Southwest Airlines is financially strong. Record revenues. Stock price near multi-year highs.
Yet longtime customers are walking away angry.
In this episode, we unpack the growing tension between Wall Street performance and customer loyalty at Southwest Airlines. Host Aaron Wolpoff sits down with brand strategist Rene Huey-Lipton, founder of The Dame Collective and former strategy lead on Southwest during its golden years.
The question at the center of the conversation:
How can a brand be winning financially while simultaneously losing its best customers?
From controversial assigned seating to unpopular baggage fees to the triggering “Boarding Royale” Super Bowl campaign, we analyze how strategic shifts have taken the most beloved airline identity in America off course for many consumers.
What We Cover
1️⃣ The Core Problem: Financial Success vs Brand Equity
Southwest reported record revenue, yet load factors are declining
Loyal flyers publicly declaring they are leaving
The emotional equity of “We’re all in this together” is eroding
The danger of extracting more revenue per customer while shrinking the customer base Rene explains how this mirrors classic Wall Street optimization: maximize short-term revenue, risk long-term brand health.
2️⃣ The Boarding Royale Backfire
Southwest’s Super Bowl ad mocked its former open seating model.
Instead of feeling like a self-aware evolution, customers felt:
Belittled
Gaslit
Reduced to the punchline
Rene breaks down why making your most loyal customers the joke is a strategic miscalculation.
3️⃣ Hierarchy Changes Behavior
Referencing research from Harvard Business School and the University of Toronto, Rene highlights how:
Class distinctions increase conflict
Introducing hierarchy shifts employee roles from hosts to referees
Southwest’s once-democratic seating model helped create community
When tiered seating and baggage fees entered the picture, the cultural dynamic shifted.
4️⃣ Internal Culture Risk
Southwest’s frontline employees have historically been its greatest asset:
Humor
Warmth
Human connection
But layoffs, operational constraints, and policy changes are altering that culture.
The episode explores whether internal friction could accelerate brand decline faster than customer dissatisfaction alone.
5️⃣ What Should Southwest Do?
Rene proposes a bold alternative:
A Dual-Brand Strategy
Modeled after Qantas and Jetstar:
Preserve Southwest as a high-trust, economy-focused domestic brand
Launch a separate premium or long-haul sub-brand
Protect the emotional equity instead of diluting it
Other ideas discussed:
Restore fee transparency
Recommit to “Bags Fly Free”
Monetize passenger engagement through paid brand research partnerships
Re-empower employees as ambassadors rather than enforcers
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Rene Huey-Lipton
https://www.linkedin.com/in/hueylipton/
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Disclaimer
A quick disclaimer. We are going into this somewhat cold and nothing we say should be construed as legal advice, financial advice or anything that would get us in trouble. These are our views and opinions. We're here to ask the kinds of questions everyone's thinking. Have an engaging conversation and maybe come to some conclusions that we feel are worth exploring. By the end, if we fixed it, you're welcome. All trademarks, IP and brand elements discussed are property of their respective owners.
