SWAFA

From a press release issued this morning (Like to press release is at the bottom of this post)

Assigned and Premium Seating

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 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. Additionally, Southwest conducted robust operational testing that included live and over 8 million simulation-based boarding trials. The airline is confident that these Customer enhancements will meet expectations and not compromise the airline's operational efficiency.

The research is clear and indicates that 80% of Southwest Customers, and 86% of potential Customers, prefer an assigned seat. 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.

The decision to update the seating and boarding model is part of Southwest's ongoing modernization efforts. During the past two years, Southwest has enhanced its onboard offerings with improvements such as faster WiFi, in-seat power, and larger overhead bins. Work is well underway on a refreshed cabin design, including new, more comfortable RECARO seats. The addition of assigned and premium seating will give Customers more choice and is expected to further enhance the all-in value Southwest Airlines is known for.

"Moving to assigned seating and offering premium legroom options will be a transformational change that cuts across almost all aspects of the Company," said Bob Jordan, President, CEO, & Vice Chairman of the Board. "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. We are excited to incorporate Customer and Employee feedback to design a unique experience that only Southwest can deliver. 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."



https://swamedia.com/releases/southw...al-performance

ZeroToHero

So crewing can now send you home on a redeye deadhead assigned in the back row!

tzskipper1

Goodbye to the best remaining domestic jumpseat process... Going to miss the preboard and early seat!

S

waterskisabersw

The 20% who don't prefer it are the ones that currently abuse the pre-board process.

tennisguru

This is going to put a bunch of wheelchair pushers out of a job…

rickair7777

Man I'm a believer in the miracle flight thing. Swear once I saw 15 people board in wheelchairs and they all walked off fully healed at the destination.

Cyio

The Jetway Jesus effect. It all the LUV we share lol.

Cyio

agreed. It will be interesting to see how they change these processes. They said it will still be done “southwests way” but that is a fairly broad stroke.

journeybird

Best fares are back of plane that board first, optimizing efficiency and transforming the turn.

golfandflows

as long as the back seaters are not throwing their carry on in the front bins as they walk down the aisle because lazy. then it would **** off the premium front passengers. needs to be enforced