Southwest Airlines is becoming bracketed by two very different parts of the US airline industry.  On one side, they have the SuperLegacy airlines who have all gone through bankruptcy (at least once) and each of these SuperLegacy airlines not only have workrules that approximate more closely to what Southwest has, so do the overall salaries.

Even employees of these SuperLegacy airlines seem to be seeing their morale improve slowly and steadily and more closely approximate that of Southwest.

Very soon, we’ll have The Big 4 in the airline industry.  Delta Airlines, American Airlines, United Airlines and Southwest Airlines.

In the middle, we have 2 airlines who are doing very lackluster business in jetBlue and Virgin America airlines.

Down at the bottom, Southwest is again bracketed by Ultra Low Cost Carriers.  These are, today, Spirit Airlines and Allegiant Air with Frontier Airlines coming online presently.  These carriers are the scavengers of the industry but have some tendencies to bring a Southwest Effect with them in some markets.

They are flying most routes infrequently but . . . that’s changing.  Spirit Airlines has found the industry landscape in the Dallas / Fort Worth area very inviting fare-wise and has started more and more regular flights on “dominated” routes.

Southwest is perceived as a “Low Cost Carrier” when . . . it really isn’t.  Not anymore.  The service level of Southwest is at or above that of the other SuperLegacy economy offerings today.  But people expect a lower price from Southwest because of that perception.

And they don’t get it very often.

Southwest is the low price option in the last 3 weeks leading up to a departure quite often.  Prior to that, they are often the overwhelmingly expensive option.

They are more full service than the full service airlines in that they offer free checked baggage and modern aircraft and a smile upon boarding.

But where do they go?  If they transform themselves into Just Another Airline, the other airlines will compete against them with an advantage. They have more differentiated service levels and more usable frequent flier programs and fleets that are being renewed as we speak.

If they try to be Really Low Cost Airline, the Ultra Low Cost Carriers will outbid them for passengers who are buying on price alone.

Southwest has the recipe for success in this area but it does not seem to recognize it.  By being Southwest instead of Just Another Airline or a Really Low Cost Airline, they beat both sides handily.  But that combination of being a people business acting in the interest of serving people and their needs seems to be getting in the way of leadership at Southwest succeeding.

Or, rather, making names for themselves.

Southwest has finally become a teenager and what’s worse, it doesn’t know what it wants to be when it grows up.  I expect this airline to grow rockier with time.

Filed under: Airline Service by ajax