Tag Archives for southwest airlines.
Southwest Airlines has killed its ‘differentiated product’ for the airline, and when they’re just like everyone else it becomes obvious that their product is at the bottom of the pack. Yet once most of the decisions have been made, maybe it actually makes sense to charge for checked bags?
Points currently have a fixed value, more or less, getting you the same amount of value towards any ticket you redeem them for. That is changing.
Between Alaska or JetBlue or even Delta, and Southwest, I had more confidence buying from Southwest. They’ve given up that advantage. But expiring flight credits is better for the balance sheet, since it writes off a liability, even though expiring flight credits is worse for incentivizing repeat business.
Southwest Airlines has announced the end of Bags Fly Free, the primary benefit separating it from competitors – and idea they have consistently rejected.
Together with cutting points-earning by two-thirds on the fares most customers buy, Southwest now says they will offer basic economy fares – something they said they would never do.
The woman removed all her clothing and proceeded to walk up and down the aisle. She even tried to gain access to the cockpit, banging on its door, and rubbed up against a female flight attendant.
Southwest Airlines just laid off 15% of its corporate staff, letting workers go for the first time in its history. But they’re not done with cost-cutting. They revealed inside the company today that they will be closing two flight attendant bases – in Austin and Fort Lauderdale. In January, the company cancelled employee rallies. Maybe these weren’t the best way to engage staff and drive the culture, but there’s not a new plan to replace them either. And the messaging was that this is part of cost-cutting in the important “fight to return to excellent financial performance” which they plan to do by “enhancing efficiencies, and capturing value throughout the Company.” Southwest CEO Bob Jordan Southwest isn’t done cutting personnel costs, though. In a memo to employees today, the airline announced that they will eliminate…
No checked bag fees has been a sine qua non of Southwest Airlines. Customers choose Southwest because of this. It makes them appear friendlier and more flexible. And there are strong economic reasons why this is a great choice for the airline. It also differentiates them from other airlines, in an otherwise mostly homogenous industry. And free checked bags may be on the way out. Departure Of Chief Transformation Officer Signals Change Ryan Green has been in charge of the Southwest Airlines transformation. Under pressure from activist investor Elliott Management, they’ve been making changes – and becoming more like the rest of the industry – but not fast enough for the fund that’s taken control of nearly half the Board of Directors. Green is leaving, and the news followed the announcement of the upcoming departures…
A Southwest Airlines pilot narrowly averted disaster this morning when their Boeing 737-800 (registration N8517F) was preparing to land at Chicago Midway airport. Flight 2504 from Omaha was in the gradual pitch-up just prior to touchdown when it initiated a go around as a business jet crossed the runway. The plane climbed out, and landed safely 15 minutes later.
The Southwest Airlines activist investor looking to load up Southwest’s balance sheet with debt, turn the airline into a clone of underperformers American Airlines and JetBlue, and shed staff, is expected to increase its ownership in the carrier. In addition, more of the airline’s leadership is being pushed out.
The “heart” of Southwest Airlines died today, with the company’s first layoffs in corporate history.
They did these via videochat, not in person, banning everyone from headquarters. And the messaging isn’t “we’re in an existential fight for our lives” it’s “we’re not optimizing financial performance.”
Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel -- a topic he has covered since 2002.
Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »
