Southwest Airlines has long been an outlier when it comes to seat assignments and aircraft boarding. Part of the joy of flying with the airline that put “UV” in “LUV” is being able to self-manage arranging a boarding order, along with 25 other cattle passengers, then making a mad-dash for the exit row seats once you get on board.
While their competitors have added a plethora of different boarding groups, various levels of paid seating and even (*gasp*) premium cabins, Southwest has remained resolute in its one-class-fits-all policy.
All that’s coming to an end, however, as Southwest has announced that it will begin assigning seats in advance and installing additional legroom seats that it will (presumably) charge for as “premium seating.” In addition, the airline will end its longstanding “no redeye policy,” and has begun selling overnight flights starting in early-2025.
Changes at Southwest
The following changes are coming to Southwest Airlines:
- No more open-seating. All passengers will have seats assigned before boarding.
- The airline will begin installing additional legroom seats that will be sold at a premium. It expects 1/3 of its total seat capacity to be premium.
- The airline will begin offering overnight flights in early-2025. Some routes already have redeye flights on sale.
Quick Thoughts
Southwest has flown with the open-seating model for ~50 years and, to my knowledge, it’s never darkened the night skies with a red-eye flight. All that’s going to change, however. The airline lost $231 million in Q1 2024 and the pressure has been steadily increasing for the one-time toast of Wall Street to make significant changes for more revenue…and here we are.
Southwest states that 80% of the customers it surveyed expressed a preference for assigned seats (I would be among them), but I’ve seen quite a bit of chagrin among long-term Southwest loyalists, who were accustomed to being able to get desirable seats with an A group boarding pass.
We don’t know much about when these changes will take affect, only that Southwest plans to provide more details at its investor day in September. We do know that it intends to make approximately 1/3 of each plane into “premium seating,” which would presumably command higher prices.
I have a few questions about how these changes will play out:
- Is basic economy on the way? Southwest has long maintained that it will never offer the stripped-down basic economy fares that other airlines offer. But now that open-seating is on the way out, will we see more fare diversification?
- Will elite status have complimentary premium seating? My assumption is yes, and this may wipe some of the tears from the eyes of disgruntled A-listers
- What impact will assigned/premium seating have on the Companion Pass? Currently, if there’s an open seat, you can claim that seat for a companion. I would think that this will have to change in some way, as someone with a pass and a paid ticket mostly likely won’t be able to add their companion to an open premium seat…and with 1/3 of total seats being premium, that means that there’s going to be 33% less companion space.
I’ll be interested to see where this new direction takes Southwest. It needs to generate more revenue and things like premium seats and redeye flights seem like a completely reasonable way to do that. However, the airline has developed a brand by not doing things quite like other airlines for decades, and these changes will certainly make it look a lot more like them.
I’d love to hear what die-hard Southwest Luvers think. Let us know in the comments.
The post Southwest Airlines: Assigned seating, premium class and red-eye flights are on the way appeared first on Frequent Miler. Frequent Miler may receive compensation from CHASE. American Express, Capital One, or other partners.