The entire process of boarding a plane, at least for people in coach or economy seats, seems like it was designed to punish passengers. Every airline does it a little differently, but aside from Southwest, they all use roughly the same process.
People with higher-priced tickets go first, usually along with top-tier loyalty program members. Sometimes families with kids get to pre-board, but on some airlines, they board with the first group, or just after it.
Related: Southwest Airlines makes a big baggage change
Not two airlines do exactly the same thing, but when flying United, Delta, or American Airlines AAL, if you're sitting in the cheap seats you can expect a similar process. That almost always involves no specific order once a group gets called to board.
That leaves people in the last groups crowding around the gate hoping to get a good place in line once their group gets called. Generally, this push to get on the plane isn't because people want to spend as much time sitting in a cramped seat as possible. It's often because they want access to the overhead bin space.
Being able to store your bag in the overhead bin on these major airlines solves three major problems for passengers. First, they won't have to wait at baggage claim for their luggage. Second, they won't have to worry about their bag somehow not getting on the plane.
Third, and this might be the most important one, carrying your bag on means you avoid having to pay the extra fees all three airlines charge for checked bags. That's usually a significant savings and it forces people who might otherwise happily check their bag to try to carry it on.
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What happens when airlines run out of overhead bin space?
The last thing an airline wants is for passengers to board a plane with a bag that there may not be room for in the overhead bins. When that happens, they're forced to gate check the bag which can slow down the boarding process (especially if the passenger tries to argue the decision).
Since that can lead to a plane not making its scheduled departure. Airlines will often offer free gate checks before the boarding process begins. In some cases, airlines may also mandate that people boarding toward the end gate check any bags that can't fit under their seats.
That can lead to a situation where angry passengers who were forced to gate check their bags end up getting on a plane and seeing empty overhead bin space. That space, however, may not be near their seat and no airline wants to deal with passengers having to move in both directions in the aisle to get back to overhead bin space that might have been filled since they passed it by.
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It's a messy situation that has generally been solved on the newest planes which simply have larger overhead bin areas designed to leave room for every passenger.
Southwest Airlines has a simple solution
Southwest Airlines LUV even on its older model planes does not generally have this problem and rarely needs to force (or even ask) passengers to gate check their bags. That's not an accident, according to aviation industry expert Gary Leff who explained why Southwest does not face the same problems as United, Delta, and American.
"Southwest doesn’t charge for checked bags, so passengers don’t schlepp nearly as much on board," Leff wrote.
It's also possible that Southwest makes back some of the money it's not collecting baggage fees.
"This also helps Southwest board and deplane quickly, spending less time on the ground where planes aren’t making money," Leff added.
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American Airlines led the industry with $521 million in checked bag fees in 2021, according to U.S. Transportation Administration data published by Statista. It was followed by Delta at $359 million, and United at $341 million. Southwest only had $25 million which would be from passengers who checked more than two bags or who went over baggage weight limits.
