By Alan Gionet
March 11, 2025 / 9:41 PM MDT / CBS Colorado
Fly away free bags. A policy in existence for all Southwest Airlines passengers for over 50 years will soon be ended. Denver International Airport’s second biggest carrier (behind United) is re-doing its bag policy, meaning the end of the popular “bags fly free” mantra for Southwest.
File photo of a Southwest Airlines plane at Denver International Airport Getty Images
It seems to be going over like a lead balloon with passengers a CBS Colorado news crew talked with at the airport Tuesday.
“Why would will still fly Southwest, because now they’re just going to be same as every other flight,” said Howie Baker, a to-this-point devoted Southwest flyer from Thornton who said the policy made the airline stand out. “So whichever one is going to be cheaper and first is the one that we’ll choose.”
Southwest is the nation’s fourth largest airline. It has faced a lot of pressure from an activist investor who is urging the airline to up its financial performance. Southwest has struggled to track along with changing customer preferences post-pandemic. The pricing of individual options and bag fees has proliferated through the industry in recent years. Southwest had resisted.
“What happened was that airlines decided that they wanted to charge for everything in order to become profitable. And guess what, it worked,” said Darren Duber-Smith a marketing expert with Metropolitan State University of Denver.
“I just don’t think we have very much of a choice in the airline industry anymore. There’re really only a handful of major carriers. The discount carriers are trying to merge with each other or going bankrupt,” said Duber-Smith.
“Their model really is antiquated,” he said about Southwest.
“It’s parity. It’s a commoditized industry,” said Duber-Smith. So it’s sort of back to where it was in the 60s and 50s when the government regulated everything. We really didn’t have that many choices and we basically had the same experience every single time. Sad but true.”
Already devoted customers like Sandra Smith and her husband are re-thinking.
“We travel frequently. And almost every time we do, we book Southwest,” she said. “It will likely change.”
Starting May 28, only Southwest’s most elite Rapid Rewards A-List Preferred members and passengers who book their top-tier Business Select fares will receive two free checked bags. Frequent flyer A-List Members, Southwest-branded credit card holders and other select customers will be allowed one checked bag. Others will have to pay for bags. Even those passengers who have bought tickets already will have to pay additional fees.
© 2025 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.
