When Southwest Airlines finally began showing its flights for the first time on Google Flights, Kayak, and Expedia, it didn’t get the pop it anticipated.
And that was a major factor, along with pressure from investor Elliott Management, that led Southwest to reverse its “bags fly free policy.”
Up until 2024, basically the only place to book Southwest fares online for leisure travelers was Southwest.com and the Southwest app.
Southwest CEO Bob Jordan noted the disappointing results of the change in booking channels at a financial conference Tuesday: “We saw no share shift to Southwest Airlines for the fact we had better policies.”
Those “better policies” referred largely to the lack of fees for the first two checked bags and changing flights.
