Originally Posted by
m907
I will use the same protocol I use on the legacy carriers. I don't want to spend a minute more on the plane than I need to, so when I have an assigned seat I wait to board last. I don't care if they gate check my bag on a direct flight because I always check a full-size bag anyway. I'll wait until the last doggone minute before the door closes.
I hope this is so catastrophic to their operations that cancellations cascade and revenue plummets.
This is one of the elements I am looking forward to. I prefer to board toward the end of boarding. The old Southwest system incentivized efficient boarding and as frequent passengers we were sort of indirectly or not so indirectly told to "speed up and do our part to get the on time departure." Well, the new system is all about extracting more money out of the passengers. So no need to hurry.
I don't really want to hope this is so catastrophic to operations that cancellations cascade because that will just cause a lot of pain to passengers and front line employees, but I wouldn't mind seeing their profitability plummet due to efficiency problems, additional overtime pay, scheduling fines, etc. caused by to these changes.
I am definitely not looking forward to 2026 flights on Southwest.
The first taste of how these changes screw things up will be after more tickets are sold that will be subject to baggage fees. I think that will be a slow process this summer but will get worse and worse as we go into fall. I expect pre-boarding abuse to increase further as these large families bring more carry ons and more aggressive attempts by passengers to not only save seats but also save overhead bin space for not yet boarded friends/family.