Southwest Airlines used to be a different kind of airline: free bags, grab whichever seat you like, use a coupon for a beer and then sit back and prepare to be entertained by the flight attendants’ comedic in-flight schtick. It also used to be cheaper, at least most of the time, and frequent flyers knew that Southwest always deplaned and boarded its planes faster and scooted more rapidly down the airport taxiways.

In Chicago, it always flew from Midway Airport: closer to the city, less of a hassle to traverse, shorter taxiways, a terminal that was unflashy but very efficient.

All of that slowly has been eroded: Southwest’s low fares became merely a marketing pitch; they lost their reliable edge of price and, of late, sometimes have been the costliest in the market. Open seating went away, not because passengers demanded it, but so Southwest could make a buck selling prime spots. Drink coupons are long gone. And so is much of the airline’s famous employees-first culture: it had its first layoffs this year, axing some 15% of its non-union staff.

Airlines are tough businesses. And Southwest management has been subject to immense pressure from an activist investor, Elliott Investment Management. Indeed, the stock market reacted positively Tuesday to the news that Southwest had nixed pretty much the last remaining thing that made it stand out from all the other major airlines: it eliminated its bags-fly-free policy for your average Joe and Jane flyer, folks who don’t fly often enough to have status or who don’t hold one of the airline’s credit cards. In sum, Southwest is now just like its primary competitors. It’s a stunning turnaround for what once was so distinctive a corporation.

Time will tell if this is the right play for shareholders. But it seems to us to come with real risk, being as Southwest was one of the only airlines that flyers actually seemed to like.

The chance to fly to Florida with the kids for spring break should not only be the province of the wealthy, those whose professions or bank accounts mean they fly enough to get status and don’t have to pay for bags. What about the occasional flyer? What does Southwest plan to do for them now?

So today we put the nail in the coffin of all that made Southwest special to us. We memorialize its long history of bringing down fares in the markets it entered. We appreciate the years of free drinks, free bags, the fun ambiance from loyal, long-serving employees. And we lament the commodification of getting from A to B and the help this airline, above all others, gave to ordinary Americans who did not, could not, fly often.

Southwest came to Chicago Midway in 1985, first offering seven flights a day to St. Louis. We loved its plastic boarding cards and a culture that meant if you got there early, you got a good seat. Status or not.

In the reports about the changes announced Tuesday, it was said that those internally who opposed the move argued that customers would be upset. “Where are they going to go?” was the answer from those who won the day.

It’s true that there are no other major U.S. airlines that’ll take your suitcase gratis, whatever fare you buy.

But this sounds like a good opportunity for someone.

___

©2025 Chicago Tribune. Visit at chicagotribune.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.