How Much Will Southwest Airlines Profit Off Charging For Bags? The Answer Is Wild.

In case you missed it, Southwest Airlines announced earlier this year that it will end its long-standing free checked bag policy—which has been in place since the airline’s inception in 1967—and begin charging customers on May 28th.

It wasn’t clear how much checking a bag on Southwest Airlines would cost at first. But now, the airline has revealed that the first checked bag will cost $35 and the second piece will be $45.

Any flight booked on or after May 28th will now incur the bag fees. Any flight booked prior to May 28th will still be granted two free checked bags.

Due to financial and operational issues, Southwest has slowly been rolling back some of its long-standing, industry-differentiating policies, such as free checked bags and open seating. The idea behind the change is to increase ancillary revenue by charging for bags and selling premium seats.

We don’t yet know enough about what the new seating classes (starting in 2026) will look like on Southwest, but now that we know the price of checked bags, we can estimate how much Southwest will benefit from the change.

Southwest has priced its bags similarly to industry competitors like American, Delta, and United. Each of those airlines earned a billion or more on checked bag fees in 2024. American collected $1.5 billion, with United ($1.3 billion) and Delta ($1 billion) not too far behind.

According to CNN, Southwest had two to three times as many checked bags as some of these airlines, which means that profits could eclipse the above numbers. However, it’s likely that the airline will see less checked bags overall now that they will be charging for them—how much less remains to be seen.

If checked baggage rates remain relatively stable, Southwest could be in for a big pay day. But at the very least, we can expect them to pocket about a billion from bags alone, even if the checked bag rate drops off a bit.

If it does, Southwest passengers should expect more competition for overhead space onboard. This reality could also drive demand for the premium seat classes, which will debut in 2026 and no doubt include priority boarding.

By Will McGough, Contributor