Latest news with #checkedbags
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Southwest Airlines Admits Sales Slumped After Ending Free Bags
Earlier this year, Southwest Airlines announced several major policy changes in an attempt to boost the airline's slumping profits. This was highlighted by the decision to begin charging for checked bags, ending its longstanding "bags fly free" policy. However, it seems like profits are still slumping and that this move hurt sales. Back in May, Southwest Airlines officially ended its longstanding "bags fly free" policy, which previously allowed all customers to bring two checked bags free of charge. Under the new policy, passengers must pay $35 for their first checked bag and $45 for a second. While many customers quickly expressed their displeasure at the move, Southwest Airlines CEO Bob Jordan defended the move. "I know that we have some that are not happy - and we have many, many, many that are happy," he said last month. "You have to keep talking because sometimes people don't understand what you're doing. What I find is that once folks know where we're headed, they're very excited. I think you just have to play through this period of change because change is hard." However, Southwest recently admitted a telling truth after ending free bags. On Wednesday, Southwest Airlines posted second-quarter earnings that were not exactly optimistic. According to CNBC, Southwest Airlines posted net income of $213 million, which is down 42 percent over last year. Even more tellingly, however, Southwest Airlines admitted that its sale of basic economy fares suffered after ending free bags. While the airline says that those sales have returned to 'expected levels,' according to CNBC, it admits that the changes hurt its unit revenue in the second quarter by half a point and would hurt unit revenue by about a point in the third quarter. Needless to say, it seems that ending free bags has not provided a major boost to Southwest Airlines. In fact, if anything, it seems like it has hurt sales. Southwest Airlines Admits Sales Slumped After Ending Free Bags first appeared on Men's Journal on Jul 24, 2025 Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Southwest Airlines Receives a Warning After Major Changes
Southwest Airlines is in the process of making some significant changes to its identity, ending its longstanding "bags fly free" policy as well as its open seating policy. But as the airline transitions into its new identity, one travel expert has a pretty clear warning. Earlier this year, Southwest Airlines announced plans to begin charging for checked bags and move to an assigned seating model that allows customers to pay extra to select their seats, which could include premium seats with extra legroom. The drastic policy changes came as the airline searched for ways to boost its profits, which have been slumping in recent years. But there's no guarantee it will work. New Checked Bag Fees Southwest Airlines began charging for checked bags back in May, charging customers $35 for the first checked bag and $45 for an additional checked bag. The move ended Southwest's iconic "bags fly free" policy, which it had stuck to for decades. The early results from the changes were not great. Customers were not happy, the airline saw an immediate decline in bookings, and the move did not provide an immediate, obvious boost to profits. Still, Southwest is committed to moving forward with the plan, and it sounds like CEO Bob Jordan is pleased with the early results. 'The revenue contribution from bag fees has exceeded our expectations so far, and we've experienced no negative impact to the operation,' Jordan said. Assigned Seating Model For decades, Southwest Airlines had a democratic, open seating policy on all of its flights, allowing passengers to simply choose any seat on the aircraft after boarding in the order in which they checked in, though the airline eventually allowed some guests to pay to board sooner than others. Beginning in January of 2026, that's changing. Earlier this year, Southwest Airlines officially announced that it would be ending its open-seating policy, moving to an assigned seating model. Now, guests will have to choose between four fare bundles: Basic, Choice, Choice Preferred, and Choice Extra. Basic passengers will either receive an automatically assigned seat a day before departure or pay extra to select a seat. All other fare types will include seat selection at no extra cost. The assigned seating model will officially go into effect beginning January 27, 2026. More Changes on the Horizon While Southwest has already made some rather significant changes, the airline is not done evolving yet. Back in June, CEO Bob Jordan made it clear that Southwest was keeping its options open for future changes. While he did not specifically indicate what the airline had planned for the future, he mentioned things like international flights and airport lounges – things Southwest's competitors currently offer, but it has never pursued. "Whatever customers need in 2025, 2030, we won't take any of that off the table," Jordan said back in June. "We know we send customers to other airlines because there's some things you might want that you can't get on us. That includes things like lounges, like true premium, like flying long-haul international. I want to send fewer and fewer customers to another airline." We'll have to see what's next for the airline. A Warning About the Future While Southwest has undergone some extensive changes already and appears to have even more changes on the horizon, there's no guarantee that this transformation will actually yield the desired results. As Prachi Patel of Simple Flying warned the airline, it's still not clear how customers will respond to the changes or how the changes will ultimately impact the company's bottom line. "The Dallas-based carrier's transformation is far from over. Assigned seating is still months away from appearing on flights, and cabin retrofits to accommodate new seat types are scheduled to run into early 2026. The airline has committed to completing those updates across its fleet, but much of what comes next depends on how passengers respond to the changes already underway," Patel wrote in a post for Simple Flying this week. "Internally, the company is working to deliver the financial results its investors now expect while trying to avoid further backlash from its customer base and workforce. Fare bundles, revised loyalty benefits, and new seating products are all part of that strategy, but none of it guarantees long-term stability. The pressure to show progress, both operationally and financially, will only increase in the months ahead," Patel added. The transformation is well underway. But as Patel warns, there's always a chance it could backfire. Southwest Airlines Receives a Warning After Major Changes first appeared on Men's Journal on Aug 7, 2025 Sign in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Southwest Airlines Confirms Big Move After Controversial Change
Southwest Airlines has dominated the headlines in recent months thanks to the carrier's controversial decisions to start charging for checked bags and changing how its aircraft will be boarded. Starting on Jan. 27, 2026, instead of being assigned a number relating to boarding the aircraft, travelers will be able to select their assigned seat ahead of time. CEO Bob Jordan previously opened up on the change, suggesting it's for the betterment of employees and travelers alike. "... Our employees are excited about the changes. Because if you think about it, if in the open-seating world a family gets on and they can't sit together, the flight attendant is having to police that in the cabin," he said. "Our open-seat boarding can cause a lot of pre-boards, and our agents are having to police that. You have people who paid for early boarding, and then we have more pre-boards than anybody else. "So folks that paid for earlier boarding are going, 'Well, wait, why?'" Southwest Makes Another Policy Shift In another major change for the company, Southwest Airlines announced a partnership with Priceline allowing users to search and book the carrier's inventory on websites owned by Booking Holdings including Agoda, Cheapflights, Momondo, HotelsCombined and Rocketmiles. "We're happy to partner with Priceline to broaden our distribution network and offer even more Customers the opportunity to experience our Southwest Hospitality," Tony Roach, Executive Vice President Customer & Brand at Southwest Airlines said in a statement. "We look forward to making it easier for Customers to access our extensive flight offerings to book their next trip." What Led to Southwest's Latest Move? The move comes just over a year after Southwest broadened its retail network by selling tickets on Expedia's list of booking sites, Travelocity, Hotwire, Orbitz and CheapTickets and its decision to show fares on Google Flights. Earlier this year Southwest revealed just two months after the initiative began, four to five percent of the airline's bookings were on Expedia-owned websites, and that most of the customers were new to Southwest or "customers we haven't seen in a long time."Southwest Airlines Confirms Big Move After Controversial Change first appeared on Men's Journal on Aug 7, 2025 Solve the daily Crossword
Yahoo
02-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
U.S. airlines made over $7.2 billion in checked bag fees in 2024
Checked bags are a big business for U.S. airlines, bringing in more than $7 billion in revenue last year, according to data from the Bureau of Transportation Statistics. The fees have brought more revenue to the airlines than it ever had prior to the pandemic, the data shows. Airlines began shifting their checked bag policy in recent years to keep up with what they say are rising operational costs, including higher prices for fuel and increased wages. Most recently, Southwest Airlines announced it will start charging $35 for the first checked bag — after more than 50 years of only charging for a third bag. Changes at Southwest came amid mounting pressure from activist investors to improve its financial performance. The airline in September predicted that new fees would lead to $1.5 billion a year in revenue. Last year, JetBlue brought Uber-style surge pricing to bag-check fees, making it more costly to check luggage during peak travel periods. American Airlines also increased its fees in 2024 from $30 to $35 for the first checked bag. Breaking down the revenue from checked bags for U.S. airlines Checked bags brought in about $7.27 billion in revenue last year for Alaska Airlines, Allegiant Air, American, Breeze Airways, Delta Air Lines, Frontier Airlines, Hawaiian Airlines, JetBlue, Silver Airways, Southwest, Spirit Airlines, Sun Country and United Airlines, according to the government's data that was last updated on May 6. That is up from $7.07 billion in 2023, Bureau of Transportation Statistics' data shows. In 2022, U.S. airlines made over $6.7 billion in bag fees, another major jump from the $5.3 billion made in 2021. American, Delta and United — the three largest U.S. airlines — made over $1 billion each last year on checked bags — and their revenue from it has been climbing since the COVID-19 pandemic halted air travel in 2020. When the pandemic hit, total checked bag revenue plummeted to $2.84 billion in 2020, down from $5.76 billion in 2019. The wonderfully weird world of artist Luigi Serafini Fans turn out for estate sale at home of Tom Petty Dozens killed in attack near Gaza aid delivery point, witnesses blame IDF, Israel denies involvement 擷取數據時發生錯誤 登入存取你的投資組合 擷取數據時發生錯誤 擷取數據時發生錯誤 擷取數據時發生錯誤 擷取數據時發生錯誤
CBS News
27-05-2025
- Business
- CBS News
Southwest sets its first checked bag fee, starting at $35
After more than 50 years, Southwest Airlines' "bags fly free" policy is finally coming to an end. Southwest on Tuesday announced the first checked bag will cost $35, while a second checked bag will cost $45. The policy will begin tomorrow, when some passengers may be subject to a checked bag fee when booking a flight on the discount carrier. The new policy only applies to flights booked on May 28 or later, which means today is the last day to book if passengers want to avoid the new fee. There are, however, some carve-outs to the new policy: Business Select/Choice Extra and A-List Preferred customers will receive two free checked bags, while A-List and Chase Rapid Reward credit card members will get one free checked bag. Southwest announced the end of its free bag check policy in March amid mounting pressure to improve its financial performance. The airline also said last year that it would start selling assigned seats, a major departure from its longstanding open seating policy.
