The current Southwest Airlines is basically that in name only. In the interest of improving its bottom line, the airline has abandoned all of the things that made it special.Previously, when you flew on Southwest, the hallway to get on the plane was filled with posters naming all the things other airlines did that Southwest did not do.

That included charging for bags, adding various fees, and generally not charging the price that was actually on the ticket. Southwest called this "transfarency," and they were really proud of it. It was a cornerstone of their business, along with open seating and generally being a business that put passengers first. This version of Southwest Airlines has the name, but it's working very hard to shed everything that made the company special.

It started with little nitpicky things like charging for Internet on each leg of a flight instead of my flight day. It will soon move to charging for seat assignments and the end of the airline's beloved free checked bags policy. A sideline of the end of free checks bags is forcing Southwest to do something that passengers hate, which is very common on its rival airlines.

Since Southwest Airlines no longer lets customers check bags for free, more people try to bring a carry-on bag. That slows down the boarding process because people need to find overhead space for their bag and stow it away. The airline, like all airlines, has a set amount of time for boarding its planes and going over that costs it money and risks delays. In addition, flight attendants do not get paid until the plane's door closes. 

Everyone on the ground wants the plane to take off on time, and the number one thing that can slow the process is when overhead space become tight. If that happens, passengers may have to move up or down the aisle to find a place to stow their bag. Even worse, if the bins are full, the bag must be walked back to the jetway to be gate-checked.