Southwest’s Historic Open Seating Policy Will End In January

Now we know.

The last remaining vestige of the old, odd and much-loved Southwest Airlines will disappear in just over six months.

The Dallas-based carrier – the nation’s fourth-largest carrir and for many years the king of the no frills, no bells-and-whistles low-cost segment of the industry – will end its distinctive, 58-year-old open seating policy in six months. Beginning Jan. 27, 2026 all passengers on Southwest flights will need something they’ve never needed before since the carrier first began operations with just four Boeing 737s in June 1967: an actual assigned seat.

Southwest’s historic, free-wheeling, loosey-goosey seating arrangement – along with cheap fares that once dipped as low as $19 one-way – helped win the hearts of day-tripping Texas business people, backpacking college students, giggly grandmas and grandpas visiting the kiddoes, and other price-sensitive in travelers back in the late ‘60s and early ’70s when the hand-to-mouth start was restricted to flying only within the Lone Star state. Then those same unorthodox operations helped win over a huge percentage of air travelers in parts of the country after the U.S. Supreme Court and, ultimately, Congress gradually allowed Southwest to venture across more and more state lines as it grew in the 1980s. Finally, those quirky factors helped Southwest develop fans and a loyal nationwide fan base in the ’90s and beyond, again in large because it was so different from – and so much less expensive than – conventional airlines.

A RESPONSE TO INVESTOR PRESSURE

But last summer Elliott Investment Management acquired more than a 10% stake in the Dallas-based Souithwest and began agitating for major operating changes aimed at driving big revenue increases. It argued that the carrier had outgrown its old start-up business plan and low operating cost business modela and, as a result, was leaving lots of money on the table by maintaining its open seating and no fees policies, and by refusing to charge extra for services for which the folks at Elliott believed customers would pay more. Under that pressure from the Florida-based hedge fund, which now owns nearly 20% of Southwest’s shares, the carrier already has abandoned most of its once-quirky operating practices that many long-time fans saw as attractive, even endearing product and service features.

Most notably, just two months ago Southwest dropped its long-standing policy of not charging fees for checking bags or for a number of other services. It now charges most passengers $35 to check one bag, and more for additional bags. It also began levying a number of fees that other carriers have been charging for years. Southwest’s leaders long believed that keeping those services free helped drive customer loyalty – and therefore an outsized share of travelers and revenues – to Southwest and away from more traditional airlines.

But since taking its influential stake in Southwest last year Elliott also has pushed long-serving CEO Gary Kelly into retirement along with a number of other long-tenured senior executives and several board directors. It also negotiated the right to effectively name a third of Southwest’s current board members. And Elliott sought to oust new CEO Bob Jordon until he and the carrier’s new board agreed earlier this year to begin implementing a number of the changes Elliot was demanding. That includes the changes announced on Monday that’ll end Southwest’s historic open seating approach.

On multiple occasions and in many different venues Jordan has depicted the changes being made to Southwest’s traditional operating and marketing practices as “necessary” steps in order to retore Southwest’s reputation as an industry profitability leader. Long viewed as the industry’s top financial performer on the basis of profit per passenger, in recent years Southwest has fallen behind its bigger, more conventional rivals like Delta, American and United, and even behind some smaller, so-called low-cost competitors in terms of profitability.

THE BOARDING PROCESS WILL CHANGE, TOO

Upon the switch to assigned seating next January Southwest also will begin boarding passengers by groups, with higher seating priority typically going to those travelers who buy higher-priced tickets. Historically the airline has boarded people on a “first come, first-seated” basis, although for the past 20 years passengers have been able to check-in online and claim a place in the boarding line up to 24 hours in advance of their departure. In many cases, passengers could pay an additional fee to skip ahead in the boarding line.

That was seen as a popular revenue driver aimed at business travelers who desire seats near the front, which would facilitate their quick exit from the plane upon reaching their destination. With the switch to assigned seating the option to go online up to 24 hours early and pay more to jump the line will still exist, though it’s not clear that travelers will see the need to pay more to board early when they can get effectively the same benefit when they buy a ticket for an assigned seat near the front of the plane.

MORE LEG ROOM FOR SOME

So far Southwest, which has a fleet of about 800 Boeing 737s (albeit, in three versions of varying capacities) is about 25% of the way through a fleetwide makeover that will add five inches of leg room (from 32 inches between seats to 37 inches) to “Premium” seats near the front of its planes. The middle of Southwest’s passenger sections will include “Preferred” seats that feature a bit more legroom and the ability of passengers to pick their seats upon booking their flights. Back sections of Southwest’s planes will see leg room reduced by one inch, to just 31 inches. Most passengers who buy the carrier’s cheapest seats will be assigned – without choice – to sit in those seats in the back.

Tickets for all Southwest flights on and after Jan. 27 – flights that will require seat assignments – will be available for sale beginning July 29.