it'll take even longer to get home. Lying directly to us to encourage people to pay for the advertised service.
Liars pic.twitter.com/GB4qZhrilO
— Matt Dillahunty (@Matt_Dillahunty) February 1, 2026
This has been a common problem for passengers on Delta, American Airlines and United. It didn’t used to happen much on Southwest, because they allowed everyone to check two bags free. Now that this has changed, carry-on confiscations became more widespread on the airline.
And nothing makes customers mad like being lied to and forced to gate check bags when it isn’t necessary. I see this on twitter as one of the two most common airline complaints (after nicked luggage) that’s accompanied by photos.
Agents do it because they don’t want to gate check bags at the last minute when it might delay the flight by a minute or two. They are afraid of getting yelled at for this by their managers.
So they start requiring passengers to gate check bags before the bins are actually full. If they waited until bins were full, it would be too late – passengers would already be on the jetbridge and maybe in the aisles of the aircraft looking for bin space.
the beatings will continue until morale improves
What boarding group do they actually make it to before claiming the bins are full? As a United 1K, one of the only reliable benefits is to board early and get a space for your carry on regardless of class of service.
Paid advance reservations for bin slots is the future. Only question is which airline has the nerve to do it first.
Easy-peasy, just stop flying Southwest. For many years they were my preferred travel option. Now it’s JetBlue. The only reason to even consider flying them again is to use up FF points and the remaining balance on a gift card I purchased from Costco.
On the plus side – having to gate check a bag means you don’t have to pay a bag fee for that bag.
Charging for carry-on bags (or allowing it with some fares) is apparently already baked into the system…
https://www.reddit.com/r/SouthwestAirlines/comments/1pp14bo/new_tags_on_boarding_passes/
LOL because my husband has been on about 4 flights since the seating changes took effect. EVERY flight so far has about 70 empty seats (all middle, of course). So there’s absolutely no reason for this BS.
Gary, you must realize by now, the old SWA is dead; they’re just an AA/UA copy now (similarly, stingy on lack of IFE/WiFi), but, narrowbodies and North America only.
what i’ve heard from 2 people who have flown 6 flights total from last friday through yesterday
the following cohorts are 30-50% less visible: kettles, plus size, bridge & tunnel – this may absolutely be a function of the segments where these observations were made, but it is very interesting nonetheless
every window and every aisle were occupied, every middle was empty, front to back
on each flight
that’s a 66% load factor
2025: 77%
2024: 80%
2023: 80%
2022: 83%
the elliott meddling was revealed on 6 july 24
from a low of $24 on 4 april 25 LUV is up 66%
it’s jumped 20% in the last week trading today at $50
i’m long and conservative but if i were a gambler i would short
Southwest has became just like AA, DL and UA and it’s stock price is up quite a bit over the last year and a half. So much for people liking diversity. The market has spoken. Uniformity is in. We will see how this works in the long run.
The importance of punctuation (cont.):
I diidn’t realize that Southwest enjoys a “historical advantage in… angering customers.”
@jns — Or, hear me out, the ‘market,’ isn’t everything; short-term profitability, or marginal increases in stock price, are not real ‘success’ and depends on your time-horizon, as I keep saying on here.
Makes me very reluctant to do the ORD-PHX-ORD CP Run in March.
Planned to use expiring flight credits to pay.
Many $20 resort day passes with free airport shuttle available near PHX.
Four hours of afternoon sunshine and a long soak in the hot tub would be therapeutic.
But a double dose of SWA oppression would counter those benefits.
” Unlike American Airlines, you still need to queue in advance if you want to get on board early enough for overhead bin space.”
Really? AA has gate lice just like all the other airlines do. They also have passengers fighting for bin space. I can’t believe you are blind to that fact, as much as you fly.
Just flew ABQ-PHX old school and PHX-ABQ new system. It was hell on the way back. This flight is always full. (Quite often oversold actually.) They started to pull bags at boarding group 5 because nearly EVERYONE had a roller bag. (I didn’t because I could see this coming.) People were furious and we WERE being lied to. The gate agent said if we didn’t gate check, we wouldn’t be able to track our luggage that it would just be put under the plane. Tagless? I don’t think so. When I boarded in group 7, there was plenty of space left. The attendants were closing the empty bins, but people were opening them and photographing them. SWA is a bus and always has been. Charging like it’s UA or Delta is not a viable option long-term for a flying bus. For UA prices, I will fly UA. At least with them, I know what I’m getting into upfront. SWA is now on my “no fly list.”
Gate checking is free. And if you really don’t want to check a bag, don’t fly with a suitcase. I’ve never been forced to gate-check with just a backpack and a soft briefcase, even when they announce that bins are full, and I haven’t bothered trying to board early with my “group” (because my aversion to all things British extends to an aversion to queuing, meaning I almost never bother boarding with my “group”). They’re too busy looking for morons with suitcases.
This happened on my flight from Phoenix to Ontario on Jan 29. It was obvious because gate agents had been asking for volunteers to check roller bags and giving a countdown of how many volunteers were needed. They were 4 volunteers short.
When they told Boarding Groups 7 and 8 that ALL rolling bags in these groups had to be gate checked we knew they were lying. My bag isn’t even a standard roller, it’s smaller than a standard roller (and much smaller than the huge duffle bags some passengers had that were being allowed) and has a side handle as well as wheels, but the gate agents were clearly enjoying taking the frustrations they’re enduring this week out on the passengers despite the fact that this was an easygoing crowd who were all being really cooperative about it. Except me. They trusted us to leave our tagged-at-the-gate bags on the jetway at the door of the plane, I took the opportunity to remove the tag and hold my “small bag that also has wheels” like a suitcase as I made eye contact, smiled warmly and said hello to the Flight Attendant who greeted me onboard. Was there plenty of bin space for that renegade roller? TONS People were complaining all through the last two groups boarding. And those poor, LOVELY, Flight Attendants had to do the work of 3 people each to unruffle all those outraged feathers. Definitely my last flight on Southwest after flying it exclusively since the 80s
I don’t believe the passenger in the video was “forced” or was lied to. He was in a Boeing 737-700 which is well known for smaller bins and limited luggage space on a full flight. The agent in question stated this fact to be proactive before and during boarding. Also, passengers who check bags at the gate are NOT charged, so the statement by this person anyone was FORCED to PAY for this is also untrue. While obvious tweaks are needed during this first few weeks of new policies (which have been implemented at other airlines for decades) one would hope that grace could be shown to all involved rather than continued rage so prevalent right now. Thank you and safe travels.
Myself and 4 other passengers from a delayed SWA flight were recently prevented from boarding our connection despite arriving at the gate before the published end of boarding time. I don’t fly SWA any more due to this and the recent changes.to their boarding and luggage policies.
Soon this once great airline will be changing it’s name to either Southworst – or – Greedwest. I expect for it to file for bankrupcy this year as it swirls the bowl…
F AROUND AND FIND OUT
Wow everyone is so angry on here. Dealing with carry on space is nothing new. Seems like just because it’s Southwest and they are new at the whole seat assignment thing, all of this is getting a lot of press. Have y’all never flown before? Why do folks have to pack and bring their entire household into a giant ass rollaboard and bring it on? Just check the damn thing. Usually ya have to walk by baggage claim anyway…. Just sayin.
Hope they are bankrupt in a couple years
I’ve been flying SWA since 1993 when I was was a DEA Agent and SWA had the government contract. I’m A-list Preferred and fly them 40-80 times per year for work alone. I also knew the founder, Herb Kelleher. He’d roll over in his grave if he knew about the current changes. That being said, I won’t fly any other airline if I don’t have to. Their pilots are the best, mostly former Air Force and Navy pilots, and the flight attendants are the nicest around.
They made their changes after COVID because, for the first time in their history, they lost money. Also, among the modern customers are too many entitled jerks who instead of checking bags under their 2 bags fly free policy, chose to fly with over stuffed suitcases masquerading as carry ons. Then there were the frauds who claimed they needed assistance in boarding so they could board first. I’ve seen as many as 15 wheel chairs at boarding, but during the flight all were miraculously healed and walked off the plane, with not a single one needing a wheel chair. All of this slowed boarding and their once famous act of turning an aircraft around on 20 minutes was long gone. You all did it to yourselves, so quit complaining!
I’ve flown many flights since the new changes and nobody was complaining. Seems the moaner and groaners are mostly online trolls. 🙁
@Gary “I see this on twitter as one of the two most common airline complaints. (after nicked luggage)” I assumed you haven’t adopted a British vocabulary, so you don’t mean stolen (which is how I resdbit first).
Best example is I was on an early morning flight and I was shooting the shit with the gate agent who was chuckling about how the flight had so few passengers that day. Not two minutes later he made the first announcement: “Ladies and gentlemen, overhead cargo space will be tight this morning, we advise you to gate check your carry on…”
Adding insult to injury, Southwest has reserved and locked the first long bin on the port side of the plane, above and across from the added pitch seats. Thus, even the “premium” passengers have no bin space. Given that it’s business travelers who only fly with carry-on, it means you have to put your bag back a few rows. Not exactly a “customers first” approach.
Oh, wait, there’s more . . . if you want to “early board” because you only fly with carry-ons, you can purchase the premium fare, even if they’re out of premium seats. So, all the pain at twice the price!
Yeah yeah. The way SWA traditionally did things worked very well until it no longer worked. That unassigned seating got completely out of control with half the flight ordering a wheelchair to board first and then walking off at the other end. SWA was nearing bankruptcy as their ancient model had long become a relic and they became the victims of a hostile takeover.
Airline flying will never be perfect. Unless you can afford the private jet, there will be compromises. SWA had to pay for more baggage handlers when checked bags were free, and it took longer to upload and download all those bags.
Won’t be flying southwest again, Alaska Air is much nicer for similar price. One beauty of gate checking bags is that they then “fly free”.
Just make sure there are lithium batteries in your carry on if you don’t want it checked.