Southwest flyers furious as airline kills popular perk to boost profits... and throws a party to celebrate
Southwest ended its popular 54-year-old open seating policy on Tuesday with balloons, a water-cannon salute and special oversized boarding passes.
The fanfare, and upbeat comments from bosses that flyers had been asking for the change, gave a clear impression the carrier thinks this is a major upgrade.
But many regular Southwest customers - now forced to pay extra to pick a seat, after last year losing the free bags perk - are anything but happy.
Before, boarding was based on a first come, first served basis that rewarded those who checked in right as online check in began 24 hours before departure.
Under the new system, passengers must now board in assigned groups and sit in pre-allocated seats - a major shift for a carrier that long prided itself on letting customers pick any open seat once on board.
‘Did anybody from Southwest Airlines actually test this new boarding process? My god what a disaster,’ one customer wrote on X.
Another added: ‘Today is the last day of open seating on @SouthwestAir. Losing that, and 2 free checked bags, makes SW no longer my first choice as there’s no clear advantage between their airlines and others.’
A third warned the airline was giving up what made it special: ‘Most loyal customers did not care about assigned seating. We knew how to get great seats! Business 101, don’t give up what differentiates you from the competition.'
Customers board Flight 3575 from San Juan to Orlando as Southwest rolls out assigned seating for the first time across its network
A Southwest jet receives a water-cannon salute on arrival in Orlando as the airline marks the launch of assigned seating, ending its long-running open seating policy
Southwest CEO Bob Jordan
The move, first announced last summer, means Southwest now operates a policy that closely mirrors other major US airlines, including Delta, American and United.
Passengers paying more for extra-legroom or preferred seats will board first, while those on basic fares will be pushed toward the back of the line. Flyers are spread across eight-groups.
The change replaces Southwest’s old system where passengers were given a boarding group - A, B or C - and a number based on when they checked in.
Passengers lined up at the gate next to numbered poles, then boarded in order - choosing any open seat once on the plane.
Group A - 1–60 - boarded first and almost always got window or aisle seats. Checking in exactly 24 hours before departure or paying extra for early boarding was key to landing a good spot.
Southwest says the overhaul is driven by ‘customer demand’ and part of an ‘elevated travel experience’ that includes premium seating options.
Executives celebrated the transition with gate events across multiple time zones.
The shake-up is one of the biggest in Southwest’s history and comes as investors push the carrier to boost profits after years of lagging performance.
Southwest Airlines celebrates Flight 4974 from Manchester, New Hampshire, to Chicago Midway — one of the carrier’s first flights operating under its new assigned seating system
A passenger looks through a heart-shaped cutout in a giant novelty boarding pass as Southwest launches its new assigned seating system amid backlash from loyal flyers
Southwest flight attendants pose with boarding stanchions at the gate in Honolulu ahead of the airline’s final open seating flight, marking the end of a 54-year tradition
A passenger weighs a checked bag at a Southwest Airlines counter. The carrier scrapped its long-standing ‘bags fly free’ perk and introduced baggage fees last year
Southwest had previously allowed open seating - meaning passengers can sit wherever they want. But it could create a scramble to get on board
Southwest, which once boasted a record 47 consecutive years of profit prior to the pandemic, has been struggling to regain sustained profitability.
That drew the attention of activist investors at Elliott Investment, who pushed it to cut costs and roll out changes, such as those to seating, that it said would boost profits.
Southwest also axed its two free bags perk last year, with customers now paying $35 for the first bag and $45 for the second one.
A report out in 2023 showed how airlines including Delta, United and American pocketed a staggering $33.3 billion from just baggage fees last year - a sharp 15 percent rise from $29 billion in 2022.
In addition, in September last year, Southwest said it is cutting almost a third of its flights to and from Atlanta in a cost-cutting bid.
And in February last year, bosses said they were cutting 15 percent of its corporate staff, the first layoffs since it was founded in Texas in 1971.
