Value perception keeps Southwest aloft amid recent turbulence

The U.S. airline sector is increasingly split between premium-focused full-service carriers and a budget segment under pressure, where profitability has become harder to sustain. Against this backdrop, Southwest Airlines, long positioned around simplicity and affordability, is navigating a more challenging brand environment.

Over the past five years, its Index score, which is a composite brand health score tracked by YouGov BrandIndex, has declined markedly, reflecting the impact of operational disruption and shifts in its customer proposition. How the airline continues to compete in this evolving landscape — and which aspects of its brand remain resilient — is key to understanding its current position in the market.

Southwest’s brand softens while the sector holds steady

Compared to five years ago, Southwest’s Index score has declined from 29.1 to 20.0. Over the same period, the broader U.S. airline sector — comprising eight leading domestic carriers — has remained relatively stable, with Index inching up from 12.6 to 13.3. This suggests that Southwest’s decline is not simply a reflection of wider industry sentiment.

The most pronounced dip came in the aftermath of the December 2022 scheduling crisis, when widespread disruption pushed Southwest’s Index score down to 4.8. While scores have since recovered, they have yet to return to earlier highs.

More recently, shifts in the airline’s long-standing and distinctive customer proposition have caused a stir. In 2025, Southwest ended its decades-old “bags fly free” policy for most passengers — a defining feature of its brand — and introduced checked baggage fees for many fare types. This marked a significant departure from a policy that had helped differentiate the airline for over 50 years, and brought it closer in line with competitors. We published analysis looking at the more immediate impact of that move in March 2025, which showed that key metrics were negatively impacted, but it appears that those setbacks in perception were temporary.

A clear Value lead continues to anchor perception

Despite these headwinds, Southwest remains firmly among the leading U.S. carriers. A key reason lies in its enduring strength on Value.

Southwest’s Value score stands at 20.5, placing it comfortably at number one in the U.S. and seven points ahead of its nearest competitor. This clear lead underscores the resilience of its core positioning, even as other aspects of the brand have come under strain.

That Value advantage is supported by relatively respectable perceptions elsewhere. Southwest continues to rank within the top five on Quality, with a score of 17.9, indicating that consumers still view the airline as delivering a dependable experience. Its Satisfaction score of 20.9 further reinforces this, placing it just behind Delta, American, and United.

Taken together, the data suggests that while Southwest’s brand has absorbed a series of shocks, its underlying equity remains intact. In a market where both premium differentiation and low-cost sustainability are being tested, Southwest’s ability to maintain a clear Value advantage continues to anchor its position.

Methodology: YouGov BrandIndex collects data on thousands of brands every day. Index score for airlines is a composite measure of overall brand health, calculated as the average of key metrics including Impression, Quality, Value, Satisfaction, Recommend, and Reputation. Scores are based on daily surveys of U.S. adults and are reported on a scale from -100 to +100. Data is weighted using a propensity scoring methodology with targets from the American Community Survey (ACS) to ensure representation by age, gender, race, education, and region. Unless otherwise stated, scores are shown as a 12-week moving average. The observation period for this analysis is from Apr 05, 2021 to Apr 04, 2026.