Southwest Airlines makes a big deal out of still not charging passengers for checked bags (well, up to two bags, anyway), even as the carrier's major competitors have all instituted fees over the course of the last decade.
A recent study published in the journal Management Science, however, found that letting "Bags Fly Free" might be hurting Southwest's on-time performance.
Which begs the question: Does the journal Management Science hate us?
Looking at the period of 2007-09, when most airlines began instituting baggage fees, researchers discovered that as passengers began squeezing more stuff into their carry-ons to avoid paying extra, they inadvertently helped streamline the luggage handling process. Accounting for other types of delays—weather, mechanical troubles, and so on—the study estimates that bag fees helped reduce airline delays by an average of two minutes.
Southwest's performance, meanwhile, was slightly slower than the others during that period.
But not so fast: 2007 was nearly 10 years ago. Consumerist took a look at airlines' on-time performance in the intervening years and found that Southwest has usually been in the middle of the pack, delay-wise—though there have definitely been times when it's been in last place, with less than 70% of flights arriving on time (ideally, that number should be at least above 80).
In any case, the airline says it has no plans to drop its "Bags Fly Free" policy.