Ohio Woman Looks Up Southwest Flight From Indiana To Cancun. Then She Realizes It’s Cheaper To Fly American Airlines In First Class: ‘Why?’

It’s no surprise that people want to escape Ohio in the dead of winter. Trading gloomy grey skies for the sunshine and salt of Cancun seems like a no-brainer. The only obstacle? Planning a trip that doesn’t break the bank.

One optimistic traveler started planning a trip where she always starts: with Southwest Airlines. But on that site, Heather, a travel expert for all-inclusive senior class adventures (@seniortripplanner) ran into a horrible realization. “In case you needed proof that Southwest has officially lost it, I’ve got it for you,” she says.

Then she reveals the cost of a flight from Indianapolis to Cancun: $2.042.45 per person. She then immediately compares the same day, same nonstop flight, but in Business Class, on American Airlines. For an appreciably better seat, the price is about $160 less ($1,876).

In an email to BoardingArea, Heather explains, “I was looking for my family as well as several clients traveling from Indy to Cancun during the same dates.”

But right now, she’s asking the internet to “please make it make sense.”

Fuel Costs, Corporate Greed, Or Just Locale?

Theories about the high fare on Southwest abounded in the comments.

Wile E. Coyote offered a micro-lesson on private equity, claiming, “SWA was bought by private investors and they forced the changes. They then sold 80% of their shares,” the cartoon canis explains.

Others, like Heather Cortez brought politics into the discussion: “Who did you vote for? That’s the only thing you need to know, to make it make sense.”

A self-described corporate buyer wrote,”I’m a corporate travel buyer. Here is the real answer. SWA doesn’t make a lot of money on this nonstop route. The plane will likely not be full. Its international. So if you choose them they will charge more. They aren’t trying to compete in this market region. AA is an international competitor. If you select a stop over route into CO, TX, CA, you’ll find drastically lower prices. They balance prices based on the routes & how many ppl they estimate will fly through. Plus fuel prices are higher so it costs them more to fly this direct flight. SWA isn’t as bad as ppl are saying and they are simply aligning with industry norms with recent changes.”

But perhaps the most telling information hasn’t been released yet. As LC noted, “Q1 ends this week. Earnings call in about 3 weeks. Let’s see if they roll anything back.”

What Happened To Southwest Airlines’ Ownership?

In 2024, activist shareholder group Elliott Investment Management bought a $1.9 billion stake in Southwest Airlines. Immediately, it sought to force out the chief executive officer. The management group said that CEO Robert Jordan was not up to the task of modernizing the airline, which was made vulnerable by a system-wide outage in December 2022.

“Poor execution and leadership’s stubborn unwillingness to evolve the Company’s strategy have led to deeply disappointing results for shareholders, employees and customers alike,” the firm wrote in a letter to shareholders.

Then, in December 2025, Elliott sold off 4 million shares (from a high of a 16% stake to now, 9%), per Yahoo!. In the filing, Elliott said it made the transactions “for portfolio management purposes.”

But for travelers, “everything that made [Southwest] different—has disappeared faster than you can say Elliott Investment Management,” reports CrankyFlier.

These changes for Southwest include checked bag fees; flight credits that expire; no more open seating; and a lack of transparency on redeeming reward points.

That probably leaves many travelers feeling like Heather, who captions her video, “I’ve been a big fan for a very long time, but I think yall have officially gone crazy.”

BoardingArea reached out to Southwest via their media email for comment. We will update this if they reply.