When Southwest had its meltdown last winter, it had several problems that snowballed all at once:
- Cancelled flights (about 16,700 of them)
- Flight staff scheduling problems (which was the cause of many of those cancelled flights)
- Lost bags
On that last one, passengers would check their luggage, but then their flights would be cancelled with no way to get their bags back. Then the airline would move the passengers to a different flight – hours to days later – but not their bags.
It was a mess that the airline has promised it’s fixing with over $1 billion in software changes, fixes and upgrades. And that may appear to be the case.
Southwest Airlines announced on Tuesday the introduction of digital bag tracking from both their app and website.
What's better than two free* checked bags? Free checked bags that you can track, of course. Introducing digital bag tracking! Now available on https://t.co/qJUDbsC3g0 and in the Southwest app. pic.twitter.com/2T6q9tMIo8
— Southwest Airlines (@SouthwestAir) October 24, 2023
“Southwest Airlines has introduced the ability for customers to track checked bags throughout their journey – from takeoff to landing,” the airline said in a statement. “Now on Southwest.com and the Southwest mobile app, customers can view the status of their checked bag across three different milestones of each checked piece of luggage: confirming when bag tags are printed and when bags are loaded and unloaded from our aircraft.”
Many savvy travelers already use AirTags, Tiles, etc., to keep track of their luggage. Other airlines, including American, United and Delta, have offered digital bag tracking for a while. But this is a welcome addition to Southwest.
Want to comment on this post? Great! Read this first to help ensure it gets approved.
Want to sponsor a post, write something for Your Mileage May Vary, or put ads on our site? Click here for more info.
Like this post? Please share it! We have plenty more just like it and would love it if you decided to hang around and sign up to get emailed notifications of when we post.
Whether you’ve read our articles before or this is the first time you’re stopping by, we’re really glad you’re here and hope you come back to visit again!
This post first appeared on Your Mileage May Vary
Join our mailing list to receive the latest news and updates from our team.