Southwest Commits to at Least 11 Airport Lounges, With Chase as Partner

Southwest Airlines is entering the lounge business, confirming plans for at least eleven airport lounges built in partnership with Chase. The rollout marks another marker in a broader shift already underway at the carrier, which built its identity on low fares and no-frills domestic flying. A lounge program, backed by a major banking partner, points toward the kind of amenities long associated with full-service operators rather than budget ones. For a carrier once defined by open seating and bare-bones service, the move signals how far that transformation has traveled.

With reporting from Skift.