Dear Southwest loyalists: Delta wants you
Delta Air Lines is joining other carriers in trying to poach Southwest Airlines loyalists with a temporary status match offer.
Weeks after the Dallas, Texas, company set off loyalist outrage by announcing an end to its signature free checked bag policy, Delta this week released a temporary deal sweetener to its existing status match program for Southwest travelers.
“If you have travelers considering switching to Delta, now is absolutely the time,” said Dana Sample, Delta’s director of marketing strategy and enablement, in an online presentation to corporate clients.
American and Frontier Airlines already announced similar offers. Status match programs are common among all airlines trying to edge out their competitors.
Southwest A-List and A-List Preferred Members can snag one level higher Delta Medallion status than normal when they enroll in Delta’s existing status match program through Sept. 30. The program grants status for 90 days.
Southwest has been under pressure to improve its financial performance in recent years. Last fall it said it would cut one-third of its Atlanta flights in 2025.
After the company announced the end of its free bag policy earlier this month, some travelers on social media Tuesday predicted that loyalty would take a hit.
At a J.P. Morgan investor conference the day of the bag announcement, Delta President Glen Hauenstein said, “clearly there are some customers who chose” Southwest because of its free bag policy, “and now those customers are up for grabs.”
Southwest has made several other changes to its historically maverick policies that bring it more in line with its competitors, including assigned seating, extra legroom paid options and a new “basic,” cheaper fare with less of the company’s trademark flexibility.
About the Author
As a business reporter, Emma Hurt leads coverage of the Atlanta airport, Delta Air Lines, UPS, Norfolk Southern and other travel and logistics companies. Prior to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution she worked as an editor and Atlanta reporter for Axios, a politics reporter for WABE News and a business reporter for the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.
