Is Southwest Airlines considering a no-frills ticket? (Just don't call it basic economy)

Every time Southwest Airlines CEO Gary Kelly is asked about basic economy tickets, those no-frills fares now offered by most of its competitors, he dismisses any notion that Southwest will add them to its ticket lineup.

"You're not going to see basic economy from Southwest,'' he said on the airline's earnings call in January. "That's not what we do.''

In early 2017, when American and United joined Delta in offering basic economy fares, Kelly said Southwest likes to keep things simple and that adding a new fare class with fewer frills would complicate things for travelers and weaken the brand. At Southwest, he said, "there is no second class.''

Despite Kelly's public stance, a recent e-mail survey the airline sent to travelers has prompted online speculation that Southwest is considering tinkering with its fare lineup and may introduce a ticket with some restrictions, even if it's not called basic economy and is less restrictive than its competitors' basic economy fares. (United, for example, doesn't allow basic economy passengers to bring a standard carry-on bag on board, even for a fee.)

The survey, sent to members of Southwest's customer advisory council, asked travelers about proposed names for four fare categories, according to a summary of the names posted on frequent flyer forum FlyerTalk.

The airline currently has three ticket types: Business Select, its priciest fare, which is refundable and comes with priority boarding and an alcoholic beverage; Anytime, a similarly pricey ticket that is also refundable but doesn't come with the Business Select extras; and Wanna Get Away, its lowest-priced ticket. There is a big price gap between the top two and Wanna Get Away.

All fare categories come with two free checked bags and no ticket change fee, though travelers do have to pay any difference between the fare they paid and the going fare when they change a ticket, a pricey proposition when done last minute.

Southwest Airlines currently has three fare types. Sample prices on a flight from Chicago to Phoenix in early December.
Southwest Airlines currently has three fare types. Sample prices on a flight from Chicago to Phoenix in early December.

The survey details were posted in late October by a FlyerTalk member who identified themselves as a member of the advisory council. The headline on the post: "What is WN (Southwest's industry code) doing to its fare structure?''

The unnamed member, who did not respond to USA TODAY's request to discuss or share the survey, said panel members were asked to vote on eight different combinations of fare names.

Among them:

  • Wanna Get the Most, Wanna Get More, Wanna Get Away + and Wanna Get Away.

  • Complete Freedom, Freedom, Wanna Get Away Plus, Wanna Get Away.

  • Freedom & More, Freedom, WGA Plus, WGA

  • Go Ultimate, Go Anytime, Wanna Flex, Wanna Get Away

Fellow FlyerTalk members were quick to weigh in, with most seeing bad news for travelers in the lowest category if Southwest is serious about four ticket types.

Several zeroed in on the proposed names Wanna Get Away Plus and WGA+, saying it suggests the new Wanna Get Away will effectively be Wanna Get Away minus, meaning the airline might take away a current benefit or two to differentiate between the two.

"My guess is a devaluation is in the works for their cheapest fare — maybe getting rid of free bags or (free ticket) changes?" one post said.

Said another: "Why would a company change the names of its products that customers are familiar with, and which have positive brand cachet...The only rational business reason is to mask a product change that otherwise would cause negative customer reaction. So yeah, watch out for more restrictions on whatever the new cheapest fare category is.''

Southwest spokeswoman Ro Hawthorne cautioned against reading too much into Southwest survey questions or topics. She said Southwest frequently polls customers on various topics and past surveys have led to unfounded speculation that Southwest was going to start assigning seats, charging for bags or adding change fees.

"We don’t share our survey results, and just because we ask the question doesn’t mean we are making a change,'' she said in a statement.

Brett Snyder, a former airline employee who runs a travel service called Cranky Concierge and writes the Cranky Flier blog, said he can't see Southwest introducing anything like a traditional basic economy fare or doing away with its free bag policy, at least while Kelly is in charge.

He said Southwest frequently studies new initiatives but is slow to make any changes.

If the airline ends up changing up its fare categories, Snyder said it's certainly possible travelers who buy the lowest fare would see reduced benefits. That could include fewer frequent flyer points earned and maybe one free checked bag instead of two. He called the latter a "no brainer'' for Southwest.

"You can still say bags fly free,'' he said. "You can still maintain that moral superiority that Southwest likes to have, yet you can find another revenue stream.''

Southwest has been peppered with questions from Wall Street on why it's leaving money on the table by not joining in the industry fee parade since it began a decade ago when airlines started charging for the first two checked bags.

Kelly has long said Southwest gets a bigger financial benefit from its bags-fly-free policy than it would if it charged for bags.

Southwest has a couple notable fees, Early Bird Check-In and Upgraded Boarding, which together brought in about $400 million in the first nine months of the year, but they pale in comparison to the billions in bag fees airlines collect each year. U.S. airlines took in $2.8 billion in baggage fees and $1.4 billion in ticket change fees in the first six months of this year alone, according to the federal Bureau of Transportation Statistics.

Kelly and other Southwest executives have been hinting about major new revenue initiatives since 2018, with a target date of starting to roll them out in 2020 but have dismissed any notion it would include basic economy or charging bag fees.

"We have, we think, better opportunities that fit our brand,'' Kelly said on January conference. "I love the fact that we're different, and they unbundle and we don't. And so we just need to continue to find ways with the universe of travelers and the varying needs that they have to see how we can stay true to our brand and offer something of more value to road warriors, to once-a-year flyers, whatever it might be. And I'd say we have a long list of ideas.''

The airline has announced just one: its decision to join computer reservation systems next year to woo more business travelers. The airline's focus until now has been largely on directing travelers to book directly on its website.

Might another be new ticket types? Airlines with the more restrictive basic economy tickets have universally said it prompts a lot of passengers to buy up to the next fare category, which is in effect a fare increase.

Adding new fare classes is not unique. JetBlue Airways in November changed its ticket lineup and added its version of basic economy, called Blue Basic.

The airline trumpeted the changes this way on its website: "We’ve heard you loud and clear, and are excited to offer you new fare options—including our brand new Blue Basic fares—so you can choose what's most valuable to you, such as ability to change or cancel, advance seat selection, boarding priority, points earned and more.''

Of the four main economy class fare categories on JetBlue, just one includes a free checked bag.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Southwest Airlines tickets: Is a basic economy-like fare on the way?