Originally Posted by
Cledaybuck
Betrayal? It's not personal, it's just business. If that upfront pricing had kept industry leading margins, we probably wouldn't be having this conversation. Instead, it led to a middle of the pack performance behind several airlines that were "nickel and diming" customer for millions of dollar in income.
That upfront pricing served Southwest well and let Southwest grow into what it grew into.
Who knows if Southwest would have had the growth it has had, had they gone to the fee model at the same time the other airlines did.
It is absolutely a betrayal to the customers. But since Southwest was publicly traded, it was set up to be raided like this the way it is, to screw customers over. The investors will have a short term gain from the added fees in the coming months, and I suspect a merger with another carrier where Southwest disappears and the merging party is the controlling entity, will be announced before Southwest ever has to publicly show the damage that has been caused.