A Decade Later The Southwest Split Persists

I wrote the following in February 2016. It was about a negative experience I had with Southwest Airlines. Because of it, I stopped flying them from that point forward.

In hindsight, Southwest lost a loyal customer and gained nothing. On the other hand, I’ve enjoyed great experiences with United, American, and Delta. Their prices and schedules have been comparable, but more importantly, the airplanes (especially the leg room) have been much nicer.

Southwest stuck to their guns and lost but I feel like I won.

The Southwest Airlines Love Affair Is Over—and It’s Completely Irrational

Yes, you read that correctly; my 12-year love affair with Southwest Airlines is over, and truthfully, it’s irrational on my part—and Southwest’s too. Perhaps you could say we have irreconcilable differences.

Dan Ariely, author of Predictably Irrational and The Upside of Irrationality, uses studies from behavioral economics to prove we humans are not the rational beings we like to think we are—at least most of the time. One such study that highlights our irrationality.

The Ultimatum Game

In the ultimatum game, Person A is given $10 and can choose to give any amount to a playing partner, Person B, and keep the rest for himself or herself. How much would you give Person B? Is $1 enough? After all, that’s better than nothing. Would you give $4 or $5? That seems like something a fair-minded individual would do. How about $6 or $7? It’s a rare person who would give away more than they would keep.

There’s a catch to the game: Person B can reject the whole deal—meaning neither side gets to keep any of the money—if they don’t like what’s being offered.

Things change rather dramatically under conditions of perceived fairness. Person A almost always offers $4 or $5 in hopes of being viewed as fair, because that usually leads to agreement. When agreement is reached, everybody wins because both parties leave better off financially than they were before the game started.

Consider Rationality

If you think about it rationally, though, if you were offered $1, that’s better than nothing—and yet the vast majority of people don’t view it that way. If something “fair” isn’t offered, Person B will almost always reject it…even to their own financial detriment.

Consider that for a moment—people willingly subject themselves to “injury” (take no money instead of a few free bucks) just to punish the other person when they feel they’re being treated unfairly. You need look no further than divorce court to see this play out in real life!

Application for Southwest and Me

I fly a good bit but recently learned I had lost my A-List status with Southwest. When I called to find out why, I was told I needed 25 flights in 2015 but only had…24. I thought it reasonable to ask for an exception given my loyalty, increased flights in recent years, and because I had a December business trip I needed to reschedule until this spring. I’d be hard-pressed to think of a handful of times I’ve flown other airlines in the past five years, and when I have, it’s because I traveled with colleagues who had already booked flights.

Denied Several Times

My request was rejected three times at various levels over the phone and one last time after writing a letter. The reason Southwest wouldn’t budge was “to maintain the integrity of the [frequent flier] program.” I was shocked, given the level of customer service I’d experienced with Southwest and my loyalty over the past dozen years. I would have expected that response from many other companies—but not my beloved Southwest!

Being a persistent guy, I finally emailed CEO Gary Kelly (you’ll never hear “yes” if you don’t ask, right?). At each level, Southwest dug in their heels—and now I have, too—because I’ve made the choice to take at least a couple of flights on other airlines this year. It’s irrational because Southwest flights are almost always on time, their flight attendants are great, and the more I fly, the better my chances of getting my coveted A-List status back. But like the person who feels they were treated unfairly in the ultimatum game, I don’t care!

A Better Response?

For Southwest’s part, they could have made a loyal customer even more loyal by saying, “Mr. Ahearn, seldom do we make an exception like this, but we can see you’re a loyal customer and we appreciate your business, so we’ll do it this one time. Will you still be flying with us every chance you get?” Boom! I would have been happy and would have told them I’d absolutely fly Southwest at every opportunity. And you know what? I would have—because they would have used the principles of scarcity, reciprocity, and consistency on me at the same time.

The Cost

Making the exception would have cost them almost nothing other than letting me accrue frequent flier miles 25% faster. That benefit equates to me getting a free ticket 25% sooner, which might cost Southwest about $100—assuming I earn a $400 round-trip ticket a year.

So, Southwest has made an irrational choice, too, because when I choose to fly other airlines, Southwest will lose more revenue than they would have “given up” if they’d simply accommodated my request.

The Takeaway

Much like the ultimatum game, there comes a point when everyone loses despite their best efforts to persuade the other side. In this instance, I lost—and Southwest lost too. But we’re human, after all, so I’m sure it’s not the last time Southwest will stick to their guns, nor will it be the last time I stick to mine.

Edited by ChatGPT

Brian Ahearn

Brian Ahearn is the Chief Influence Officer at Influence PEOPLE and a faculty member at the Cialdini Institute.

An author, TEDx speaker, international trainer, coach, and consultant, Brian helps clients apply influence in everyday situations to boost results.

As one of only a dozen Cialdini Method Certified Trainers in the world, Brian was personally trained and endorsed by Robert Cialdini, Ph.D., the most cited living social psychologist on the science of ethical influence.

Brian’s first book, Influence PEOPLE, was named one of the 100 Best Influence Books of All Time by Book Authority. His follow-up, Persuasive Selling for Relationship Driven Insurance Agents, was an Amazon new release bestseller. His latest book, The Influencer: Secrets to Success and Happiness, is a business parable designed to teach you how to use influence at home and the office.

Brian’s LinkedIn courses on persuasive selling and coaching have been viewed by more than 800,000 people around the world. His TEDx Talk on pre-suasion has more than a million views!