Southwest Exec Addresses Biz Agents Gripes

The Beat Live’s “Hot Seat” turned out to be very warm indeed for Kevin Krone, Southwest Airlines’ vice president and chief marketing office.

Krone was peppered with questions and criticism about the carrier’s relationships with travel managers and corporate travel agents during the recent Beat Live conference.

The Hot Seat, a tradition at the business conference, requires the subject to respond to questions from readers and The Beat’s editors that have not been revealed ahead of time.

Booking difficulties
Readers aired their gripes about the difficulties in booking Southwest because its participation in GDSs is limited and its full inventory is not available in the booking channels they use.

Krone replied that “we have several tools we participate in, and we’d be happy to talk to you about solutions that may alleviate your concerns.”

Several members of the audience, however, reiterated that Southwest’s full inventory is not available to them.

“Distribution can be expensive, and [the cost] has got to show up somewhere,” Krone said.

“We take deliberate steps in distribution so that it doesn’t result in fares going up. We are trying to find solutions that provide all the inventory, and we are trying to be as fair and transparent as we can be.”

Hard to work with
One audience member told Krone that the consensus in the business travel community is that Southwest is among “the hardest to work with.”

“We’re not attempting to frustrate anybody, and I’m sorry you feel that way,” Krone said. “We have a dedicated team who are anxious to talk with you.”

Krone urged the audience to consider SWAbiz, Southwest’s proprietary online booking system for corporate travel. “It’s a fantastic tool with a large user base,” he said.

Annoyance-free zone
There were less contentious moments during the session, including Krone’s assertion that “we have absolutely no plans to charge bag fees. We’re not in this business to annoy people.”

Krone dismissed claims by several observers that Southwest does not charge bag fees because it lacks the technology to process them.

 “There’s always a bag conspiracy,” Krone said. “We could charge bag fees if we wanted to. It’s not a technology issue for us.”