Southwest Airlines plans to end more than 50 years of tradition and start assigning seats and selling premium seating for customers who want more legroom. And, it’s adding overnight redeye flights, the first of which will come to Orlando.

The airline said Thursday that it has been studying seating options and is making the changes because passenger preferences have shifted. The moves could also generate revenue and boost financial performance.

“The research is clear and indicates that 80% of Southwest Customers, and 86% of potential Customers, prefer an assigned seat,” Southwest said in a press release. “When a customer elects to stop flying with Southwest and chooses a competitor, open seating is cited as the number one reason for the change. By moving to an assigned seating model, Southwest expects to broaden its appeal and attract more flying from its current and future customers.”

In addition to assigning seats, Southwest will offer a premium, extended legroom portion of the cabin that research shows many Customers strongly prefer. While specific cabin layout details are still in design, Southwest expects roughly one-third of seats across the fleet to offer extended legroom, in line with that offered by industry peers on narrowbody aircraft.

Southwest made the announcement 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% from a year earlier, to $367 million, as higher costs for labor, fuel and other expenses outstripped an increase in revenue. The results met Wall Street expectations.

American Airlines also reported a 46% drop in profit, to $717 million, and said it would break even in the third quarter — well below Wall Street expectations for the July-through-September period.

Southwest has used an open-seating model since its founding, with passengers lining up to board, then choosing their own seat once they are on the airplane. But, the airline said, preferences have “evolved” — as more travelers take longer flights, they want an assigned seat.

Southwest also announced it is adding 24-hour operation capabilities with the introduction of overnight, redeye flights for the first time.

Southwest said that its first overnight, redeye flights will land on Feb. 14, 2025 in nonstop markets that include Las Vegas to Orlando and Baltimore; Los Angeles to Baltimore and Nashville; and Phoenix to Baltimore.

“Southwest plans to phase in additional redeye flying in the carrier’s coming schedules as part of its multi-year transformation to a 24-hour operation,,” the airline said. “Redeye flying, coupled with continued reductions in turn-time through new technologies and procedures, is expected to provide incremental revenue and cost savings, enabling Southwest to fund nearly all new capacity over the next three years without incremental aircraft capital deployment.”

The Las Vegas-to-Orlando nonstop redeye flight was listed with a 10:50 p.m. departure and a 6:05 a.m. arrival in Orlando on Southwest’s website. Seat prices ranged from $254 to $375 as of Thursday morning.

The change in seating policy comes 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 CEO Robert Jordan and Chairman Gary Kelly.

Shares of all major airlines dipped before the opening bell Thursday. Southwest Airlines Co. fell 6% and American Airlines Group Inc. fell 7%. Delta, JetBlue and United slipped more than 1%.

The Associated Press contributed to this report

Originally Published:

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *