Originally Posted by
hazelrah
That being said, your assertion that Southwest has backed itself into a corner is incorrect. I've followed the Southwest earning conferences and Southwest has never said -"we will never implement a baggage fee". On the contrary WN management has said we've studied the issue, we elected not to have the bag fees, but that does not mean that at some point in the future this policy won't change. For the moment the no baggage fee is used as a succesfull marketing strategy.
No, Southwest has backed itself into a corner.
They've spent millions marketing their "bags fly free" campaign. The more they beat this drum, the harder it will be for them to move away from this policy in the future.
Could they reverse course tomorrow and begin charging for checked baggage? Of course. That doesn't mean they won't take a big hit from the media and customers.
If you listened to the Southwest earnings calls close enough, management was very clear in stating that other sources of ancilliary revenue would be needed. Since they have decided not to charge for bags (for now, anyways) they will have to be really creative in finding extra fees to slap on customers.