Southwest moving to assigned seats

[dioxide45]

I rarely fly anyone other than Southwest- but last night on our Air France flight out of DTW they did indeed board all of the families with young children (not just lap children) just after the pre-boards before zone 1.

Interesting. I wasn't aware of that.

 

[Luanne]

But doesn't Southwest family boarding include older children? Six and under? It seems that perhaps this is meant more for lap children, though they may not always need to be lap.

Yes SW family boarding is 6 and under. I was posting the United family board policy since you weren't aware that other airlines did family boarding.

Jet Blue is the only other airline we use and they also have family boarding after preboards for families with children 2 and under.

 

[Brett]

Meanwhile the "miracle" healing flights continue on Southwest Airlines

https://viewfromthewing.com/only-in...ines-flight-28-walk-off-freely-after-landing/

"On one Southwest Airlines Tampa flight, 30 passengers boarded early and got better seats for free because they said they needed wheelchair assistance. Then they walked off the plane and all the way out the terminal themselves on arrival. They didn’t all need a wheelchair"

 

[easyrider]

Whatever. We flew SW for the 1st time in a long long time last winter. Got to the gate and had completely forgotten there were no assigned seats. I did have this pinging in my head saying "Something seems to be missing." Saw the stantions with the #s on them and wondered "what are those?" When people started lining up I figured it out, maybe 6th from last in the whole plane who did. End of story: it worked fine. No problems on our flight. I'm perfectly willing to complain about airlines, but that worked fine.

My only flight on SW was a long time ago and kind of odd. It wasn't a full flight and I boarded in the middle of all of the passengers and took a window seat. No complaints on that solo trip but if I had my wife with me I would want to have her sitting next to me so assigned seating works for us.

Bill

 

[Luanne]

My only flight on SW was a long time ago and kind of odd. It wasn't a full flight and I boarded in the middle of all of the passengers and took a window seat. No complaints on that solo trip but if I had my wife with me I would want to have her sitting next to me so assigned seating works for us.

Bill

We fly SW at least once a year. We have always gotten seats together. I am going to wait and see what happens when SW starts with assigned seats.

 

[davidvel]

Meanwhile the "miracle" healing flights continue on Southwest Airlines

View attachment 103955
https://viewfromthewing.com/only-in...ines-flight-28-walk-off-freely-after-landing/

"On one Southwest Airlines Tampa flight, 30 passengers boarded early and got better seats for free because they said they needed wheelchair assistance. Then they walked off the plane and all the way out the terminal themselves on arrival. They didn’t all need a wheelchair"

Make them sit behind the exit row. Problem solved.

 

[mountainboy]

Meanwhile the "miracle" healing flights continue on Southwest Airlines

View attachment 103955
https://viewfromthewing.com/only-in...ines-flight-28-walk-off-freely-after-landing/

"On one Southwest Airlines Tampa flight, 30 passengers boarded early and got better seats for free because they said they needed wheelchair assistance. Then they walked off the plane and all the way out the terminal themselves on arrival. They didn’t all need a wheelchair"

This!
WN flights are always a mess; so many 'wheelchairs'.
I hate flying them for that reason.
Also, because of free bags, everyone carries too much baggage, taking longer to board.
If I can help it, always Delta (they all have issues, I realize); I always travel light.
WN used to be very cheap (& sometimes, still can be, on their specials) but their regular prices are often much higher.
I even flew Frontier last year & despite the numerous horror stories, did ok, esp considering their dirt cheap prices. Same flight would be 5 times the price at WN as compared to F9... (realize the shoddy performance, delays, cancels, bag fees etc at F9, so certainly not for the faint of heart)..

 

[dioxide45]

Also, because of free bags, everyone carries too much baggage, taking longer to board.

I find the opposite to be true. Since they offer free checked bags, you see fewer carry-ons. I notice that other legacy airlines are begging for gate checking bags far more than Southwest.

Also, if this were FlyerTalk, I would understand using the airline codes but this isn't a forum dedicated to airlines. So, many people may not understand things like WN and F9.

 

[mountainboy]

I find the opposite to be true. Since they offer free checked bags, you see fewer carry-ons. I notice that other legacy airlines are begging for gate checking bags far more than Southwest.

Also, if this were FlyerTalk, I would understand using the airline codes but this isn't a forum dedicated to airlines. So, many people may not understand things like WN and F9.

Sorry; all of you folks are experts at travel, presumed folks used these all the time & hence used these
WN= Southwest Airlines
F9= Frontier Airlines

 

[rickandcindy23]

We haven't flown United much, but we are considering it if Southwest raises the price for assigned seats. I actually think it's a big mistake for them to raise the price, but they probably will. We have needed a reason to get the United credit card. This might be just the incentive we need to follow through with it. United has a big presence in Denver. SW has almost all of C concourse. It's downright impressive. That could change with price hikes. I see a future of more travelers going to other airlines.

 

[Brett]

https://www.wsj.com/lifestyle/travel/the-best-and-worst-airlines-of-2025-e69b41c7

 

[TolmiePeak]

View attachment 121110

https://www.wsj.com/lifestyle/travel/the-best-and-worst-airlines-of-2025-e69b41c7


View attachment 121111

Any measure of airline quality that has Allegiant as #2 and Spirit as #5 is suspect.

 

[WorldT]

Have never flown Allegiant. However, have recently flown SW, AA, UA, and Spirit and I can't tell the difference other than the free snack and water they give you. If you miss the snack, no worries, you didn't miss anything.
Spirit had newer planes and AA had better padding on their seats.

 

[1Kflyerguy]

Any measure of airline quality that has Allegiant as #2 and Spirit as #5 is suspect.

Agreed. According to the article, Allegiant mishandled the fewest bags and involuntarily bumped the fewest passengers.

 

[Brett]

Have never flown Allegiant. However, have recently flown SW, AA, UA, and Spirit and I can't tell the difference other than the free snack and water they give you. If you miss the snack, no worries, you didn't miss anything.
Spirit had newer planes and AA had better padding on their seats.

Probably not a lot of difference overall

"WSJ ranked nine major U.S. airlines on seven equally weighted operations metrics: on-time arrivals, flight cancellations, delays of 45 minutes or more, baggage handling, tarmac delays, involuntary bumping and what the Transportation Department calls passenger submissions (which are mostly complaints).


"Sources: Anuvu’s aviation data platform, Pulse (canceled flights, extreme delays, on-time); Transportation Department (tarmac delays, mishandled baggage, bumping)

 

[x3 skier]

In almost 5000000 miles of flying on various Airlines, both current and defunct, the strangest cancellation I ever experienced happened Tuesday.

GF and I were scheduled to fly AA from HDN (Steamboat Springs) - DFW. AA schedules a 737 Max out and back once a day from DFW. The flight was continuously delayed and finally canceled. Then eventually the 737 was flown EMPTY to HDN later in the day, overnighted and flown back to DFW EMPTY again canceling both the inbound leg and outbound leg for that day’s flights.

All the while this was going on, I get various message from AA stating anything from, your flight is delayed, canceled, flying tomorrow morning, to my connection is good even though it leaves DFW before we would get there.

The ground staff was also mystified since they were getting similar conflicting info from ops, FAA and who knows what sources.

The comment about the FUBAR on Cabin Crew may have been the underlying cause coupled with weather at DFW. But burning up 6 hours worth of Jet A with zero income is a pretty price to pay for overnight parking.

 

[pedro47]

Any words from today’s flight how Southwest assigned seating went today?

 

[TolmiePeak]

Any words from today’s flight how Southwest assigned seating went today?

Far better than American the last few days.

 

[dioxide45]

Any words from today’s flight how Southwest assigned seating went today?

Here is one first hand report from yesterday, which was the first day of new seating.

I Flew Southwest On Day One Of Assigned Seating — The Boarding Was A Mess And Bin Space Was Chaos - View from the Wing

I didn’t plan to be a guinea pig for Southwest’s first day of assigned seating, but after American’s storm cancellations and operational meltdown I rebooked—and got a front-row seat to the new boarding reality. Seats may now be assigned, but the gate process still forces early queuing while...

viewfromthewing.com

 

[Luanne]

My daughter had a SW gift card that she hadn't used yet. So we booked her a one way ticket from San Jose to Maui. I booked the most expensive option, so we'll see how it works out. She is flying home on Hawaiian/Alaska.

 

[1Kflyerguy]

And just like that, Elliot Management, the investor group that forced all the changes, has begun to sell their shares and exit from Southwest:

An Activist Investor Forced Southwest to Add Bag and Seat Fees—Now They're Cashing Out And Giving Up Control - View from the Wing

Southwest Airlines didn’t stumble into bag fees, basic economy, and paid seat assignments by accident—those changes were pushed by an activist investor demanding short‑term financial moves. Now that the damage is done and the stock has popped, that same investor is cashing out and giving up...

viewfromthewing.com

Not sure if that was the plan all along or if they decided to bail out while the getting was good.

 

[rickandcindy23]

And just like that, Elliot Management, the investor group that forced all the changes, has begun to sell their shares and exit from Southwest:

An Activist Investor Forced Southwest to Add Bag and Seat Fees—Now They're Cashing Out And Giving Up Control - View from the Wing

Southwest Airlines didn’t stumble into bag fees, basic economy, and paid seat assignments by accident—those changes were pushed by an activist investor demanding short‑term financial moves. Now that the damage is done and the stock has popped, that same investor is cashing out and giving up...

viewfromthewing.com

Not sure if that was the plan all along or if they decided to bail out while the getting was good.

The changes are not impressive. Bag fees unless you have a SW credit card for all flights, unless you pay for a seat upfront or in the emergency exit row, in which case you can check two bags.

I will use flight credits a few at a time and pay the rest with my SW credit card [for free bags] to get rid of money and points as soon as possible. I have a lot of flight credits. Flying to/ from Maui in May isn't going to put a dent in what we have in credits. Not being able to use more than two methods of payment (which has always been the case) is going to keep me flying SW for a good long time, unfortunately.

 

[Luanne]

Just when I was starting to love Southwest!

I cut my ties with Southwest. They have made too many changes, to routes and their policies to keep me as a customer.

My daughter flew from ABQ to SJC with a stop on Las Vegas. One of her bags didn't make it home with her. Instead of spending the bag from Las Vegas to San Jose they sent it to Chicago, then Phoenix and then San Jose. At least SW didn't refund the fee for that bag.

 

[davidvel]

And just like that, Elliot Management, the investor group that forced all the changes, has begun to sell their shares and exit from Southwest:

An Activist Investor Forced Southwest to Add Bag and Seat Fees—Now They're Cashing Out And Giving Up Control - View from the Wing

Southwest Airlines didn’t stumble into bag fees, basic economy, and paid seat assignments by accident—those changes were pushed by an activist investor demanding short‑term financial moves. Now that the damage is done and the stock has popped, that same investor is cashing out and giving up...

viewfromthewing.com

Not sure if that was the plan all along or if they decided to bail out while the getting was good.

I would think their plan all along was to make as much money as possible. I can't imagine them thinking anything different.

 

[1Kflyerguy]

I would think their plan all along was to make as much money as possible. I can't imagine them thinking anything different.

I agree that the plan was to make as much as possible. I never thought of Elliott to be a buy-and-hold kind of firm. I was just surprised they sold so fast. But I also had not noticed that the stock has more than doubled in the past year. So perhaps they decided they had made enough and better to get out before the changes have a chance to negatively impact earnings