Southwest Airlines to Phase Out Open Seating Policy, Reports One America News Network
OAN Staff James Meyers
10:08 AM – Thursday, July 25, 2024
Southwest Airlines is officially getting rid of open seating for the first time in the airline’s history.
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The Texas-based carrier made the announcement on Thursday after having a unique open seating model for over 50 years.
The new policy will allow the airline to assign seats and offer premium seating options on all flights.
The airline made the decision after discovering in their research that 80% of its customers and nearly 90% of potential customers prefer having an assigned seat.
Southwest claimed that customers were calling for these changes.
“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,” Southwest said in its Thursday release. “By moving to an assigned seating model, Southwest expects to broaden its appeal and attract more flying from its current and future customers.”
The airline was known for having a single economy-class cabin with open seating assignments. Currently, passengers are assigned a boarding group but once they are onboard, they can choose any available seat. Passengers can pay extra to board early to get their preferred seat.
Additionally, the airline will also start offering overnight “red-eye” flights for the first time, which it said will improve the efficiency by increasing the use of its aircraft.
The announcement comes after Southwest Airlines CEO Bob Jordan stated in April that the carrier was contemplating changing the boarding and seating processes on its planes in order to improve its financial position.
Southwest reported second-quarter earnings on Thursday that showed profit dropped 46%.
The comments come after Jordan warned that the airline is dealing with financial fallout from Boeing delays and announced it’s pulling out of several underperforming airports.
The airline said it would discuss these major changes during its investor day in September.
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