Southwest Is Dropping Open Seating

Big news today. News that many, myself included, have been waiting a long time to hear. The news that Southwest is dropping open seating on their flights in the near future. No more waking up early on vacation to check in the day before your flight. No more worrying what seat you are going to get in the C's boarding group. Heck, no more pretending your kid is under the age for family boarding as they rub their hairy chins. Not only that, but Southwest has finally figured out how to fly during the night too! That is because redeye flights are now a thing on the airline as well. All joking aside, I think these were two huge pain points for many current and potential customers. It is a drastic move away from their history though, and that means the many loyal Southwest flyers probably won't like this.

No More Open Seating

We don't know exactly this change will go into effect, but here is what Southwest had to say in their press release:

After listening carefully to Customers and conducting extensive research, Southwest decided it will assign seats and offer premium seating options on all flights. The airline has been known for its unique open seating model for more than 50 years, but preferences have evolved with more Customers taking longer flights where a seat assignment is preferred. Additionally, Southwest conducted robust operational testing that included live and over 8 million simulation-based boarding trials. The airline is confident that these Customer enhancements will meet expectations and not compromise the airline's operational efficiency. 

The research is clear and indicates that 80% of Southwest Customers, and 86% of potential Customers, prefer an assigned seat. 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. By moving to an assigned seating model, Southwest expects to broaden its appeal and attract more flying from its current and future Customers.

In addition to assigning seats, Southwest will offer a premium, extended legroom portion of the cabin that research shows many Customers strongly prefer. While specific cabin layout details are still in design, Southwest expects roughly one-third of seats across the fleet to offer extended legroom, in line with that offered by industry peers on narrowbody aircraft…

The real question here is how many seats will remain free on each flight, and how many will be an upcharge. I think people will be happy to have main cabin extra like choices in the future. I do wonder how long until they add a proper first class to their aircraft at this point. If the majority of the seats are still free then I think this will bring many people back to Southwest that left because of open boarding.

The Negative Of Losing Open Boarding

On the flip side, the boarding process will likely be longer and more hectic compared to open boarding. Southwest has a chance to do something unique here though. Something like loading by row from the back to front etc. Since they have no history of boarding the plane with assigned seats they have kind of an open slate. If they go down the same road as the other carriers, this will likely lengthen the boarding process and make it more hectic.

Just think of zone 8 cramming up by the gate while they are boarding zone 2, for no other reason then to make it difficult to get through. Southwest's open boarding keeps the gate area pretty clean and the boarding process pretty quick. Hopefully they figure out a way to do it better than the rest, since they have no preconceived notions on what they should do here. Lean into your quirky history and be unique!

Redeye Flights Are Here

I am not engrained enough in the Southwest way of life to know why they never had redeye flights before, but they are here now! This is a good move to give people more flight options, offer cheaper flights and be more productive with the equipment Southwest already has available. Sometimes a redeye flight from the West Coast to the East Coast is exactly what is needed for your travel plans. If you were a loyal Southwest flyer, that left you checking out the competition to fill your needs. Not any more!

Southwest Is Dropping Open Seating: ToP Thoughts

I can only imagine this will be a very divisive change, I mean it is 2024 after all! Having said that, I can see both sides of this. Southwest has been chipping away at the quirky, customer friendly identity that they spent 40 or 50 years building up. They have become a bit less customer friendly over the last 5 – 10 years, and have been slowly morphing more and more into the big 3 (Delta, American and United).

They are in a tough place, their awkward teen years, where they are going from a low cost carrier to a full service carrier. Hopefully they figure out how to do their seating set up, and boarding process, in a unique and fresh way that lets us have our cake and eat it too. If not, they could be walking over a dollar to pick up a quarter here. They risk losing their most loyal customers for a chance at picking up some new ones. The grass isn't always greener on the other side, and only time will tell here.

Let me know if you love or hate these new changes over in the ToP Facebook Group.