Southwest Abandons Open Seating: What You Need to Know

Southwest Airlines is ditching its opening seating policy for the first time in its more than 50-year history and will assign seats to travelers, including paid premium seats with extra legroom.

Southwest says it’s making the changes to “improve financial performance and drive shareholder value.” Premium seats could certainly be a money spinner for the budget airline, which has been under pressure to generate more revenue after activist investor Elliott Investment Management took a $1.9 billion stake in the company earlier this summer.

Photo: Houston Hobby. Courtesy of Stephen M. Keller, Southwest Airlines

Elliott, known for pushing dramatic and sometimes reluctant changes at the companies in which it invests, has called for the ouster of Southwest CEO Bob Jordan and Chairman Gary Kelly.

Southwest’s announcement of the seating changes seems to have been rushed out to undermine the attempted coup and is thin on detail. Southwest hasn’t disclosed how much premium seats will cost, revised plane seating maps, and any additional perks that will come with premium tickets.

Southwest did say that around one-third of its seats will be premium with “extended legroom,” a ratio comparable to that of industry peers. The airline has also recently adopted a slim-line seat, allowing it to allot more legroom to some seats while still flying with the same number of seats and rows.

The airline will also scrap its long-standing festival seating policy and assign travelers specific seats.

Currently, Southwest tickets guarantee passengers only a seat on the plane—whichever seat they want, provided they can nab it in time. Passengers are assigned boarding positions, indicated by a lettered group and number (for example, A7 or B16), and enter the plane in that order and select their seats.

Photo: Courtesy of Southwest Airlines

While some passengers like this seating free-for-all, it’s a headache for others, especially those traveling in family groups. Southwest currently allows parents with children under six to board after group A and before group B. However, depending on the seat selections and the number of families, parents and children could still end up separated. There’s also no provision for children older than six.

The Biden administration, which has taken a tough line on airline “junk fees,” has encouraged airlines to guarantee families seats together. In 2022, the Department of Transportation’s Office of Aviation Consumer Protection (OACP) issued a notice “urging U.S. airlines to do everything in their power to ensure that children who are age 13 or younger are seated next to an accompanying adult with no additional charge.”

In addition to Southwest, budget competitors Spirit Airlines and Frontier Airlines charge customers to select seats. Even legacy carriers American, Delta, and United charge passengers their stripped-back basic economy fees to lock in seats.

Photo: Courtesy of Southwest Airlines

Following the intervention by the DOT, Southwest trialed priority family boarding at four gates at Atlanta Hartsfield–Jackson International Airport (ATL) in December 2022 but didn’t roll out the policy more widely.

Now it’s axing open seating entirely, a widely popular change, the airline said.

Southwest undertook “extensive research” and found that 80% of its customers and 86% of potential customers prefer assigned seats. Additionally, when customers ditch Southwest for a competitor, the airline found that open seating is the number one reason they cite.

Additionally, more travelers are taking longer flights, where seat assignment is even more strongly preferred. The research also found that customers like the option of paying for a premium seat.

“Moving to assigned seating and offering premium legroom options will be a transformational change that cuts across almost all aspects of the Company,” 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 airline has already moved to deliver the improved experience passengers expect on planes and is upgrading its in-flight Wi-Fi and installing in-seat power and larger overhead bins across its fleet.

Photo: Courtesy of Denver International Airport.

In another move to generate more revenue, Southwest will also become a 24-hour airline with the launch of red-eye flights.

Tickets are already on sale for overnight flights in an initial five markets—Las Vegas (LAS) to Baltimore (BWI) and Orlando (MCO), Los Angeles (LAX) to Baltimore and Nashville (BNA), and Phoenix (PHX) to Baltimore—with the first flights landing on Valentines’ Day 2025. Additional red-eye flights will follow, the airline said.