The final countdown has begun as Southwest Airlines prepares to ditch its (in)famous open seating policy with the switchover to assigned seating on January 27.
The change also means a completely new boarding process and the introduction of new fare products to take advantage of premium seating options that have more legroom or are closer to the front of the plane.
Southwest Airlines ends a half-century-old tradition
On January 27, Southwest Airlines will do something that it has never done before: give passengers assigned seats. And that brings with it the end of the dirty tactics passengers have employed in the past to snag themselves and their friends the best seats.
Southwest first announced its intention to introduce assigned seating in July 2024 as it battled to stave off an approach by activist investor Elliott.
The airline knew that it had to make changes to improve its financial performance, and assigned seating, along with the introduction of premium seating options, seemed like a no-brainer that passengers were largely in favor of.
Even loyal Southwest flyers who were more than accustomed to the Dallas-based carrier’s sometimes confusing experience were supportive of the change.
Research conducted by Southwest revealed that 80% of existing customers said they would prefer assigned seating, and an even larger 86% of potential customers indicated they wanted assigned seating when they booked a flight.
“When a Customer elects to stop flying with Southwest and chooses a competitor, open seating is cited as the number one reason for the change,” the airline said when it announced the switch to assigned seating.
The delay between the announcement and the introduction of assigned seating has given Southwest time to carry out an aggressive retrofit program of its airplanes with the new extra legroom seating options.
How will the new boarding process work?
Southwest will end its A/B/C boarding method overnight from January 26 to January 27 and switch to new boarding groups numbered one through eight.
Rather than lining everyone up ahead of boarding, Southwest will use two alternating lines with display screens at the gate showing which boarding group is boarding and which group is up next.
The boarding process will work as follows:
- Pre-boarding for customers requiring additional assistance and active-duty military
- Groups 1 and 2: A-List Preferred, Choice Extra fare, Extra Legroom seat purchase or upgrade
- Groups 3-5: A-List and Choice Preferred fare, along with Rapid Rewards Credit Cardmembers
- Groups 6-8: Choice fare and Basic fare
A few important things to note:
- Everyone on the same reservation of nine customers or fewer, including families, will be assigned the same boarding group.
- Customers can purchase Priority Boarding 24 hours before departure if there are slots available.
Don’t expect all of the remnants of Southwest’s old boarding process to be removed overnight at airport gate areas. In fact, the airline says it could take up to 60 days to remove the old numbered stanchions, although Southwest will still be enforcing its new boarding method systemwide.
Assigned seating allowed Southwest to introduce ‘premium seats’
Last April, Southwest embarked on an aggressive retrofit program to equip its fleet of Boeing 737s with upgraded seats.
Approximately one-third of seats on every plane will be turned over to premium seating, offering between 34 inches and 36 inches of legroom compared to standard seats that will be set at 31 inches of legroom.
During the retrofit program, customers have been able to snag these premium seats for free as part of Southwest’s normal open seating policy. From Tuesday, however, these seats will be sold for an additional fee, although frequent flyers will be assigned these seats as a complimentary upgrade on a space available basis.
Employees can’t wait for the change
Given the frequent drama that came with Southwest’s open seating policy, it’s probably no surprise to learn that employees are excited by the switchover to assigned seating on Tuesday.
Flight attendants are hopeful that arguments over seating will be significantly reduced, while passengers attempting to ‘reserve’ multiple empty seats for themselves will become a thing of the past.
The change should also save Southwest some money in attorneys’ fees, given that its open seating policy has been the subject of several lawsuits.
This includes a lawsuit brought by one passenger who was subjected to a violent assault in a viral incident aboard one of the carrier’s planes at New York LaGuardia Airport.
The victim said Southwest’s iconic open seating policy was the “proximate and substantial” cause of the altercation and that the airline must have been aware that it “created a foreseeable hazard of passenger conflict.”
