‘Bleisure” Travel Is The Talk Of The Airline Industry. Southwest Wonders If It’s For Real

‘Bleisure” Travel Is The Talk Of The Airline Industry. Southwest Wonders If It’s For Real

Southwest passengers check in at LAX in August. Are they flying for business, leisure, or bleisure? ... [+] (Photo by PATRICK T. FALLON) The new thing in the airline industry is "bleisure" passengers who combine business and leisure. Presumably, they travel at midday instead of the start and end of the day; travel midweek instead of Friday and Monday; fly to Bozeman to work remotely and also ski, and sit in Delta Comfort or Main Cabin Extra or United Premium Plus, because they can. Emerging trends in bleisure travel – also known as "blended travel" — were discussed on the American, Delta and United third quarter earnings call this month, and seemed to be viewed as a sign that the pandemic has led to a long-term change in travel patterns. Southwest is not so sure. Its executives see the trends, but aren't quite ready to conclude that they portend a long-term change in air travel. "I've personally been slow to decide that we have a new trend, and that (it's) the trend for a long period of time," Southwest CEO Robert Jordan said Thursday, in answer to a reporter's question about whether the carrier is seeing the same move towards