Southwest Airlines CEO: Company could eventually introduce lounges, long-haul flights
- Southwest Airlines CEO Bob Jordan hinted at future changes to the company's business model to better compete with other U.S. airlines.
- Potential changes include introducing airport lounges and expanding the fleet to serve longer-haul destinations.
- Southwest recently introduced checked bag fees and will begin offering assigned and extra legroom seating in 2026.
Against the backdrop of lower than expected earnings, Southwest Airlines CEO Bob Jordan hinted that the carrier will be doing more in the future to change its business model and become more like its U.S. competitors.
Southwest reported earnings of $7.24 billion in the second quarter, though analysts previously expected the figure to be closer to $7.29 billion.
Some of those changes could even include introducing lounges or expanding its fleet to serve destinations that are farther-afield from its current, domestically-focused network.
"I want to reiterate that our current initiatives are not the endpoint in our product strategy and evolution. As we've stated before, we are committed to evolving further to meet the needs of our current and our future customers," Jordan said during the company's second quarter earnings call, which took place July 24.
Southwest has already introduced checked bag fees and announced that it will officially introduce assigned and extra legroom seating in January 2026. Tickets for those flights go on sale next week.
While those and other changes make Southwest more like other airlines, Jordan said they're just the first step in the company's overhaul.
Among the "limited number of things" he said the airline can do down the road to capture more traveler demand are steps like introducing lounges or expanding the network by adding longer-range planes to its fleet.
While Jordan acknowledged Southwest has no current plans to implement any of those measures, he said, "we're going to follow the customer and work very hard to give you reasons not to split your wallet," meaning to make Southwest more of a one-stop shop for airline customers.
Contributing: Reuters
Zach Wichter is a travel reporter and writes the Cruising Altitude column for Paste BN. He is based in New York and you can reach him at zwichter@usatoday.com.