Originally Posted by gogreyhound

GK excerpts from the Q3 conference call on Oct. 18:
--"...I did want to admit what I think is the obvious, which is we're off (financial) plan. We do have some concerns about the economy and higher fuel prices, and I don't we want to just continue on with business as usual. So we will be looking for way to augment our current strategies which I'm very enthused about already...." (Don't you feel the enthusiasm?)
--When asked if that could mean "reconsidering" Bags Fly Free: "Well, for now, of course not. I don't think we would ever say no to anything whether it's assigned seats or charging per bags, but we'll be looking for any and all good ideas...."

I think they have too much invested in BFF to pull the plug, but GK is retreating from the past when he said it was sacrosanct. The Wall Street jackals have never liked it, but GK's response was that the extra passengers that flew WN because of BFF more than compensated for the lack of bag revenue. No mention of that this time.

I think ticket change fees are coming. Wall Street has never liked the lack of change fees either (they're a tough crowd to please) and they are less visible than some other possible changes, such as assigned seats with better locations costing extra.

Originally Posted by gogreyhound

I would really hate it if they started imposing change penalties. At the same time, I know that Wall Streeters view no change fees as a license for people to buy a ticket now and trade it in later on a lower fare should there be a sale and pocket the credit for future use. I'm concerned that this argument may make headway.

Originally Posted by nsx

Assigned seats lead to premium seating, which leads to FF upgrades. Pretty soon Southwest is JustAnotherAirline(TM).

It could happen, but it would be the extinction of what Herb gave birth to.