Southwest Says They're Gaining Passengers Because They Don't Charge Fees

Are you more likely to fly Southwest Airlines because they don’t have fees? Southwest thinks so… but US Airways, arguably the most fee-crazy of the airlines, says it doesn’t matter because they’re making so much money.

Speaking to analysts during US Airways Group Inc.’s earnings call last week, president Scott Kirby said that airline clearly has made a lot of money by charging for checked bags.

But that doesn’t mean that Southwest isn’t benefiting from not charging the fees, he said.

“It’s possible that Southwest receives a very small market share from a number of carriers,” Kirby said.

Southwest says that they are experiencing increased demand because they are one of the only airlines without a checked bag fee.

US Airways, on the other hand, has just devised yet another bag fee. This time they’ll be charging $5 for each bag fee that isn’t prepaid online. Clever.

Southwest Airlines sees no benefit in bag fees [Dallas Morning News]
(Photo:Cuttriss…)

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