Today is the Last Great Day for Southwest Airlines

I won’t belabor the point here: Southwest Airlines was the best, and soon it will not be. For the loyalists, today is the final day to enjoy Dallas’ airline as it once was. Tomorrow, the fall from grace, fueled by private equity cuts, commences.

I’m speaking, of course, of Southwest Airlines’ decision to end the famous “Two Bags Fly Free” policy, a perk so intrinsic to the airline that it seemed impossible it would someday be taken away. But that’s precisely what happened in March, when, amid a flurry of other changes made by the hedge fund investor Elliott Investment Management, the airline announced an end to the decades-old policy.

Starting tomorrow, May 28, Southwest Airlines will begin charging $35 for your first checked bag and $45 for a second. Free bag perks will still be offered to a few groups of individuals: those holding a Rapid Rewards credit card, members of the upper tiers of the Southwest loyalty program and customers who purchased a business select fare.

If you aren’t in those categories, prepare to pay up.

One note, though: Any tickets purchased before tomorrow will still be eligible for two free bags. So it might be worth taking a quick scroll through today’s flight deals to see if there’s anywhere you feel inclined to overpack and visit this summer while the luggage is still free. Flying out of Love Field later this summer, I’m seeing $120 to Cancun, $90 to Miami and $185 to Turks and Caicos. Sure, bathing suits don’t take up much room, but take the free suitcase while you still can, damnit.

In April, Southwest Airlines CEO Bob Jordan told CNBC that the airline hasn’t seen any dropoff in bookings since the announcement that the company’s trademark policy would end. Also starting tomorrow is the new policy requiring portable chargers to be kept within sight when in use, and next year the airline will be abandoning its choose-your-own-seat boarding policy. The airline has also decided to devalue its own point system, and flight credits will have an expiration date, whereas they did not before.

Like with all things private equity touches, all of this comes down to money. The Bureau of Transportation Statistics estimated that U.S. airlines brought in $7 billion from baggage fees last year, and that would seem to be dough Southwest wants to get its fingers into.

Still, the credit rating agency Fitch Ratings has warned that all this could backfire. In April, the company issued a negative outlook for Southwest Airlines. It warned that “ongoing strategic changes” at the company could “have the potential to impact its competitive position relative to network carriers.”

“Items aimed at improving profitability, such as the introduction of bag fees and expiring flight credits, risk eroding Southwest’s competitive strengths relative to peers,” Fitch said.

And that’s certainly what we at the Observer heard back in March after publishing our frustrations with the direction the airline has decided to go in. Readers told us they’ve often chosen indirect flights, or less ideal time slots, because they appreciated the customer service aspect of Southwest Airlines and the free luggage made the other sacrifices worth it. Without the perk, those fliers will look elsewhere, we were told.

Like a soccer player without a foot, or a pirate without an eyepatch, starting tomorrow, Southwest Airlines will have a piece missing.