Southwest Airlines plans to start assigning seats
DALLAS (AP) — Goodbye, cattle call.
Southwest Airlines said Thursday that it plans to drop the open-boarding system it has used for more than 50 years and will start assigning passengers to seats, just like all the other big airlines.
The airline said it has been studying seating options, running tests and surveying customers. Southwest discovered that preferences have changed over the years and the vast majority of travelers now want to know where they are sitting before they get to the airport.
Southwest’s unusual boarding process started as a fast way to load passengers and limit the time that planes and crews spend sitting idly on the ground, not making money. It helped the airline operate more efficiently and even squeeze a few more flights into the daily schedule.
It was one reason that Southwest alone among US airlines remained profitable every year until the Coronavirus pandemic.
Here’s how it works: Instead of being assigned a seat when they buy a ticket, Southwest customers check
nd in exactly 24 hours before departure to secure their spots in boarding lines. In the beginning, the first 30 to check in were put in the coveted “A” boarding group, guaranteeing them a window or aisle seat. Dawdlers landed in “B,” which was still OK, or “C,” which would often result in a middle seat.
The system became less democratic over time as Southwest let people pay extra to guarantee a spot near the front of the line. Despite that, many Southwest loyalists still love open seating. The airline thinks they will adapt.
“I know there are going to be customers who say, ‘I want to stay with open seating.’ It’s a minority,” Southwest CEO Robert Jordan told CNBC, “but we had the same thing when we switched from plastic boarding passes. We had the same thing when we took peanuts out of the cabin. I’m convinced we can win them over.”
The airline said surveys showed that 80% of its customers — and 86% of “potential” customers — want an assigned seat. Jordan said open seating was the top reason that travelers cited for choosing another airline over Southwest.
Some Southwest passengers reacted with sadness and disappointment to news that open seating is going away.