If you’ve been paying attention to the news, then you know Southwest is down.
Down bad!
(Apparently, just mere hours before I sat down to write this, they forced Alaska Airlines to abort takeoff because it would’ve caused a plane crash… and that ain’t even the vorst part of the tragic Southwest story… And my quick Google search also revealed another story: Southwest is refusing to sign their San Antonio Airport lease demanding more terminals, but as you’ll keep reading, methinks they won’t need the terminals anyway…)
Anyway:
None of that fodder is what my email is about. I learned about both stories as soon as I wrote “down bad!”
The real story?
Southwest’s stock price has fallen by more than half over the past three years—while other airlines are racking in the dough.
Why?
Well, simply put: Southwest got left behind in the dust.
Several years ago, Southwest was the only airline I’d fly. They offered free luggage and a free carry-on, and so, it was always cheaper to fly with Southwest than other airlines.
But this ain’t the case anymore.
In fact, if I had to guess, I’d say I haven’t flown Southwest since 2015.
Y’see, Southwest made a fundamental mistake: They overvalued the value of free luggage and undervalued the value of cheap flights.
Airlines have always been in a bit of a bind. There are only X many airplanes and Y many airports. This “commoditizes” them to a degree most industries don’t have to worry about. If I can fly somewhere cheaper at a similar comfort level, then why would I pay more?
Southwest never asked themselves this question. Not recently at least. Because they would’ve figured out that people would rather take the cheapest possible flight somewhere—even if they had to pay “separately” for their luggage and carry-on.
Compare that to Spirit:
A few years ago, Spirit was the laughing stock of the airline industry. I heard nothing but horror stories from people who flew Spirit—including my buddy getting stranded in Vegas for an extra several days… and my aunt and uncle getting stranded in Florida for a week (they’re both teachers who had to work during that “extra week,” so they chose to rent a car and drive a long 17-hour drive home).
But the last time I flew Spirit, they let me get a double jack and Coke (even though the flight was only about an hour or so—usually they don’t offer drinks or snacks on short flights)—and, yes, they made me pay them for the pleasure… why other airlines don’t leverage this upsell more often blows my mind because there is no better place to drink than on an airplane.
Also, I’ve never had a lick of trouble flying Spirit (after spending a couple of their early years avoiding them like a fat kid can’t with cake).
Spirit realized something Southwest hasn’t:
Alcohol makes the ride more pleasurable than free luggage or check-ons.
“Wait John - wasn’t this email supposed to be about United?”
Hold your horses, bucko, I’m getting there:
United—remember when that employee suplexed the customer?—is in the news again. Nothing bad this time though. Instead they’ve made a similar realization that Spirit did:
They’re offering free, high-speed Wi-Fi via Starlink on all their flights moving forward.
One of the reasons alcohol is so damn good on a flight isn’t just because a flight can wrack your nerves. It’s also because there is nothing else to do—especially if you forget to download music or movies, forget your book, or forget your neck pillow.
United finally figured out a solution to making flights more enjoyable: The ability to stream movies, play games, and more.
Because that’s the thing Southwest never figured out:
Flights go to the same destinations in the same amount of time, give or take.
But that doesn’t mean that there’s nothing you can do to improve the general experience, as Spirit and United figured out.
Free Wi-Fi and expensive drinks do more to enhance the experience than free luggage does.
There are many lessons you can “apply” to your business from this story too.
If you need help applying some of them to your emails, then hit reply.
Catch you on the flip,
John
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