Southwest Airlines in Transition: Lessons in Communicating Change

As leaders, one of our most difficult responsibilities is communicating change — especially when that change challenges the identity of our team, our brand, or the expectations we’ve built with our people.

Recently, Southwest Airlines, long celebrated for its customer-first culture, announced sweeping changes: eliminating its iconic Bags Fly Free perk, ending open seating, and initiating the first mass layoffs in company history. These are massive shifts for an airline whose brand has long stood for cheaper fares, simplicity, freedom, and customer care.

These changes were not just operational — they struck at the heart of what loyal customers have come to believe about the company.

Communicating decisions like these is never easy. But how we communicate them defines who we are as leaders.

Most of us are navigating our own versions of this — leading through volatility, stretched resources, shifting expectations, and constant transformation. Morale is fragile. Trust is delicate. Yet the role of a leader is not to speak only when things are going well. It’s to lead and communicate — especially — when the path ahead is unclear.

The job is not just to make tough decisions. The job is to communicate those tough decisions in ways that inspire understanding, invite ownership, and maintain dignity. And that’s where many leaders, even the best-intentioned, fall short.

Digital strategist and keynote speaker Ema Roloff recently commented on how Southwest Airlines delivered their message. She referenced a video where the company’s CEO, Bob Jordan, outlined the changes and explained the “why.” But the why, she noted, was entirely about the company — the financial pressures, the shareholders, the bottom line. Missing entirely from the message? The customer.

“There was not a single thing in there that had to do with the customer and their experience,” Roloff said. “If you don’t supply that why — and allow your team to then filter that into a ‘What’s in it for me?’ — they’re going to assume the change is bad for them.”

When we strip the why of human connection, we leave a vacuum. And a vacuum breeds fear.

Whether you’re a CEO, coach, founder, or team lead — you are going to have to communicate difficult change. It may affect compensation, benefits, roles, team dynamics, or core elements of what people have come to know and expect.

But here’s the key: Your message must address both the "why" and the "what’s in it for them." Your team isn’t just listening for information — they’re searching for reassurance. They’re trying to understand how this affects their identity, their contribution, and their future.

As we navigate change and communicate through it, here are five practical reminders to help ground and guide us.

• Lead with Empathy: Acknowledge the discomfort. Speak directly to the emotion in the room. If something is going to hurt — say that. It builds credibility.

• Explain the Why — for Them: Your financial goals, performance metrics, and shareholder concerns matter — but your employees, players and customers want to know what this change means for their experience, their performance, and their value.

• Honor What Was: If you're changing something people loved — like Southwest’s Bags Fly Free policy — recognize its past importance. This shows respect and emotional intelligence.

• Communicate Early and Often: Don’t wait until the last minute to announce change. Bring people along in the process. The sooner you share, the more room you give them to process and adapt.

• Invite Dialogue: Create space for feedback. Give people a voice. Even if the decision is final, involvement fosters ownership and connection.

As leaders, we are entrusted with more than decisions — we are entrusted with trust itself. And nothing erodes trust faster than tone-deaf communication during hard times.

When we remove the why, we create fear. When we ignore the "what’s in it for them," we invite resistance. But when we lead with greater clarity, compassion, and a commitment to honor people’s experience — even the hardest change becomes navigable.

Because in the end, leadership is not just about what decisions we make.

It’s about how we make people feel when we make them.

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