All Bags Will No Longer Fly Free on Southwest Airlines, Starting Tomorrow
Southwest Airlines will end its decades-long "two bags fly free" era for new bookings beginning tomorrow.
The new fees of $35 for a first checked bag and $45 for a second will apply to Southwest's Basic, Wanna Get Away Plus, and Anytime fares.
Rapid Rewards A-List Preferred Members and customers traveling on Business Select or Choice Extra fares will still receive two free checked bags. Standard A-List Members and Rapid Rewards Credit Cardmembers will get one free bag.
The change is one of a series Southwest has announced over the past year amid activist investor pressure.Southwest Airlines' (LUV) decades-long "two bags fly free" era is coming to an end tomorrow.
The carrier will begin charging certain customers $35 for their first checked bag and $45 for their second on flights booked starting Wednesday, a company spokesperson said in a statement.
The change—which brings Southwest in line with domestic competitors Delta Air Lines (DAL), United Airlines (UAL), and American Airlines (AAL)—comes amid pressure from activist investor Elliott Investment Management to raise revenue. In addition to the bag fees, Southwest on Wednesday is introducing a basic economy ticket option, which the airline describes as its lowest price point but least flexible tier.
The new bag fees apply to Southwest's Basic, Wanna Get Away Plus, and Anytime fares. Rapid Rewards A-List Preferred Members and customers traveling on Business Select or Choice Extra fares will still receive two free checked bags. Standard A-List Members and Rapid Rewards Credit Cardmembers will get one free bag.
Southwest last summer announced it would be ending its famed open seating policy, later adding that "reservations for flights with assigned seats are expected to start in the second half of 2025 for flights operating in 2026."
Shares of Southwest rose 3% soon after markets opened Tuesday. The airline's stock has fallen about 5% in 2025.
Read the original article on Investopedia
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
19 hours ago
- Yahoo
Southwest Egg Supply Shaken as Major Producer Shuts Down
Hickman's Family Farms, the largest egg producer in the Southwest, is grappling with a devastating crisis that has forced a partial shutdown of its operations. The farm, based in Arizona, has lost around 6 million chickens, 95 percent of its flock, forcing layoffs and halting its longstanding inmate rehabilitation program. 'Our hens began showing symptoms on May 15 and were confirmed the next day,' CEO Glenn Hickman said at a recent news conference. Despite containment efforts, the issue spread across all of the farm's west-side facilities. Hickman noted that the company has ordered baby chicks and expects to house its first new hens in about five months, but full recovery will likely take two years, Newsweek reported. Founded in 1944, Hickman's Family Farms operates several facilities in Arizona and Colorado and is ranked among the top 20 egg producers in the country. The partial shutdown will impact not only the regional egg supply but also thousands of workers, including those participating in the farm's inmate rehabilitation crisis has rippled across an already fragile food supply chain. Food economics experts warn that the shutdown of a key egg supplier in the Southwest could drive up egg prices and increase regional shortages, adding pressure to an industry already under strain. 'This is a very unfortunate situation and a stark reminder of how vulnerable our food system remains,' said David Ortega, a professor of food economics and policy at Michigan State University. Hickman has called for faster access to solutions that could help stabilize operations, including the rollout of a poultry vaccine. However, competing industry interests and regulatory hurdles are slowing progress. For now, Hickman's Family Farms faces a long road to recovery. Whether the company and the broader egg industry can bounce back will depend on how quickly biosecurity measures and supply chain reinforcements can be implemented in the months ahead. Southwest Egg Supply Shaken as Major Producer Shuts Down first appeared on Men's Journal on Jun 1, 2025
Yahoo
a day ago
- Yahoo
Dallas City Council Approves 12-Year Lease Extension For Southwest Airlines At Love Field
The Dallas City Council has approved a lease extension for Southwest Airlines to operate 18 gates at Dallas Love Field through September 2040, extending the carrier's presence at its historic home base by 12 years. The move addresses anticipated passenger growth and secures long-term operational stability for the airport that served over 16 million travelers last year. Southwest's current lease was set to expire in September 2028, but city aviation officials pushed for an early renewal to lock in predictable costs per passenger. The proactive approach comes as Love Field prepares for projected annual enplanements to reach 10 million by late 2026. Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson praised the partnership during the council's deliberations. 'I am proud to see Dallas extend its longstanding partnership with Southwest Airlines,' Johnson said, as reported by city officials. 'For over 50 years, Southwest has been the cornerstone of Dallas Love Field Airport and a key economic partner to our city.' Southwest CEO Bob Jordan emphasized the airline's deep roots at Love Field, dating back to its inaugural flight in 1971. 'We applaud the leadership of Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson and City Manager Kimberly Bizor Tolbert in helping secure Southwest's long-term future at Dallas Love Field,' Jordan said. The airline executive highlighted Southwest's mission to 'connect People to what matters most in their lives with friendly, reliable, and low-cost air travel.' The extended agreement includes provisions for capital investments aimed at enhancing passenger experience and airport infrastructure. These improvements will help Love Field maintain its status as the busiest medium-hub airport in the United States. Located just seven miles from downtown Dallas, Love Field contributes more than $5.6 billion in annual economic activity to the region. The airport supports approximately 28,000 local jobs and generates $1.7 billion in labor income each year. The facility has earned recognition from industry groups, including ACI-World's Airport Service Quality awards and ACI-NA's MarComCX honors. Still, managing projected growth while maintaining service quality remains a key challenge for airport administrators. The lease extension provides Southwest with operational certainty as the carrier continues expanding its network from its original hub. For Dallas, it ensures continued access to affordable air travel options for residents and businesses throughout the metropolitan area.
Yahoo
a day ago
- Yahoo
The Colorado River Basin has lost as much groundwater as the entire volume of Lake Mead
Deep below the surface of the ground in one of the driest parts of the country, there is a looming problem: The water is running out — but not the kind that fills lakes, streams and reservoirs. The amount of groundwater that has been pumped out of the Colorado River Basin since 2003 is enough to fill Lake Mead, researchers report in a study published earlier this week. Most of that water was used to irrigate fields of alfalfa and vegetables grown in the desert Southwest. No one knows exactly how much is left, but the study, published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters, shows an alarming rate of withdrawal of a vital water source for a region that could also see its supply of Colorado River water shrink. 'We're using it faster and faster,' said Jay Famiglietti, an Arizona State University professor and the study's senior author. In the past two decades, groundwater basins – or large, underground aquifers – lost more than twice the amount of water that was taken out of major surface reservoirs, Famiglietti's team found, like Mead and Lake Powell, which themselves have seen water levels crash. The Arizona State University research team measured more than two decades of NASA satellite observations and used land modeling to trace how groundwater tables in the Colorado River basin were dwindling. The team focused mostly on Arizona, a state that is particularly vulnerable to future cutbacks on the Colorado River. Groundwater makes up about 35% of the total water supply for Arizona, said Sarah Porter, director of the Kyl Center for Water Policy at Arizona State University, who was not directly involved in the study. The study found groundwater tables in the Lower Colorado River basin, and Arizona in particular, have declined significantly in the last decade. The problem is especially pronounced in Arizona's rural areas, many of which don't have groundwater regulations, and little backup supply from rivers. With wells in rural Arizona increasingly running dry, farmers and homeowners now drill thousands of feet into the ground to access water. Scientists don't know exactly how much groundwater is left in Arizona, Famiglietti added, but the signs are troubling. 'We have seen dry stream beds for decades,' he said. 'That's an indication that the connection between groundwater and rivers has been lost.' Some land has also begun to cave in, with deep fissures forming in parts of the state as ground water has been pumped out. This is not unique to Arizona, Famiglietti said, with similar signs of disappearing groundwater happening in the agriculture-heavy Central Valley in California. Porter said the results illuminate the magnitude of the groundwater crisis in the Southwest, which is particularly helpful for state officials and lawmakers. 'There are a lot of people who aren't sure if we have a serious situation with respect to groundwater, because groundwater is hidden,' Porter said. 'The value of the study is that it really adds a lot of information to the picture.' Groundwater may be hidden, but scientists know with relative certainty that once it is pumped out, it won't be able to recharge within our lifetimes. Much of it was deposited tens or hundreds of thousands of years ago. 'It takes geologic time' to refill these deep aquifers — meaning thousands of years — 'and we as humans have more or less been burning through it in the last over the last century,' Famiglietti said. Famiglietti warned the groundwater situation could worsen if the state's allocation of Colorado River water is further decreased, a decision that could be made in the next two years. If Arizona's Colorado River water allocation was cut to zero, 'we could burn through the available groundwater in 50 years,' Famiglietti said. 'We're talking about decades. That's scary. No one wants that to happen.' But Porter pushed back on that characterization, pointing out that Arizona cities have another stable water supply—the Salt River. Porter added cities like Phoenix and Tucson are storing groundwater and have regulations designed to keep it from running out. Arizona has had a groundwater management law in place since 1980. 'We're not expecting that the whole state would turn to groundwater,' Porter said. Famiglietti said he hopes the study will prompt discussions over how to more effectively manage groundwater use in the region, especially from agriculture, which uses the lion's share of water. Much of Arizona's crops are exported, either to other states or, as is the case with alfalfa, internationally. Famiglietti called it the 'absolutely biggest' choice that policymakers will have to decide. 'Agriculture just uses so much water,' Famiglietti said. 'Are we going to plan to continue to grow as much food? Are we losing food that's important for the state, that's important for the country, or is it alfalfa that's being shipped to Saudi Arabia?'
