The American low-cost airline Southwest doesn’t really have much in common with other low-cost carriers. On the contrary: While United, Lufthansa, and others have almost reached Ryanair’s level, Southwest still offers 2x 22 kg of free luggage on all flights. As such, the airline is more or less a well-kept secret for air travel within the USA.
Until now, there was another unique feature. It wasn’t appreciated by every passenger, but it made traveling with Southwest something quite special: there were no assigned seats. Instead, everyone received a boarding number, which determined their place in line at the gate. Those who boarded first could secure the best seats. Moreover, this boarding process was particularly efficient.
That’s coming to an end soon, as Southwest announced today. In the future, the airline will offer fixed seat reservations like all the others. The details of how this will be implemented and when the change will take effect are still unknown. Around a third of the seats will offer extra legroom, likely at the expense of seat pitch in the back rows. It’s also unclear whether seat selection will cost extra in the cheapest fare class.
This change is a significant shift for Southwest. The company’s CEO was quoted as saying:
Moving to assigned seating and offering premium legroom options will be a transformational change that cuts across almost all aspects of the Company
The opportunity to earn additional revenue from seat reservations likely played a key role in this decision. It will be interesting to see how long the two free checked bags will remain available.
First Red-Eye Flights Planned
There will also be another new feature at Southwest. Until now, the airline has operated without Red-Eye flights, i.e., overnight flights. Some flights landed after midnight, but that doesn’t quite meet the definition.
This is also changing now. In February 2025, Southwest will offer overnight flights for the first time, including routes like Los Angeles to Baltimore. Subsequently, this type of connection is expected to expand significantly. For instance, overnight flights from Hawaii are common with other airlines.
Conclusion
Personally, I always preferred Open Seating to what other airlines have devised to inconvenience customers. With United, Ryanair, Eurowings, and even Lufthansa (within Europe), there’s no longer an option to choose a seat without an additional fee; they are simply assigned. Most importantly, as a European, flying with Southwest has always been a unique experience.
Southwest’s research suggests that most customers prefer pre-selected seats. There are certainly reasons for this, e.g. that one can conveniently board at the final call and still get the pre-selected exit row seat.
Translated by Ditmar
Cover Picture: Photo by Forsaken Films on Unsplash