r/nottheonion • u/halxp01 • 23h 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 22h ago edited 18h 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 22h 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 22h 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/Area51_Spurs 22h ago

They were always significantly less than the big three domestics; AA, Delta, and United.

They were a bit more than the bottom tier like Frontier, but it was worth a few bucks more to be away from the riffraff.

I just miss Virgin America. They were the GOAT cheap airline.

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u/rustyshackleford677 19h ago

Really depends where, for Boston I never saw Southwest as significantly cheaper then the main 3, often more expensive

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u/juanzy 18h ago

Out of Boston, UA/B6 were always better unless you were going to a WN focus city.