Southwest Adds $10 One-Way "Early Bird" Fee

(MoneyWatch)  In an apparent effort to raise revenue, Southwest Airlines is offering a $10 one-way "Early Bird" fee for regular customers who want priority boarding. Customers would pay $20 round-trip for the service 36 hours before the flight is scheduled to leave. (Without it, customers have to check in 24 hours ahead to be assigned group boarding.) Fliers already using Southwest's Business Select or Rapid Rewards A-List will have the service included. Southwest doesn't offer reserved seating.

While the Internet seemed to be filled with bloggers steamed about the new fees, some viewed it as an inevitable part of flying in a recession. And Southwest is standing by its "no hidden fees" stance -- I suppose because this fee isn't hidden at all.

According to Robert McAdoo of Avondale Partners LLC, if only one in four customers uses the fee it could still raise $250 million in annual revenue for Southwest and push company earnings into the black for 2009.

I think that's a pretty safe bet. According to some comments from the AirlineBiz Blog at the Dallas Morning News:

What a bunch of whiners! Yes, I'm as sorry as the next guy to see more fees creeping up at SWA, but friends, the market has spoken.

This program is TOTALLY OPTIONAL, that means IF YOU DON'T WANT IT, DON'T PAY FOR IT.

So now we have to log in at 36:00:01 to get our A pass. For our family of 5 we'll only pay the extra $10 on one ticket and let dad get on the plane and save seats.

According to Southwest, there's no limit to customers wanting early check-in which leads me to think, "Then what's the point?" If everyone pays $10, that means someone still gets placed in Southwest's A, B and C groups. At least before not paying and getting the C group was OK, but now customers may get angry they spent $10 and are still the last to board -- especially because the priority check-in is nonrefundable.

While it's a good way to raise revenue, I think Southwest has created for itself a customer service nightmare. By not limiting priority check-ins on each flight, it has made it possible for its customers to pay fees for something that may not exist. And just how happy will that make its customers? Let's hope Southwest's customer service and employees all have thick skins.