Southwest Airlines built its business on being an airline that allowed its employees, even encouraged them, to have personality.
Before it dropped its in-flight magazine during the COVID pandemic, that publication had a section featuring stories about flight attendants, pilots, gate workers, and other personnel going above and beyond for passengers.
You might get a pilot buying pizza for a plane full of passengers stuck due to weather or a flight attendant helping someone get to their destination after deboarding. They were inspiring tales that often brought you to tears.
At the time, Southwest Airlines also had more playful flight announcements, the occasional singing flight attendant, and a broad attempt to be more than just another impersonal air carrier.
In addition, the airline had traditionally responded to customers on X, the former Twitter, and other social media platforms in real time. That’s something that appears to have stopped, according to View From the Wing’s Gary Leff.
Southwest Airlines makes a social media change
A few years ago, I flew Southwest multiple times a month commuting to my company’s office in Alexandria, VA. I had top-tier loyalty status and was annoyed on one flight when a traveling college volleyball team was given priority boarding.
That pushed my guaranteed “A-List” boarding spot back to the middle of the pack, and I wasn’t thrilled, so I posted on what was then called Twitter and tagged the airline.
I got an immediate response, apologizing and acknowledging that the airline might have made a mistake. It didn’t change anything, but I felt heard, and it was much better than me trying to get a response from a busy worker at the gate.
Now, Leff reports that Southwest Airlines appears to no longer be responding on social media.
“Delta Air Lines doesn’t provide much social media customer service. I haven’t seen a public reply to a tweet from them since mid-May. But American Airlines (especially) is very good with Twitter customer service, and so is United,” he wrote. “Until recently, Southwest Airlines was, too. Their reps even used to be quite funny and responsive with memes.”
More Travel:
- Hotel prices have actually fallen in these major cities
- Popular cruise, tourist destination will triple entry tax
- Disney World just ended a trick that let visitors park free
Leff, who has been monitoring the account, shared the changes he has noticed.
“Southwest used to staff their social care team 24/7. With about 3,000 Twitter mentions per day, reps were answering scores of messages there and targeted a response time of 15 minutes. No longer. I haven’t seen a single Southwest Airlines reply on Twitter since June 18,” he added.
Shutterstock
Southwest Airlines has cut workers
Before its recent operating changes, Southwest Airlines had a policy of not laying workers off.
“For more than five decades, Southwest staffers—who call themselves Cohearts—didn’t have to worry about losing their #jobs in tough times. The company touted its ability to avoid mass #layoffs during new-hire orientations. That practice changed in February, when the airline cut about 1,750 jobs, or 15% of its corporate workforce, to rein in fast-rising costs,” the Wall Street Journal reported.
That’s a change that happened as the airline dropped its open seating policy, stopped its “Transfarency” system of being transparent about all fees, and generally adopted the operating model used by rivals, including American, Delta, and United, where customers pay for seat assignments, boarding position, and more.
Josh Wilson, an airline industry analyst, sees the airline as having gone through a major cultural shift.
“Now, on quarterly earnings calls, Bob Jordan discusses the layoffs in terms that employees and aviation observers have described as unexpectedly enthusiastic, framing headcount reduction as a driver of profitability and efficiency in language that contrasts sharply with the culture Southwest spent five decades building,” he posted on Facebook.
Southwest Airlines is making money
Southwest overhauled its long-term operating model in 2025, In 2025, under pressure from activist investor Elliott Investment Management.
Jordan, speaking during the airline’s first-quarter earnings call, made it clear that the changes have worked on a financial level.
“First quarter 2026 represents an important milestone for Southwest as all our previously announced initiatives are now in place and contributing to our results, and what a difference a year makes. That broad set of commercial, operational, cost, and efficiency actions represents a fundamental transformation of our business model, and is translating into strong customer demand for our new product, strong financial results, and strong margin expansion,” he said.
The company, he noted, has shifted from a loss to a profit.
“First quarter EPS of $0.45 was in line with our guidance in January and represents a significant year-over-year improvement from a loss of $0.26 per share, or an adjusted loss per share of $0.13, and these results were delivered against the backdrop of significantly higher fuel costs,” he added.
Leff has not been impressed.
“The airline has been through multiple rounds of layoffs even while maintaining profitability. “They’ve changed their entire ‘customer-friendly’ business model. So it’s not surprising that they no longer appear to be publicly engaging with customers. Responding to complaints increases the visibility of complaints! Better to bury their head in the sand, I guess, and save the staffing costs,” he added.
Southwest Airlines did not respond to a request for comment on this story.
Related: Southwest Airlines leaves rivals flat-footed as bankrupt carrier folds
