Southwest Airlines Is Getting Rid Of Their Trademarked "Two Bags Fly Free" And Will Begin Charging For The First Time Ever

Look I'm not going to pretend like I understand the ins and outs of Board Meeting decisions and financial reports, but what I can tell you is this: I'm a loyal Southwest flyer. Not because of the service. Not because of the snacks. Not because of the colors. I'm a loyal Southwest flyer because of the PRICE. People forget that my first job was in a 7th grade classroom for a mere $33,991 a year. I'm not flushed with cash by any means. So when it comes to airfare, the luxuries of United and American are only for when it's on the company card! But while I'm always certainly looking for the best deal, one trip on Spirit Airlines showed me that you get what you pay for there. So I've landed on Southwest, which I would say I fly no less than 10x per year between Columbus and Chicago for a modest $49 each way! And as of today, I am disgusted....like many Americans across the country.

I could go on and on and on. Southwest was known as the People's Airline, and while this might make financial sense, the common (cheap) people of this country have their pitchforks out this morning. And am I crazy in thinking that this decision to make more money is actually going to kill them in the long run? All I'm saying is this reminds me of when Subway got rid of the $5 footlong. Sure it might help your (insert financial term here), but your customers will never forgive you. Papa Johns still puts the pepper and garlic sauce in with their pizza even though it costs them money to do so....

All I'm saying is that Southwest had a massive differentiator in the market for families and people that need to check bags. Now they need to earn their business based on other things, which from flying on their airlines often, I'm not sure they have.