Southwest Airlines: Just like everyone else

• Schedule Changes: The "discount" airline will cut 39 daily round-trip, non-stop flights by the end of the year, including all non-stop service on some of its biggest routes: Baltimore-Los Angeles; Baltimore-Oakland; Chicago-Orange County, CA; Cleveland-Phoenix; Philadelphia-Oakland; and El Paso-Midland, TX. The change will allow Southwest to create 46 new daily non-stop flights in key growth markets, including Denver and New Orleans.

• Frequent Flier Program: Southwest wants to make the "Rapid Rewards" program attractive to business-class travelers.

• Growth: The plan is to cut its capacity growth to 6% from 8% year-over-year.

As The Wall Street Journal points out , "Southwest's unit costs, or costs to fly each seat one mile, have risen nearly 20% over the past four years on higher fuel prices and increased labor costs."

Over the past two decades, Southwest shares have outperformed every U.S. airline on the Street. In the last two years shares have been range-bound. It looks like Southwest's problems are really starting to impact the bottom line. By moving planes to more profitable routes and cutting labor costs Southwest officially lost its small-company appeal and has become just another airline.