Southwest Airlines to resume assigning seats, ending 50-year tradition

Southwest Airlines said on Thursday that it plans to drop the open-boarding system it has used for more than 50 years and will start assigning passengers to seats, just like all the other big airlines.

The airline said it has been studying seating options, running tests and surveying customers. Southwest discovered that preferences have changed over the years, and the vast majority of travellers now want to know where they are sitting before they get to the airport.

Southwest’s unusual boarding process started as a fast way to load passengers and limit the time that planes and crews spend sitting idly on the ground, not making money. It helped the airline operate more efficiently and even squeeze a few more flights into the daily schedule.

It was one reason that Southwest alone among airlines in the United States remained profitable every year until the coronavirus pandemic.

Here’s how it works: Instead of being assigned a seat when they buy a ticket, Southwest customers check in exactly 24 hours before departure to secure their spots in boarding lines. In the beginning, the first 30 to check in were put in the coveted ‘A’ boarding group, guaranteeing them a window or aisle seat. Dawdlers landed in ‘B’, which was still okay, or ‘C’, which would often result in a middle seat.

The system became less democratic over time as Southwest let people pay extra to guarantee a spot near the front of the line. Despite that, many Southwest loyalists still love open seating. The airline thinks they will adapt.

“I know there are going to be customers who say, ‘I want to stay with open seating.’ It’s a minority,” Southwest CEO Robert Jordan told CNBC, “but we had the same thing when we switched from plastic boarding passes. We had the same thing when we took peanuts out of the cabin. I’m convinced we can win them over.”

The airline said surveys showed that 80% of its customers – and 86 per cent of “potential” customers – want an assigned seat. Jordan said open seating was the top reason that travellers cited for choosing another airline over Southwest.

In addition to the seating switch, Southwest also plans to sell premium seating with more legroom – matching a practice that is standard among other large US carriers – and to offer red-eye flights for the first time.

Southwest said red-eyes will start flying in mid-February on non-stop routes, including Las Vegas to Baltimore and Orlando; Los Angeles to Baltimore and Nashville; and Phoenix to Baltimore, with more routes added over time.

The changes come as Southwest is under pressure from Elliott Investment Management. The hedge fund argues that the airline lags rivals in financial performance and has failed to change with the times. It wants to replace Jordan and Chairman Gary Kelly.

Southwest also faces increased scrutiny from the Federal Aviation Administration after a series of worrisome flights, including one that dove within 400 feet of the ocean off Hawaii, two that flew at extremely low altitudes while still miles from landing at airports in Oklahoma and Florida, and another that was discovered to have rudder-area damage after an unusual ‘Dutch roll’ during a flight.

Southwest announced the seating move and other changes on the same day that both it and American Airlines reported a steep drop in second-quarter profit despite higher revenue.

Airlines are struggling with higher costs and reduced pricing power, especially on flights within the United States, as the industry adds flights faster than the growth in travel demand.

Southwest, based in Dallas, said its second-quarter profit fell 46 per cent from a year earlier, to US$367 million, as higher costs for labour, fuel and other expenses outstripped an increase in revenue. The results met Wall Street expectations.

American Airlines also reported a 46 per cent drop in profit, to US$717 million, and said it would break even in the third quarter – well below Wall Street expectations of 48 cents per share profit in the July-through-September period.

AP