Don Gilbertson

Southwest has had open seating since the airline started flying in 1971.

And one of the early slogans for this open seating was, it's just like church, sit anywhere you want.

I mean, the two things the airline has been known for,

are open seating and free bags.

And both of those have gone by the wayside, you know, in the past year and a half.

And a lot of that was driven by this activist investor, Elliott Management, who thought Southwest just wasn't doing enough.

You know, other airlines are bringing in billions from seat fees and bag fees and attracting premium travelers.

And Southwest, you know, they thought was just really leaving money on the table.

Southwest just won Best Airline in our survey for 2025.

And Southwest Chief Operating Officer Andrew Watterson tells me pretty confidently that the switch to assigned seating rather than hurt them will actually help them.

loyalists, a lot of them love open seating.

But one group that is almost unequivocally happy with the switch to assigned seats is Southwest Flight Attendants, because they for years have had to referee seat disputes.

They've had to

school people on open seating.

You know, flight attendants right now spend a lot of time trying to help passengers find, you know, the last few remaining seats.

And they call them spinners because they're walking up and down the aisle looking for a seat.

Well, that problem goes away with assigned seating.

So Southwest really thinks this is going to help their on-time performance.