It’s the end of an era at Southwest Airlines as the company has announced it is changing its seating process for the first time in more than 50 years.
In an announcement Thursday, the company, founded in 1967, told customers it would be shifting to assigned seating for the first time in its history. The airline has traditionally been characterized by its unique policy of no passenger-assigned seating.
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“After listening carefully to customers and conducting extensive research, Southwest decided it will assign seats and offer premium seating options on all flights,” the airline said. “The airline has been known for its unique open seating model for more than 50 years, but preferences have evolved with more Customers taking longer flights where a seat assignment is preferred.”
Southwest said that, based on testing, an estimated 80% of customers prefer assigned seating, while 86% of potential customers want the same.
The airline said it hopes to attract more customers by adopting the new model but did not specify when the changes would be implemented, only revealing that more details would be announced in September.
“Moving to assigned seating and offering premium legroom options will be a transformational change that cuts across almost all aspects of the company,” Bob Jordan, president, CEO, and vice chairman of the Board at Southwest said in a company statement. “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 decision comes after speculation in April when Jordan hinted at potential changes coming to the airline’s boarding process following a rough Q1 2024 earnings report.
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“We’re looking into new initiatives, things like the way we seat and board our aircraft,” Jordan told the outlet at the time. “Customer preferences do change over time.”
Southwest Airlines was up nearly 6.4% in a 24-hour period upon the news of the new boarding process Thursday morning.
