Southwest Airlines has been making many changes in recent months as the airline undergoes a significant rebrand. But not everyone is happy with some of the moves.
The airline has already ended its “bags fly free” policy and is planning to remove its longstanding open-seating policy. Now, the airline seems to be making some significant changes to its flight schedule and overall strategy.
This week, those decisions came at the detriment of many travelers in one major U.S. city, and many people are not happy.
Southwest Ends Several Direct Flights
This week, Southwest Airlines announced that it would be canceling six direct flights out of St. Louis Lambert International Airport.
Southwest confirmed to First Alert 4 in St. Louis that it would be cutting its direct flights from Lambert to Little Rock, Tulsa, Charlotte, Des Moines, Oklahoma City, and Wichita.
In a statement to First Alert 4, the airline said that it was “redesigning east-west connectivity in our network that has traditionally gone through St. Louis to other SWA points of strength (ICT, DSM, TUL to MDW, LIT to BNA, OKC to DAL).”
Southwest’s Decision Sparks Outrage
The news of the decision quickly spread around the city, sparking outrage and disappointment.
“While we are disappointed in the loss of some of these flights, we are still grateful for the strong partnership we have with Southwest Airlines and the service the airline provides for travelers in this region,” Lambert officials told First Alert 4 in a statement on Friday.
St. Louis Mayor Cara Spencer addressed the decision in a recent press conference where she called the move “disappointing.”
“This is an issue that impacts our city’s bottom line,” she said, via First Alert 4.
Customers and travelers also expressed their frustration.
“How is that going to make anything better? To me, they’re going to lose business,” St. Louis resident Beth Huffman told First Alert 4. “This doesn’t help.”
“No, no, absolutely not. Keep people flying,” Southwest passenger Curtis Howard said of the move. “If you’re cutting stuff down, you’re cutting employment, you’re cutting travel—you’re cutting more and more. Grow it, make it bigger.”
Part of a Larger Plan?
It’s been obvious to anyone who has been paying attention that Southwest Airlines is undergoing a bit of a rebrand recently, with the airline instituting new bag fees and moving away from its longstanding open-seating model. However, the airline appears to be making another significant change, as well.
Southwest Airlines has long operated under a point-to-point model, meaning that it prioritizes direct flights between specific cities, regardless of the distance between those two points. This exists in contrast to the hub-and-spoke model used by other major airlines, which connects many smaller cities to a central hub.
The hub-and-spoke model is more efficient, but not always preferred by passengers, as it increases travel time and layovers.
As Southwest undergoes its rebrand, the airline has made it clear that it intends to move away from a pure point-to-point model and embrace a hybrid system. These changes seem to be in line with that plane.
