Friends,
I spent yesterday doing something I genuinely enjoy. I flew to Houston and back in the same day and I used two very different airlines to do it.
On the way down, I flew JSX. On the way back, I flew Southwest. Same cities, same general pricing, totally different experiences.
That contrast is what made the day interesting.
The Dallas–Houston corridor is notably competitive. American, United, Southwest, and JSX all serve it (Frontier and Spirit have made recent attempts, too—along with Alaska briefly during the pandemic). That is a lot of choice for a short flight, and it creates real differentiation if you are paying attention.
JSX was first. One flight in the morning. I arrived at the airport about fifteen minutes before departure and walked straight onto the plane. No main terminal. No TSA line. Just a small private terminal, light security screening, and then boarding.
Once onboard, the experience felt closer to premium economy than anything resembling a major carrier’s coach. Spacious seats, attentive service, and full inflight offerings including an open bar. I did not partake, but the fact that it was available on a forty minute hop says something about how JSX positions itself.
The real standout was the free Starlink Wi-Fi. Fast, reliable, and immediately usable. That matters more than people admit, especially when travel is stitched into a workday.
Pricing wise, JSX is not cheap. But it is not wildly expensive either. The fare was roughly comparable to what the other airlines on the route charge for a walk up economy ticket. When you frame it that way, the value proposition becomes clearer.
The return flight told a different story.
Southwest is in the middle of change, and this flight marked one of my last experiences with true open seating. That alone made it feel like the end of an era.
The product itself was straightforward. Friendly crew. On time departure. Simple beverage service. Nothing flashy, nothing broken. With CLEAR, the airport process was totally efficient, even if it involved the main terminal at Hobby.
Southwest felt like what it is. A reliable, large scale operation that moves a lot of people very well. There is comfort in that, even if it lacks the novelty or polish of JSX.
So who won?
For this specific trip, JSX did. The speed from curb to seat, the onboard experience, and the sense of efficiency made it feel meaningfully better. But Southwest did exactly what it promised, and I will happily fly them again. In fact, I am doing so later today.
The takeaway is not that one airline is objectively better than the other. It is that context matters. Time of day, schedule flexibility, airport preference, and what you value most all change the answer.
Short flights can still be interesting if you let them be. And sometimes, the smallest trips reveal the biggest differences.
Fly well.
P.S. I am hoping to do a vlog comparison of the two carriers from yesterday’s trip. I will post it here once it is uploaded. Stay tuned.
