Standing in the airplane aisle, I took a deep breath, engaged my core like my Pilates instructor taught me, and awkwardly heaved my suitcase into the overhead bin.

As I felt the eyes of my fellow passengers on me, I filled my mind with affirmations: I am strong. I am independent. Southwest Airlines will pay for what they’ve done to me.

It was my first time flying Southwest since it began charging customers for checked bags last year. That’s not the only big change foisted upon passengers — the airline is also now assigning seats instead of letting customers choose. And it changed its policies around plus-sized travelers, now requiring them to purchase a second seat if they cannot fit in just one, even if the adjacent seat is empty.

Is nothing sacred anymore?

I suppose I should be happy for Southwest, which saw its share price take off after the changes. The airline’s stock jumped 19% in one day, its highest single-day increase in decades. Thanks in part to transformational changes, the Dallas-based company is projecting $32.6 billion in revenue and $1.9 billion in earnings by 2028.

And while that’s making the company money, it’s also destroying what was once unique about an airline that was beloved by its loyal customers, like me.

This is a big deal in our region because Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport is a major hub for Southwest. If I wanted to boycott the airline, it would be difficult to travel. Southwest handled 17,972,979 passengers last year at BWI — 71% of the airport’s passenger market share, said BWI spokesperson Jonathan Dean.

I always used to check my bag because I hate using tiny, travel-sized products. Call me high maintenance, I don’t care! I also didn’t have to drag a suitcase around the airport and into bathroom stalls.

And I, for one, enjoyed the on-board seat selection.

I would set an alarm to check into my flight exactly 24 hours before it took off so that I could get the earliest possible boarding group.

If I had a short layover, my strategy was to pick a middle seat close to the front of the plane. If I were flying direct and less rushed, I’d choose something farther back so I could sit by the window or aisle.

And last, I would always sit next to a woman when choosing my seat — preferably one with white hair and her nose in a book.

I fly Southwest not because it’s the best airline in the world (see: lack of TVs, generally uncomfortable seats, weird snack choices), and not even because it’s relatively cheap. I was a fan because they let me check a bag for free and they let me choose my own seat.

So now what?

Maybe I’m an outlier with exceptionally passionate feelings. Some of my coworkers and other Southwest passengers seem less aggressively upset — or even like the more orderly boarding process now.

My coworker Hayes Gardner told me that he didn’t particularly mind the changes and that he has always flown whatever is cheapest and best for his schedule.

And another colleague, Darreonna Davis, talked to a few folks on a Southwest flight she took last month. Most, she reported, were at least a little miffed.

“I think part of the allure with Southwest was they were so different,” Gary Wayne, an A-list Southwest flyer, told Darreonna. “I used to go out of my way to fly Southwest. I don’t see myself going out of my way to fly Southwest.”

Gary Wayne is right.

On my trip to Tucson out of BWI last month, Southwest employees took to the overhead speaker to beg passengers to gate-check their bags for free. There wasn’t enough room in the overhead bins, they said — before anyone had even boarded the plane. I assumed that was because people like me refused to spend $35 checking their bag ahead of time.

If it isn’t the consequences of your own actions, Southwest ...

The jet bridge was adorned with signs showing us how to sit in our assigned seats, which offended me because of course I know how to sit in an assigned seat. But once I actually began boarding the plane I watched as flight attendants repeatedly told passengers how to sit in their assigned seats.

Southwest has taken lots of heat on social media for being inflexible about changing seats, even on nearly empty planes.

I settled in next to a burly man whose elbow kept grazing my thigh and who FaceTimed his friend while we were still on the tarmac, loudly discussing how sick he was. And I wistfully glanced back two rows at the quiet woman I would’ve chosen to sit next to.

She was reading Agatha Christie.