When Southwest Airlines did away with its decades-old free checked bag policy last year, many predicted the move would erode the loyalty that set the airline apart from Delta, United and American. The decision was part of a push to modernize, boost profits and challenge legacy carriers. A year later, Southwest has kept customer satisfaction high, and one expert believes it could be on track to become the country’s top airline.
Southwest introduced checked baggage fees in May 2025, ending the “bags fly free” policy that had let passengers check two bags at no cost for decades. That shift arrived alongside a move to assigned seating and new premium legroom options, changes so sweeping that the airline now looks and feels like an entirely different carrier in just a matter of months, according to Men’s Journal.
In its annual Best U.S. Airlines study, The Points Guy ranked Southwest third among American carriers, trailing only Delta and United and landing ahead of American, JetBlue and Alaska, even as customer satisfaction remained high. Writer Sean Cudahy noted that if Southwest bolsters its offerings with lounges, as rumored, “don’t be surprised if it makes a run at the top spot.”
Assigned Seats, Bag Fees and a New Boarding Process
Southwest’s open-seating policy, in place for roughly 50 years, let passengers pick any open seat while boarding in the order they checked in. Beginning in January 2026, the airline switched to assigned seating. A change that also opened the door to extra-legroom premium seats, the first upgrade option in Southwest’s history, though the carrier stopped short of offering true first-class seating, according to Men’s Journal.
Southwest began charging $35 for checked bags starting in May 2025, ending free checked-bag service for most passengers, and is expected to eventually charge for seat selection on some fares as well, bringing it closer in line with fee structures long used by American, United, Delta and Alaska, according to The Points Guy. The carrier has also retired its longtime Wanna Get Away fares and, in 2025, introduced red-eye flights.
Block 6 (60 words) Southwest began offering free in-flight Wi-Fi in fall 2025 after years of charging passengers for internet access, and has since announced a partnership with SpaceX’s Starlink. The upgrade provides a true, premium Wi-Fi experience that Men’s Journal reports is already years ahead of what even Delta will be able to offer once it rolls out comparable service across its own fleet.
A CEO Who Won’t Rule Anything Out
The changes come as Southwest has struggled to maintain its historically high profit margins. Since the pandemic, Delta and United have posted the U.S. airline industry’s highest profits, fueled by strong international route networks, premium cabins and profitable co-branded credit cards, according to The Points Guy. Southwest, meanwhile, has moved toward a more economical hub-and-spoke route strategy, according to Men’s Journal.
Southwest CEO Bob Jordan, speaking last year at the Bernstein Strategic Decisions Conference in New York, acknowledged gaps in what the airline can offer. “We can’t get you to long-haul international destinations. If a lounge is important to you, we don’t have a lounge,” Jordan said, according to The Points Guy, while adding that Southwest “will continue to pursue the consumer.”
Southwest will soon offer “upgrades” to its extra-legroom rows for A-List elite members and certain Rapid Rewards credit card holders. Even so, the carrier still lacks the first-class seats and lounges offered by Delta, United, American and Alaska, a contrast aviation writer Brian Sumers of The Airline Observer argued puts Southwest at a disadvantage as it grows more like its rivals elsewhere, according to The Points Guy.
What Southwest’s Next Chapter Could Look Like
Southwest has filed permits for premium lounges in Nashville, Denver and Honolulu, an early sign the airline is moving from hypothetical talk to concrete planning, according to Men’s Journal. Demand for lounges in key Southwest cities is “super high,” Jordan said, and Executive Vice President of Customer and Brand Tony Roach added that such demand would push Southwest “to continue to evolve,” according to The Points Guy.
Southwest Chief Operating Officer Andrew Watterson said on an earnings call that “The old model wasn’t working and so now we’ve pivoted,” according to The Points Guy. Jordan cautioned there was “no reveal” of specifics yet, but said in 2025 that Southwest planned to unveil its next round of long-term plans by 2026, the next chapter following assigned seats and basic economy fares.
Whether customers would continue to choose a dramatically different Southwest was a subject of speculation last year. So far, the carrier has seen no sign of customers switching to other airlines after its initial round of changes, Jordan told analysts in April 2025. Though he acknowledged that the airline still forces some loyal customers onto competitors’ flights and cobranded credit cards.
