Soon, your seat on a Southwest Airlines flight won’t depend on your boarding group.
Southwest revealed major changes to its boarding policy and flight schedule on Thursday, July 25, including phasing out its longstanding open seating policy in favor of assigned and premium seating.
Southwest also plans to introduce redeye flights. One of its first redeye flights will be from Phoenix.
The move comes as Southwest, which operates the second-largest flight capacity at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, is working to improve its profitability and the flying experience. In April, Southwest CEO Bob Jordan told investors in an earnings call that his staff was looking into whether ending open seating would satisfy customers’ preferences.
Here’s what to know about the end of open seating on Southwest Airlines and what other changes may be coming.
Is Southwest Airlines doing away with open seating?
Yes. Southwest will begin assigned seating on all flights in 2025.
In addition, Southwest will create a premium cabin section with extended-legroom seats. This premium section will encompass about one-third of the available seats.
The changes won’t occur right away because the new cabin layouts require approval from the Federal Aviation Administration, according to Southwest’s announcement.
Southwest will reveal more details about how assigned and premium seats will work and what the cabin layouts will look like during the airline’s Investor Day in late September.
When reached for comment by The Arizona Republic, Southwest did not say what the premium-seat legroom will be and whether standard legroom would change from the 32-inch average seat pitch in the current cabins.
Why is Southwest ending open seating?
It has to do with both customer preference and the airline’s profitability.
Southwest said it conducted extensive research on passengers’ seating preferences and found that 80% of its customers and 86% of potential customers prefer seat assignments. Customers cited the airline’s open seating policy as the No. 1 reason why they chose to fly with a competing airline.
“We have been building purposefully to this change as part of a comprehensive upgrade to the Southwest experience as we focus on customer expectations – and it will unlock new sources of revenue consistent with our laser focus on delivering improved financial performance,” Jordan said in the airline’s announcement.
Southwest is working to improve its financial position. The airline reported a net loss of $231 million in the first three months of 2024.
The airline brought in $7.4 billion in operating revenues from April to June 2024, but the $367 million it took in in profits was more than 46% less than its profit during the same period in 2023, according to its second-quarter 2024 financial report.
Airline staff also expect its non-fuel operating costs, which include employees’ salaries and aircraft maintenance, will increase around 11% to 13% in the next three months.
What is open seating on Southwest Airlines?
On a flight with open seating, passengers don’t have assigned seats.
Where they sit largely depends on their place in the boarding queue: Those boarding in Group A get the best choice of seats. After Group B, those who board in Group C usually are limited to middle seats and little to no overhead space for carry-ons.
Southwest’s open seating policy was introduced with the airline’s founding in 1971. Back then, the seating was first come, first served. The boarding groups began after a 2006 experiment with assigned seating revealed customers’ frustrations with the first come, first served approach.
Does Southwest do redeyes?
Besides ending open seating, Southwest announced Thursday that it would begin offering redeye flights that leave at night and arrive the next morning.
Southwest’s first redeyes include a nonstop Phoenix-Baltimore flight, which will begin flying on Feb. 13, 2025. The flight leaves Sky Harbor at 11:05 p.m. Arizona time and arrives in Baltimore at 5:10 p.m. Eastern time. We found fares from $236 one way, comparable to or slightly cheaper than other Southwest fares between the two cities.
Southwest will introduce four other redeye routes in February 2025 — Las Vegas-Baltimore, Las Vegas-Orlando, Los Angeles-Baltimore and Los Angeles-Nashville — with more possible in the future.
Will Southwest change its Bags Fly Free policy?
Some travel industry analysts, such as Steve and Paul Glenn of the Nebraska-based travel management company Executive Travel, speculate that Southwest will eventually change its checked bag policy.
Right now, the airline allows each passenger to check their first two bags for free — a sharp contrast from competitors such as American Airlines, which recently changed its baggage policy to charge $40 for the first checked bag.
The Glenns forecasted in a June podcast that Southwest would reduce that to one free checked bag if its profitability doesn’t improve.
When asked by The Republic if Southwest would change its baggage policy, a Southwest spokesperson said, “No additional changes forthcoming at this time.”
Michael Salerno is an award-winning journalist who’s covered travel and tourism since 2014. His work as The Arizona Republic’s consumer travel reporter aims to help readers navigate the stresses of traveling and get the best value for their money on their vacations. He can be reached at Michael.Salerno@gannett.com. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter: @salerno_phx.
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