8 ms·

Does that mean ticket prices will increase?

ubernostrum 9y ago
Southwest already often isn't the cheapest, or even close to the cheapest, fare on many routes. And whether this causes an increase in fares will mostly depend on the existing load factor. If they already had planes mostly going out with a few empty seats, they don't necessarily have to change anything.
- nathancahill 9y ago
  I've flown very often with Southwest, and have rarely seen a completely full plane. The fullest I've seen still has one or two middle seats free at the very back of the plane.
  - cortesoft 9y ago
    You must fly very different routes than me... the flights I am on are almost always full.
    - leesalminen 9y ago
      This mirrors my experience as well, especially flights to/from DEN. TPA - SJU is one notable exception.
  - mwfunk 9y ago
    I can't even remember the last time I was on a flight (Southwest included) that wasn't at capacity. I'm sure it depends on where you're flying to and from though.
    - noer 9y ago
      The time of day matters though. Early morning departures, in my experience - especially on weekends, are almost always partially empty. Last week I flew on a flight that left at 5:55 AM that was less than half full (25 people on a regional jet). Last December I flew on a southwest flight that left at 7:45 AM that was about half full (probably 60 people on a 737).
- shliachtx 9y ago
  They are currently in the process of moving to a more flexible scheduling system (until now they could only have a weekday and weekend schedule) which should allow them to have more profitable flights (as they dont need to flt an empty plane for 3 days if only 2 days are high volume).
sandworm101 9y ago
I don't see how it could. Only a handful of people on any one flight are ever bumped, on average. The bumped are normally put on other flights. The only 'win' is where someone doesn't show and also doesn't fly or get a refund. I cannot see how it is more than 1 or 2% of revenue. That said, perhaps I am dead wrong and overbooking is being used for darker purposes. Perhaps they are deliberately overselling flights at peak times knowing that they will push bumped customers to later less-full flights. If that is being done knowingly, that's a bait-and-switch operation that might be worth more than a couple percent.
- mwfunk 9y ago
  Well, if it's a 1-2% decrease in revenue there might be a 1-2% price increase. I thought the margins for US airlines were incredibly small (could be wrong, I'm no expert).
  - jonknee 9y ago
    They also won't have to pay the people who get bumped which will somewhat offset the lost revenue from overbooking.
    - nommm-nommm 9y ago
      I was under the impression they didn't actually pay people bumped, only gave them a voucher for their next flight that they probably won't even use. Do they actually give cash?
      - jonknee 9y ago
        They give flight vouchers, but they often have other direct expenses like hotel accommodations and food. The last time I was bumped it was ~$600 airline voucher, transportation to/from a ski resort (a perk of being bumped in the mountains!), a room for the night and a good meal voucher to cover dinner and breakfast the next day. Plus they still flew me out the next day and took care of rebooking the connection on another airline. I don't know exactly how much it cost them, but I made out like a bandit.
koolba 9y ago
Southwest already allows cancelling your ticket up to the last minute for a future credit so presumably most people that will miss the flight do so already. I wouldn't expect this impacts their fares much, if at all. Now if United, AA, or other large airlines that don't offer cancellation did this, that'd be another story.
- rhino369 9y ago
  >Southwest already allows cancelling your ticket up to the last minute for a future credit so presumably most people that will miss the flight do so already. I wouldn't expect this impacts their fares much, if at all. One reason you'd let people cancel at the last minute is because you overbook flights. If you have 100 seats, book 105 people and then 4 cancel, that cancellation didn't cost anything. If you book 100 people and turned away other passengers, then 4 people cancel at the last minute, now you lost 4 sales.
- amorphid 9y ago
  Southwest's cancellation policy is a big reason why I love them.

Southwest already often isn't the cheapest, or even close to the cheapest, fare on many routes. And whether this causes an increase in fares will mostly depend on the existing load factor. If they already had planes mostly going out with a few empty seats, they don't necessarily have to change anything.

nathancahill 9y ago
I've flown very often with Southwest, and have rarely seen a completely full plane. The fullest I've seen still has one or two middle seats free at the very back of the plane.
- cortesoft 9y ago
  You must fly very different routes than me... the flights I am on are almost always full.
  - leesalminen 9y ago
    This mirrors my experience as well, especially flights to/from DEN. TPA - SJU is one notable exception.
- mwfunk 9y ago
  I can't even remember the last time I was on a flight (Southwest included) that wasn't at capacity. I'm sure it depends on where you're flying to and from though.
  - noer 9y ago
    The time of day matters though. Early morning departures, in my experience - especially on weekends, are almost always partially empty. Last week I flew on a flight that left at 5:55 AM that was less than half full (25 people on a regional jet). Last December I flew on a southwest flight that left at 7:45 AM that was about half full (probably 60 people on a 737).
shliachtx 9y ago
They are currently in the process of moving to a more flexible scheduling system (until now they could only have a weekday and weekend schedule) which should allow them to have more profitable flights (as they dont need to flt an empty plane for 3 days if only 2 days are high volume).

sandworm101 9y ago

I don't see how it could. Only a handful of people on any one flight are ever bumped, on average. The bumped are normally put on other flights. The only 'win' is where someone doesn't show and also doesn't fly or get a refund. I cannot see how it is more than 1 or 2% of revenue. That said, perhaps I am dead wrong and overbooking is being used for darker purposes. Perhaps they are deliberately overselling flights at peak times knowing that they will push bumped customers to later less-full flights. If that is being done knowingly, that's a bait-and-switch operation that might be worth more than a couple percent.

mwfunk 9y ago
Well, if it's a 1-2% decrease in revenue there might be a 1-2% price increase. I thought the margins for US airlines were incredibly small (could be wrong, I'm no expert).
- jonknee 9y ago
  They also won't have to pay the people who get bumped which will somewhat offset the lost revenue from overbooking.
  - nommm-nommm 9y ago
    I was under the impression they didn't actually pay people bumped, only gave them a voucher for their next flight that they probably won't even use. Do they actually give cash?
    - jonknee 9y ago
      They give flight vouchers, but they often have other direct expenses like hotel accommodations and food. The last time I was bumped it was ~$600 airline voucher, transportation to/from a ski resort (a perk of being bumped in the mountains!), a room for the night and a good meal voucher to cover dinner and breakfast the next day. Plus they still flew me out the next day and took care of rebooking the connection on another airline. I don't know exactly how much it cost them, but I made out like a bandit.

koolba 9y ago

Southwest already allows cancelling your ticket up to the last minute for a future credit so presumably most people that will miss the flight do so already. I wouldn't expect this impacts their fares much, if at all. Now if United, AA, or other large airlines that don't offer cancellation did this, that'd be another story.

rhino369 9y ago
>Southwest already allows cancelling your ticket up to the last minute for a future credit so presumably most people that will miss the flight do so already. I wouldn't expect this impacts their fares much, if at all. One reason you'd let people cancel at the last minute is because you overbook flights. If you have 100 seats, book 105 people and then 4 cancel, that cancellation didn't cost anything. If you book 100 people and turned away other passengers, then 4 people cancel at the last minute, now you lost 4 sales.
amorphid 9y ago
Southwest's cancellation policy is a big reason why I love them.