Southwest Airlines Announces the End of Open Seating

Southwest Airlines is making a major change to its unique business model — no more open seating.

The Texas-based airline, which has been known for the open seating method for more than 50 years, announced it will “redesign the boarding model” in a statement Thursday. 

“After listening carefully to Customers and conducting extensive research, Southwest decided it will assign seats and offer premium seating options on all flights… preferences have evolved with more Customers taking longer flights where a seat assignment is preferred,” company officials said. 

Research conducted by the company found that 80 percent of Southwest customers and 86 percent of potential customers “prefer” an assigned seat. 

“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 statement added.

In addition to assigned seating, Southwest is gearing up to transform about one-third of the seats across the airline to premium extra legroom accommodations. 

“Moving to assigned seating and offering premium legroom options will be a transformational change that cuts across almost all aspects of the Company,” Southwest president and CEO Bob Jordan said. 

“Although our unique open seating model has been a part of Southwest Airlines since our inception, our thoughtful and extensive research makes it clear this is the right choice— at the right time—for our Customers, our People, and our Shareholders.”

The move is already garnering mixed reviews on social media, with some loyal customers reconsidering their allegiance. 

“As a loyal Southwest customer, I hate this,” wrote one traveler on X. “”[T]he whole reason I fly southwest is [because] it’s cheap & I can pick my seat!!! If you don’t like it, fly on a different airline.” 

Another customer said the policy change will corrupt the “social contract.” 

“Eff. This policy really made Southwest’s flights great. Never experienced any crazy passengers on Southwest because the seat-yourself model kept out non-critical thinkers, and there was an understood social contract,” he wrote on X. “Now it’s going to be all entitlement, egos, and insanity like every other airline.”

Others have said that the open seating model is “chaos” and anxiety-including:

The company also announced the addition of red-eye flights as they transition into a 24-hour carrier.