Metz, The Social Concept

Southwest Has Earned My Business Back

November 27, 2008

For years, I flew Southwest Airlines from Chicago to San Francisco. It was the cheapest way to get from the Midwest to the West Coast, and if the airline was ever delayed, the delays were minor. The thing that really bugged me about the airline was the noise. I figured, for a cost of maybe $20 more, I could have a quieter, more “elegant” flight on United. United’s 2005 introduction of Economy Plus also made it so that I wanted to fly with them almost all of the time (I’ve been United Premier on and off for five years). United has since systematically insitituted a surcharge for every perk they’ve introduced in the last seven years, and I now only fly them if the price is right.

My re-introduction to Southwest was actually rather academic. I’ve been studying the airline’s social media work for quite a while, and when my brother encouraged me to fly Southwest to Chicago due to low fares, I decided, grudgingly, to give it a try. When my father was younger, he used to fly Mohawk Airlines (I’m guessing his father flew it for business). Mohawk was a low-cost “businessman’s airline” that was essentially the Northeastern version of Southwest: low fares, cheap steak dinners, free drinks. It was folded into USAir in the ’70s. I’m guessing that Southwest’s humble beginnings had them emulating Mohawk, but the constant craziness of their flights began to annoy me after a while.

When I reached the terminal this morning at Oakland Airport, I was pleasantly surprised to see two “computer bars” that had four outlets each, and six comfy faux-leather chairs, with end-tables and outlets for each. This was not the run-for-the-gate, screaming-brats, old-lady-eating-chicken-out-of-a-paper-bag airline that I remembered. This was the airline that allows you to check two bags for free, still gives free snacks, doesn’t charge at the curb, and gives away free “Hallelujah” ringtones. That’s cheeky, but it’s cool. It sure as hell ain’t hip, but it’s good service. And no, they still don’t do email. They’ve even re-introduced a pseudo-business class that allows for priority boarding, a small mileage increase and a free drink. Not an insane perk, but probably worth $20 per flight.

One more Southwest-ish perk: six days of airport parking cost $44, total. I can live with $7 a day. That’s annoying, but not insane. There’s also a Starbucks ten feet from where I sit at the gate. Maybe I’m just falling in love with Oakland Airport and its free wi-fi all over again, but this place is basically a blue-collar version of the red carpet club. If the flight’s this easy (thanks to my downloaded copies of Mongol & Robocop), then this will be a pretty chill day.

Now, for those 35 emails and the really long proposal that I have to write…

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