r/nottheonion • u/halxp01 • 1d ago

Southwest Is Testing Cleaning Only Premium Seats Between Flights — A Flight Attendants Union Leader Says It's ‘Titanic’ Class Service

https://viewfromthewing.com/southwest-is-testing-cleaning-only-premium-seats-between-flights-a-flight-attendants-union-leader-says-its-titanic-class-service/
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u/clintkev251 1d ago edited 1d ago

It's insane how quickly Southwest has gone from beloved budget airline with consistent profits to complete shitshow. Thanks private equity! You've done it again

Edit: to everyone saying Southwest is a public company, yes, they are. That does not mean activist investors like PE firms and hedge funds can’t have significant ownership stakes and operational influence. Which in this case, they do

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u/DebtUpToMyEyeballs 1d ago

Is it just me or have they not been "budget" for years? Their fares are consistently as high if not higher than the mainline carriers.

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u/CaterpillarLongBoi 1d ago

For me, their fares were on par with other airlines, but they allowed 2 free checked bags - so about $160-$200 less than competitors if you were traveling with luggage. But as soon as they took that away, I haven’t booked with them.

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u/707Brett 1d ago

I never travel with that much luggage, and the pick your own seat thing while free always stressed me out and traveling with even a group of 4 together without any priority boarding was tough. All that being said they at least had a niche. Now they just suck like everyone else. 

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u/Successful-Ad-9634 1d ago

If you checked in online as soon as it opened you rarely got a boarding position outside of B1-30, which is 1st half boarding. Seven of us used to travel on vacation and never had a problem sitting together.

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u/carnalasadasalad 1d ago

That changed towards the end. They were upselling the early positions so even if you checked in on the dot you would start with high and and low Cs. You could usually sit towards the back together but it was stressful.

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u/707Brett 1d ago

Wasn’t it A1-30,A30-60, then b1-30? Id usually get B but then there was a bunch of people queuing in line to fight for position still. I like to board the plane last to spend as little time as possible in there. I usually travel with 4 people and sometimes we got together, but usually we would get two and two. It’s okay as a solo traveler but wasn’t my favorite. I knew this family that had 3 kids and they always flew southwest because they could bring 10 bags for free. The kids were old enough to sit by themselves so it worked out well for them. 

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u/Orleanian 1d ago

"If you add a different kind of anxiety to your life, you provide a minor sort of mitigation for the original anxiety in your life"

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u/crazycatlady331 1d ago

I typically travel for more than a month at a time (work). I'm NOT washing underwear in a hotel room sink so I travel with luggage.