Getaways by Southwest, Southwest Airlines' new vacation-package brand, will have limited engagement with travel advisors.
When the brand launches in mid-2025, Southwest will tilt the lion's share of distribution toward direct channels, most notably Southwest.com.
"We already have customers on our website to whom we can monetize these packages," said Southwest executive vice president of transformation Ryan Green during the airline's Q3 earnings call Thursday. "Does that mean that we won't sell through travel agents at all? The answer there is no. But the primary source will be direct distribution."
Green wasn't ready to elaborate on how Southwest will shape the Getaways sales policy in terms of travel agencies, including whether it will work only with select agencies.
"We're working on our go-to-market plans," he said.
Getaways by Southwest will be operated in-house and replace Southwest Vacations, which is run by Apple Leisure Group, a company that works closely with travel advisors.
Green said last month that Getaways by Southwest will offer various consumer benefits not available with Southwest Vacations. Notably, customers will be able to purchase packages with Rapid Rewards loyalty points. In addition, when vacations are canceled, customers will have a new option of applying the credits for flight-only trips.
Southwest revealed its first hotel partners for Getaways: casino-hotel operator Caesars Entertainment and all-inclusive operators Playa Hotels & Resorts and Sandos Hotels & Resorts. Getaways also formed partnerships with lodging aggregator Hotelbeds and attractions aggregator Attraction World Group.
Southwest ekes out a Q3 profit
For the third quarter, Southwest reported operating revenue of $6.87 billion, up 5.3% from last year and beating analyst estimates by $80 million, according to the investment website Seeking Alpha.
Expenses jumped 6.6%, fueled by wage increases of 12.5%.
For the quarter, Southwest eked out an operating profit of $38 million and reported net income of $67 million.