The sad day Southwest Airlines was like any other airline

Southwest Airlines used to be a different type of airline: free bags, grab the seat you like, use a voucher for a beer and then lean back and prepare yourself to be maintained by the comedic stick of the flight attendant. In the past it was also cheaper most of the time, and frequent flyers knew that southwest exhausted its planes faster and rose faster and rose on board and faster down the airport taxiways.

In Chicago it always flew from Midway Airport: closer to the city, less tedious to cross, shorter roller paths, a terminal that was unequal but very efficient.

All of this was slowly undermined: Southwest low tariffs were only a marketing pitch; They have lost their reliable price edge and have been the most expensive on the market lately. Open seating disappeared, not because the passengers asked for it, but that Southwest could make money to sell first -class places. Beverage vouchers are long gone. And so a large part of the famous employees of the airline is culture at first: this year it had its first layoffs and exposed about 15% of his non-union staff.

Airlines are hard companies. Southwest Management was subjected to an immense pressure from an activist investor, Elliott Investment Management. In fact, on Tuesday, the stock market reacted positively to the news that Southwest had founded pretty much the last remaining thing that it takes off from all other large airlines: it eliminated its pocket-fly-free guidelines for their average Joe and Jane Flyer, who do not fly enough to have a status or that do not keep any of the airline credit cards. Overall, Southwest is now just like his main competitors. It is a breathtaking turn for what a company was once so distinctive.

Time will show whether this is the right game for the shareholders. But it seems to us to get real risk of being one of the few airlines as southwest that actually seemed to like the flyers.

The chance to fly to Florida with the children for the spring break should not only be the province of the rich, those whose professions or bank accounts fly enough to maintain status and not pay for bags. What about the occasional flyer? What is Southwest plans for you now?

So today we give the nail into the coffin of everything that Southwest Special made for us. We remind its long history, the tariffs in the markets in which they have come to bring the tariffs. We appreciate the years of free drinks, free bags and the funny ambience of loyal, long -standing employees. And we complain about the marketing of giving the ordinary Americans from A to B and the help of this airline, who did not do so, could not fly often.

Southwest came to Chicago in mid -1985 and offered St. Louis for the first time seven flights a day. We loved its plastic boarding cards and a culture that meant that they had a good place when they got there early. Status or not.

In the reports on the changes announced on Tuesday, it was said that those who opposed the move argued that customers were upset. “Where are you going?” Was the answer from those who won the day.

It is true that there are no other large US airlines that use your suitcase for free, no matter which tariff you buy.

But that sounds like a good opportunity for someone.

– Chicago Tribune