Good morning, LinkedIn! Today, July 25th, marks the end of an era in the airline industry. The low-cost business model pioneered by Southwest Airlines since 1971, is coming to an end.

⁍ Reflecting on our report from a year ago, we observed Southwest’s resilience as preference grew, even after a major system failure that stranded 2 million passengers in December ’22.

⁍ Surprisingly, Southwest’s preference actually grew following the incident, highlighting the power of publicity.

⁍ Our data at MSW Research reveals that Southwest’s preference has risen again to 23% in the first half of this year, aligning with their passenger traffic share.

As the top four US airlines continue to dominate, accounting for 75% of passengers, it’s fascinating to see these dynamics unfold.