The New Southwest Airlines - Good and Bad
November 30th, 2007 Posted in Travel industry, Vacation deals
I had a few flights on Southwest Airlines last week, so I got to see “the new Southwest” in action after a few (for them) radical changes in the way they do things. Overall, their big push now is to lure more business travelers. It’s a big gamble since it risks alienating their huge base of leisure travelers and many say they can only lure so many without having business class and real perks.The two changes that most affect leisure travelers though are at opposite ends: one great, one lousy. The great change is that the cattle call boarding process has been ditched in favor of one that is far more civilized. You get a number along with your letter (So A 37 for instance) and the place where you need to stand in line is marked on a pole. You can sit and read the paper or fiddle with your music player until the plane is actually close to boarding—instead of standing in line for a half hour or more to get a decent seat. If you don’t print your boarding pass out at home and you end up with a “C” you’re still screwed of course. Might as well wait until the last minute and then take your middle seat.
Unless, that is, you have paid a Business Select premium. In that case you will get an “A” and can be sure you’ll get a window or aisle. You’ll also get extra Rapid Rewards points and a drink. Not a bad deal if time is money and you want to be sure of no hassles.
The problem is, that means less “A” passes for the rest of us who paid the low fares the company built its business on. If Southwest gets as many business travelers as it hopes, the rest of us could be shut out, even if we log on 23 hours before departure to print our boarding passes.
The screen shot above is what is really annoying some passengers. If you log in to check flight prices, you see three rows. If you are a regular traveler going to see the relatives, two of those columns are not for you. That’s a pretty clear visual representation of where the company’s future priorities are.
Time will tell how this all pans out. My flights were great. Southwest is still the one to turn to if you want your flight to arrive on time, you want your luggage to actually get there, and you want to interact with people who actually seem to like their job—all for a reasonable price. Let’s just hope the new changes don’t make them start sliding down toward USAir…
2 Responses to “The New Southwest Airlines - Good and Bad”
By Scott near SMF on Nov 30, 2007
The one thing to remember is the positions A1 through A15 are held as “Business Select”
boarding positions. If a flight only sold 5 “Business Select” fares, then positions A6 through A15, will be vacant and A16 becomes the sixth person to board after the handicapped preboards.
By bubba on Nov 30, 2007
The old website would show all fares categories with their own column, most showing not available on busy days or in heavy markets. Now you just see what is truly available in the three columns. As the the web only fares sell out the displayed price will increase in the third column. SW just removed the clutter from the website pricing to be able to stress the biz select category. The leisure passenger didn’t lose anything except a clutter website design!