Southwest Airlines announces major overhaul ahead of assigned seating rollout

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Southwest Airlines announces major overhaul ahead of assigned seating rollout

Research

Tarah Chieffi Senior writer | The Points Guy

By Sky Industry News

Oct 5, 2024

Southwest Airlines is preparing to implement significant changes that will be noticed by passengers well before the airline transitions to assigned seating. The Dallas-based carrier announced a comprehensive overhaul, including plans to move away from its long-standing open seating policy. This transition will introduce assigned and extra-legroom seats, with sales expected to begin in late 2025 for flights in early 2026.

Passengers can expect to see some of these changes earlier, as extra-legroom seats are set to appear on certain flights next year. Southwest aims to retrofit its fleet of approximately 800 jets, starting with Boeing 737-800 and 737 MAX 8 models before moving on to the smaller 737-700s.

Ryan Green, executive vice president of commercial transformation at Southwest Airlines, informed investors about the progress: "We expect the engineering work to be complete and certification in hand so that we can begin our retrofit on our larger aircraft in the first quarter of 2025."

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The retrofitting process is projected at a rate of 50 to 100 jets per month, slowing during summer months due to peak travel demands. Once reconfigured, planes will return promptly to service rather than remaining grounded until the full launch of assigned seating.

In addition, Southwest plans changes for current add-on boarding products such as EarlyBird and Upgraded Boarding. These products help passengers secure an earlier spot in line under the current system. Green explained a forthcoming change: "We're going to be dynamically pricing these ancillaries as well. That's not something we do today with EarlyBird or Upgraded Boarding."

Dynamic pricing allows for fluctuation based on various factors like supply and demand—a model increasingly common across airlines. The new pricing structure could influence costs associated with Southwest's current services prior to the transition.

Southwest already employs a flexible pricing model for EarlyBird and Upgraded Boarding services; fees were increased earlier this year amidst industry-wide hikes in ancillary fees.

As Southwest moves towards implementing these substantial updates over the coming year, passengers will experience several modifications affecting their travel experience.