Is Southwest Airlines a Good & Safe Airline? Pros & Cons

Is Southwest Airlines a Good Airline?

Headquartered in Dallas, Texas, Southwest Airlines is a major American airline. Southwest Airlines is the world’s largest low-cost carrier, which means that it is operated on highly minimized operating costs offering lower fares and fewer comforts. Considering the absence of some of the traditional amenities and services in Southwest Airlines due to low operating costs, one might ask, is Southwest Airlines a good airline?

Yes, traveling with Southwest airlines is entirely safe, and it is a very good airline. Southwest airlines is now rated as a 4-star airline for the quality of its onboard services, food, flight services, ticket fare, baggage, and seating policy, etc.

History and Operation

In 2018, of any United States airline, Southwest Airlines carried the most domestic passengers.

In April 2020, Southwest Airlines was declared as the world’s largest low-carrier airlines, and it operates in the United States and the surrounding areas primarily. 109 destinations in the United States and ten additional countries have been scheduled for service by Southwest Airlines.

Southwest Airlines schedules flights in the following countries including the 109 destinations in 40 states-

• Puerto Rico
• Mexico
• Central America
• The Caribbean

Southwest Airlines prefers a point-to-point transit system of transportation, which enables a plane, a bus, or a train to travel directly to the destination. This system of transportation is different from the hub and spoke system adopted by other airlines in which the transportation goes through a central location where passengers change to another, train, bus, or plane to reach their destination.

How Southwest make up for the revenue lost due to low operating cost-

Since Southwest Airlines is operated on low cost, which means that it does not offer any traditional amenities and services that are included in the fare, it offers low fares and fewer comforts to the passengers. So, to make up for the revenue it loses by decreasing the prices of tickets, it may charge extra fees like extra charges for carry-on baggage.

Keeping in mind the long-lived legacy and strategy adopted in the beginning, Southwest Airlines keeps its charges lower as compared to its competitors.

In order to know whether Southwest Airlines is good or not, one needs to evaluate the pros and cons of the airline, here’s a list of some of the pros and cons to help you out-

Pros of flying with Southwest Airlines-

Cheaper prices-

First and foremost, the ticket prices and the charges of other amenities at Southwest Airlines is cheaper in comparison to other airlines. The quality of services provided at the Southwest Airlines is not sacrificed on account of lower ticket prices.

Point-to-point system of transportation-

As compared to other airlines, which use hub and spoke system of transportation, Southwest Airlines has adopted a point-to-point system of transportation in which a plane, a bus, or a train travels directly to a destination rather than reporting to a central location first.

No extra charges on baggage-

Southwest lets its passengers check in two free checked bags. Where other airlines are charging for baggage from their passengers, with Southwest Airlines, the baggage check is free as long as it does not exceed the limit of 50 pounds and 62 inches. In addition to the two bags, Southwest Airlines allows its passengers to take a carry-on bag and a personal item with them on the plane. Bags that exceed the limit of 50 pounds and 62 inches are subjected to an extra fee of $75.

Southwest Airlines is quite punctual with its flights-

As Southwest Airlines is growing, it has adopted a strategy to offer reliable flights to the airports. This strategy has worked positively in favour of Southwest Airlines. The activity share of Southwest Airlines at the airports is relatively high, which would create flexibility and more control over the daily operations of Southwest Airlines.

It’s fun to fly with Southwest Airlines-

The flight crews love and enjoy their work, consequently of which they are always fun and jolly to be dealt with. Southwest Airlines offers free drinks on flight, and the customer service is also commendable by the flight attendants.

Cons of flying with Southwest Airlines-

Limited seats outside the U.S-

As Southwest is the major American airline, the number of seats outside the mainland of the U.S is limited. Hence, one can only travel and enjoy the benefits of Southwest Airlines inside the mainland of the U.S.

No seat is assigned when a ticket is purchased-

Instead of a seat at the time of the purchase of a ticket, the passengers are assigned a boarding group when they check-in. The boarding group which a passenger will be a part of depends on how fast he or she checks-in.

No food on the flight-

The planes are neat and clean, the service provided is top-notch, but Southwest Airlines is really a low-budget airline. Therefore it does not serve any complimentary meals on the flight, no matter how far you are flying with it.

Considering the overall flying criteria of Southwest Airlines, one can conclude that if you are flying for the first time, then Southwest Airlines might be the best airline you could have ever flown with. So, is Southwest Airlines a good airline or not, depends on how frequently you fly with it and whether you are willing to sacrifice some of the facilities offered by other airlines.

Are Southwest Airlines seats comfortable?

When you feel like traveling with Southwest Airlines and want to book a flight ticket online, you always consider the best seat arrangement in the flights. At this point, you need to be happy to find the best seat in row 1 with maximum space in the carrier and obtain overall comfort with Southwest Airlines simply. It is important to through the Southwest Airlines seat review makes you eligible to choose Boeing 737 aircraft that comes with a narrow-body jet with a single aisle where you can seat comfortably and feel pleasure during travel completely.

Southwest’s planes are offering 32-inch pitch instead of 31 inches where you can find the evolve seat to avail adequate comfort while seating in the flight. Apart from that Southwest Airlines will allow getting the second seat to travel at zero cost simply.

Also, read on Southwest seat selection policy

Why are Southwest Airlines considered to be cheaper?

Southwest Airlines provides low-coast flight booking service to its multiple passengers on a daily basis. Further, when it comes to Southwest cheap flights it is all about the pricing strategy that offers extremely low prices compared to other large airlines like Delta and American Airlines. Know more information for Southwest Airlines which considered being quite cheaper.

• It offers discounted rates flight booking service to the determined US-based destination every day.
• Southwest Airlines always deliver the best quality in providing the best flights at the discounted rate.
• Southwest has wanna get away fare and $69 sale which is the baseline for the cheapest rates and it could for the travelers who want discounted rates flight to travel at any time.

Has Southwest Airlines ever had a crash?

Although, Southwest Airlines has been considered among the 10 safest airlines in the world in 2021, however, it has had mitten with nine accidents including at least two aircraft hull losses abruptly. It was the first aircraft accident involving Southwest Airlines in which there was a passenger who died on the spot. Once there was an accident

What are the planes used by Southwest Airlines?

Southwest Airlines operates Boeing 737s where you can find pilots who are highly trained and experienced at flying at aircraft. In addition to this, there are a number of planes used by Southwest Airlines such as Boeing 737-700, Boeing 737-800, Boeing 737 Max 7, Boeing 737 Max 8, etc.