With activist investor Elliot Investment Management now seemingly calling the shots at Southwest Airlines, the changes are coming thick and fast to make the Dallas-based carrier a lot more like most other US airlines.
While some of those changes are controversial (the airline just announced its first-ever mass corporate layoffs), some of the changes are designed to end out-of-date business practices that aren’t in tune with modern consumer behavior.
Traditionally, Southwest refused to make its flights available to book through ticket aggregator sites and online travel agents, but making customers book direct will soon become a thing of the past.
On Wednesday, Southwest said it had inked a deal with Expedia Group to make its entire flight inventory available to book across all of Expedia’s brands, including Travelocity, Hotwire, Orbitz, and CheapTickets.
The deal comes around nine months after Southwest opened up its inventory to Google Flights, allowing travelers to search Southwest flights on a ticket aggregator site for the first time and compare flght prices against other airlines.
That agreement was, however, a little different in that travelers couldn’t book tickets for a Southwest service through Google Flight but were instead directed to Southwest’s own website to complete their purchase.
With Expedia, Southwest is now allowing travelers to book flights through a third-party online travel agent for the first time.
“We are pleased to continue broadening our distribution network through this cost-effective agreement with Expedia,” commented Southwest’s Executive Vice President of Customer & Brand, Tony Roach.
“We look forward to welcoming new travelers to our extensive network, inviting them to experience our unique Southwest Hospitality,” Roach continued.
Southwest inventory will start to be loaded into Expedia’s system later this week, while the airline’s entire route network will be available through the Expedia Group by next Thursday.
As part of its containing turnaround, Southwest started red-eye flights for the first time in its more than 50-year history earlier this month, while the airline plans to end its famous open seating policy early next year.
When assigned seating comes into play, the airline will also start selling premium extra-legroom seats, although the airline says it has no current plans to begin charging customers for their checked luggage.
