Final boarding calls for free bags as South -West Passenger Perk Drops for a long time. world News

This is the last day of booking a flight on South-West Airlines without hitting a fee for checking the bag after leaving the airline lasting decades, which the authorities described the final decline to separate the budget carrier from their rivals. The airline announced a change in March, while saying that the new policy will begin with flights booked on Wednesday. Southwest built years of advertising operations around its policy of checking two bags for passengers for free. Under their new policy, people who have not either not reached the upper levels of their Rapid Rapids Loyalty Program, they will have to buy a business class ticket or pay for bags caught to the airline’s credit card. Southwest A-List A-List will continue to provide two free check bags for customers and A-list members and other select customers who travel business selection for a free check bag. Passengers with a rapid reward credit card will receive credit for a checked bag. Those who do not qualify for those categories will be charged to check the bag. The airline said in March that this change will also roll a new, basic fare on its lowest price tickets when effective. The airline estimated in September that the charging bag fees would bring about $ 1.5 billion per year, but the airline costs $ 1.8 billion in a lost business from customers selected to fly south -west due to its generous goods allowance. Southwests did not respond to a request to comment on their newly checked bag fees immediately, but most of the major airlines fees usually a fee between $ 35 and $ 40 for the bag. Another policy that will be effective on Wednesday, passengers in the south-west need to keep their portable chargers in plain vision, while using them because of the increasing number of lithium-ion battery fire. These are not the only changes in the south -west. The Dallas Airline had earlier announced that it was surpassing another south-west tradition, the open-boarding system that it has used for more than 50 years. Southwest hopes that next year will start flights with passengers in assigned seats. The airline also said last year that it would charge additional fees to customers for more legrooms and offer red-eye flights. Southwest has recently fought and is under pressure from activists to promote profit and revenue. The airline reached a trussian in October to escape a proxy battle with Hedge Fund Elliot Investment Management, but Elliott won several seats on the company’s board. The airline announced in February that it was ending 1,750 jobs, or 15 per percent corporate workforce in the company’s 53 -year history.