An airline is ending its most popular policy for the first time in 54 years.
Southwest Airlines announced Tuesday that it will no longer offer free checked baggage for all passengers. Starting May 28, only Southwest’s Rapid Rewards A-List Preferred members and passengers who pay for Business Select fares will receive two free checked bags; A-List Members and Southwest-branded credit card holders will be allowed one checked bag.
Everyone else will have to pay for all checked bags starting May 28, ending the company’s “bags fly free” policy.
The move comes just six months after Southwest CEO Bob Jordan promised the airline would continue offering free checked luggage, calling it the third most important offer customers look for after fare and schedule. Southwest had been the only major airline to offer free checked bags since JetBlue changed its policy in 2015.
Southwest did not say how much it will charge for checked bags, but prices are expected to be similar to other carriers.
“This is how you destroy a brand. This is how you destroy customer preference. This is how you destroy loyalty. And this, I think, is going to send Southwest into a financial tailspin,” airline industry analyst Henry Harteveldt, of Atmosphere Research Group, told CBS News. “Southwest, with these changes, becomes just another airline… This is the equivalent of deliberately sailing a ship into an iceberg.”
Jordan defended the move in a statement Monday.
“We have tremendous opportunity to meet current and future customer needs, attract new customer segments we don’t compete for today, and return to the levels of profitability that both we and our shareholders expect,” Jordan said.
According to the Associated Press, Southwest Airlines has struggled recently and is facing pressure from investors to boost profits and revenue. Last month, the company eliminated 1,750 jobs, or 15% of its corporate workforce, in its first major layoffs in more than half a century of operation.
Last year, the Dallas-based airline said it was ending another tradition — open-seating — and planning to require assigned seats. Extra legroom seats will be sold for an additional fee.
