Southwest raises checked bag fees $10 as airline fuel costs soar
Fees for a first bag rise to $45, effective for tickets booked from April 9, as jet fuel prices have nearly doubled since late February
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Southwest Airlines raised its first and second checked bag fees by $10 each, effective for all reservations ticketed or changed on or after April 9, according to a company statement. The increase brings the cost of a first checked bag to $45 and a second to $55.
In a statement, Southwest cited "an ongoing analysis of the business and against the evolving global backdrop" as the reason for the change. The fee hike applies to Basic, Wanna Get Away Plus, and Anytime fares. Customers traveling on Business Select fares, A-List Preferred members of the Rapid Rewards loyalty program, A-List members, and Rapid Rewards credit cardholders retain their existing free bag benefits, Southwest said.
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Among the largest U.S. carriers, JetBlue Airways and United Airlines were the first to move on bag fees last week, with Delta close behind, per The Points Guy. American Airlines remained the only one of the four biggest carriers not to have announced a comparable hike by Tuesday evening.
The increases come as jet fuel prices have climbed sharply. Airlines for America data, cited by CNBC, put the average price of jet fuel in major U.S. cities at $4.69 a gallon on Monday — a figure that represents a near-doubling from levels seen before the Feb. 28 strikes by the U.S. and Israel on Iran. A monthlong effective shutdown of the Strait of Hormuz has crimped the flow of crude oil and refined products to global markets. Fuel is airlines' largest expense after labor.
The free two-bag benefit, a hallmark of Southwest for many years, was discontinued less than a year ago as the airline undertook a sweeping overhaul of its customer experience — one that also brought assigned seating to the cabin for the first time starting in January.
Analysts have raised questions about how well carriers can recover the surge in fuel costs through higher fares and fees. Raymond James $RJF analyst Savanthi Syth has said that sustained fuel prices in the $4 to $4.50 per gallon range exceed what carriers can reliably recover through higher fares, adding that prolonged elevated costs would likely force further capacity cuts across the industry.