October 9, 2008

Southwest Changes In-Flight Drink and Payment Options, Sales Rise

Since September 9th, Southwest switched all in-flight payments to credit instead of cash. According to a spokeswoman, the goal for the company was to increase drink sales by an average of one beverage per flight. If this goal is achieved it would translate into a $4 million increase. In addition to getting rid of cash, Southwest added the sale of non-alcoholic drinks and energy drinks. It will be interesting to see if the impressive 8% jump in sales translates into other carriers adopting this policy. It’s nice to know that this airline’s profit-maximizing strategy has given us (credit card holding passengers, that is) more options instead of removing precious extras - like a single olive from a salad, which American Airlines did in 1987 to save a mere $40,000.