Tipping Our Hats to Southwest Skycaps

There’s been some unhappy airline passengers at San Diego International since the announcement this past week that Southwest Airlines was laying off their sky cap employees.

Southwest says it will now contract out the skycap service to a third-party company, much like most of the other major airlines.

But there are some passengers and some airline industry analysts who were surprised by the news from Southwest which is thought of by many as San Diego’s airline, given its location as the airport is in the most southwest spot in the southwest corner of the country.

One analyst told the San Diego Union Tribune it’s a disappointing move for Southwest to make with the airline also about to start charging for checked luggage. As he put it,  while it’s part of Southwest’s ongoing efforts to reduce costs, at what price to the customer experience?

And one long time passenger in San Diego told the U-T that she was so upset by the news, that was she was planning a trip to the airport with a cake and signs to show her appreciation to the Southwest employees who help her check her luggage.

Businesses taking steps to reduce costs is part of business, and Southwest will still remain a popular airline in San Diego, but when it comes to their employee sky-caps, maybe we should all tip OUR caps to THEM.

(Photo Getty Images)