Southwest Airlines now featured on Google Flight search results

Ever since Google Flights became a thing, the number of major airlines that have been missing from the flight search engine has dwindled down to just one. Until now. Southwest Airlines recently reached a partnership deal that will allow prospective travelers the option to view its flight data on Google Flights.

For as long as flight search engines have existed, Southwest Airlines has long resisted being included among its competitors, forcing customers to exclusively search, price, and book its entire flight inventory on Southwest.com or the Southwest Airlines app. Under the agreement, Southwest will include its flight data and pricing information on Google Flights while the search engine giant redirects the booking process to the Southwest Airlines website.

With the move, Southwest will continue to independently control all of the customer data and booking process for all of its flights. Southwest has a long-standing "Wanna Get Away" pricing along with its standard pricing and Business Select options. It is also one of the very few airlines in the entire world that has an open seating policy, which means no assigned seating.

Southwest's appearance on Google Flights also coincides with its stock price taking a steady and rather significant dive. The airline recently revealed that significant changes could be in works to improve its customer experience and reach. Southwest CEO Bob Jordan recently stated that the airline plans to offer red-eye flights for the major hubs to its inventory over the next couple of years.

WalletHub recently came out with their best airline rankings for the 2024 calendar year which features nine nationwide and one regional airlines with Southwest scoring in last place for the second year in a row, The rankings are based on 13 different metrics in three major categories including baggage and departures, safety and in-flight comfort and costs, gave Southwest a 36.05 score. The score was trailing Frontier by over seven points. Coming in first was Alaska Airlines with a 68.07 score.

While it was not the only major carrier not to be featured in the search results, it was the last one based in the United States to make the move. Other airlines unavailable on Google Flights include Asian giants China Eastern, Air China, Thai Airlines and Philippine Airlines.