Southwest Airlines has just announced a huge change to its seating policy.
On Thursday, the Dallas-based airline announced that its open seat policy will end and be replaced by premium seating and redeye flight options. Southwest says the changes are part of its ongoing “strategic transformation” to improve customer experience.
According to the airline, research showed that 80% of its current customers and 86% of potential customers prefer assigned seating instead of having the option to freely select a seat after boarding the plane. As a result, Southwest decided to add premium, extended legroom sections on their planes, with one-third of the seats offering this option.
“Moving to assigned seating and offering premium legroom options will be a transformational change that cuts across almost all aspects of the company,” President and CEO of Southwest, Bob Jordan, said. “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.”
Additionally, Southwest will begin selling redeye tickets this week. The first overnight flight will land on Valentine’s Day 2025, connecting five initial nonstop markets: Las Vegas to Baltimore and Orlando, Los Angeles to Baltimore and Nashville, and Phoenix to Baltimore. Nonetheless, the airline mentioned plans to expand the redeye flights to other cities in the future.
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