Southwest Airlines breaks no assigned seat tradition
Dallas-based Southwest Airlines has long been known for its open seating model but has recently announced it will be breaking this 50-year tradition.
Extensive research conducted by Southwest resulted in the decision to make the change with 80 percent of their customer saying they would prefer assigned seats. Among potential customers it was discovered that 86 percent of that group favored having an assigned seat. Moreover, customers choosing another airline cited the lack of assigned seating at Southwest as the reason.
A wide range of businesses turn to printing service to supply them with safety instructions.
The decision to change how they do seating will be just part of the air carrier’s ongoing modernization efforts, which will include reworking the boarding model, making available premium seating options, and introducing redeye flights. Other changes underway are décor changes including new more comfortable Recaro seats.
Other improvements will be designating a portion of the cabin for extended legroom premium seating. While still in the design stage the company expects that about one-third of the fleet’s seats will offer extended legroom, which would be in line with other narrowbody aircraft carriers.
These changes come on the heels of improvements that Southwest has made over the last two years, such as larger overhead bins, in-seat power and faster WiFi.
The change to assigned seating will, according to a spokesperson, begin sometime in 2025.
Extensive research conducted by Southwest resulted in the decision to make the change with 80 percent of their customer saying they would prefer assigned seats. Among potential customers it was discovered that 86 percent of that group favored having an assigned seat. Moreover, customers choosing another airline cited the lack of assigned seating at Southwest as the reason.
A wide range of businesses turn to printing service to supply them with safety instructions.
The decision to change how they do seating will be just part of the air carrier’s ongoing modernization efforts, which will include reworking the boarding model, making available premium seating options, and introducing redeye flights. Other changes underway are décor changes including new more comfortable Recaro seats.
Other improvements will be designating a portion of the cabin for extended legroom premium seating. While still in the design stage the company expects that about one-third of the fleet’s seats will offer extended legroom, which would be in line with other narrowbody aircraft carriers.
These changes come on the heels of improvements that Southwest has made over the last two years, such as larger overhead bins, in-seat power and faster WiFi.
The change to assigned seating will, according to a spokesperson, begin sometime in 2025.