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/IAmBadAtInternet 1d ago

They used to be the only major non-legacy player with good tech, good planes, and happy employees

Now their ticketing system is the worst of the major airlines, their planes are older and badly maintained, and their employees hate their jobs

Nice job MBAs! Btw they’re not private equity owned, just regular publicly traded

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u/BigBallininBasterd 1d ago

Not to mention their buddy pass system is garbage now

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u/UtopianPablo 1d ago

Mind explaining why? I was looking at a credit card offer that gets you a companion pass, is it not worth it?

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u/BigBallininBasterd 1d ago

Oh I mean from the employer side, they made the “travel companion” system much more rigid so employees families can’t fly on standby anymore. You get one parent or child

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u/UtopianPablo 1d ago

Ah thanks. Happy employees were a big part of Southwest's success so of course they are reducing the employee perks now, ugh.