Originally Posted by
m907
It's always upper middle class boomers coming in here with lectures about market dynamics and why people who don't like the policy changes are cheap and need to pay up. It's borne of a sense of superiority that they can afford to pay the increased rates and they're smarter because they think they understand the economics in a way the complainers don't.
Southwest did not need a course correction. The market was not demanding one and they were profitable every year. An activist shareholder decided they wanted to trash the business model for temporary share price gains. Competition is a lifeline against monopolies but that's not the effect of Southwest's rule changes. They're actually becoming less competitive and more like their competitors, and a new airline is unlikely to fill the gap because of the onerous regulatory burden and prohibitive costs of starting a new airline. That is a massive loss for consumers.
Quite rich of you to make so many assumptions about others. Yes its capitalism for sure - thats just the way it is. If i can't afford to fly, i won't fly simple as that. At the end of the day- the market speaks and customers vote with their wallet.
And southwest needed to make changes. Innovation and evolution is the name of the game. They can't get stagnant. And the southwest pricing is still way better than say AA. And personally I dont care nor am loyal to any airline. I just fly the best option I have with the best services that I am willing to pay and it so happens that Southwest is the best option for me being in Texas and so be it. Still believe for all the flak southwest is getting nowadays- their customer service is still amongst the best in the domestic US market. And posts like yours reinforce the fact that southwest needed to change and the market will decide if it works or not for southwest . Simple as that
Dor comparison check out AA pricing on routes where they are the only operator vs routes where southwest is the only operator. Yes southwest is expensive for last min fares say 350 oneway but you will see ridiculous rates on AA like 1000 or 2000 oneway (yes thats 1000-2000). You will necer see that on southwest