I flew Southwest Airlines from my home in Austin to Washington’s Reagan National airport this past week. Southwest is the only airline permitted to fly this route, by law.
And since I’d rather fly non-stop than connect, and fly to National rather than Dulles, it’s the Southwest flight I take the most.
This time I experienced the most interesting gate agent strategy I’ve ever seen – a passenger threat that helps align incentives with passengers to get the plane out on this, but that seems like the last thing the airline would want to be telling its customers: if you don’t do what I say, we’re going to lose your bags.
Southwest Airlines doesn’t force passengers to gate-check their carry-on bags as often as competitor airlines.
That’s because every Southwest ticket includes two checked bags, so customers don’t try to carry everything on board to save money.
However, like any airline, they want to make sure they get out on time. And one thing that delays departures is when there isn’t enough overhead bin space, customers discover this once they’re on the plane, and the airline has to gate check bags at the last minute.
That’s why airlines so often require customers to gate check bags even when there’s still plenty of bin space available – to avoid risk of that last minute crunch.
Airlines will often ask passengers to check carry-oin bags at the gate, offering to do it free as an inducement. My gate agent for this flight took things to the next level.
- If you tag your bags at the gate before boarding, we’ll print out bag tags for you and get them to your destination.
- If you don’t, and you are forced to gate check your bag at the last minute, those tags will be handwritten and there’s a much bigger chance your bag will get lost.
I’ve never heard a gate agent threaten to lose a customer’s bag before, but it’s certainly a way to convince passengers it’s better to come up and volunteer to check a bag early rather than being forced to do so during boarding. Incentives are aligned!
Yet surely Southwest, already known for having too many manual processes as part of departure, doesn’t want to advertise their unreliability with bags when bags are part of their unique selling proposition!
In general I mind coach much less having lost a substantial amount of weight. My biggest issue now is the lack of padding in newer seats.
However one place that isn’t true is Southwest Airlines on flights that aren’t full, because it’s harder for me to pull off discouraging passengers from sitting next to me.
This, however, was a full flight so it didn’t make a difference. Their 737 MAX seats, though, are pretty hard for my taste.
