Are Southwest’s Bag Fees Worse Than Trading Luka?

How rough have things been for Southwest Airlines (LUV) lately? Rough enough, apparently, that it’s reopening the wounds of Dallas basketball fans.

The Dallas-based airline recently said it would start charging baggage fees, one of a few recent revenue-targeting changes to surprise longtime admirers of the company. While the changes, sparked in part by the efforts of activist investors, may ultimately help the business, they’ve elicited strong reactions from people accustomed to the way Southwest went about its business.

Over at The Wall Street Journal, a recent column likened the events to a funeral, a headline saying “We Gather Here Today to Mourn Southwest.” Even Amtrak joined the pile-on, the railway line writing on social media platform X that “we’re the only ones doing free baggage now.”

On X, the company’s team has been working to respond to frustrated or confused customers. “We know this update to our checked baggage policy is a big change for our Customers,” one rep recently wrote. “We hear you and understand you’re disappointed.”

Elsewhere, though, the company sought to turn the attention to another recent Texas punching bag.

“It’s not like we traded Luka…” the company said Thursday on Instagram, a post referring to the hometown Mavericks’ recent trade of star Luka Dončić to LeBron James’ Los Angeles Lakers. That move shocked fans and NBA players alike, but not everyone loved the joke.

“If I could dislike a post it would be this one,” one commenter wrote.