Originally Posted by
COTraveler123
Not surprised to see this. Southwest will probably make more money with this change. People are angry today, but when they check their choices everyone else does the same so most people who flew them before will keep flying them. This move will also turn them around like it did for United and Delta and help them compete against ULCCs. I guess this is what happens when we have such few choices as consumers and so many mergers were allowed over the years.
I am sure they will need to get all their ads taken down. I see then all over DEN and on Concourse B when taking the escaltors. I always laugh when airlines like United let Southwest advertise in their gate areas.
A good day for Southwest Copywriters who have had plenty of work I am sure!
I honestly think it's only a 50-50 chance it works. Brand perception is not easily quantifiable and it's a lot easier to destroy than restore. The best example, and a large part of the reason I believe why Southwest is struggling in the first place, is the Christmas 2022 meltdown when every single one of the millions of passengers was affected. Rather than double down on reliability, they're doubling down on damaging customer sentiment.
Best case scenario, in a few years they're another legacy carrier ripe for disruption from an upstart which attempts to rebuild based on their traditional model. Worst case scenario, ancillary revenue fails to recoup lost revenue from loyalists and casual flyers and they're on the trading block in a few years.