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Southwest reveals when and how it will get rid of open seating

  • CNN
  • September 26, 2024
New York

CNN

 — 

Southwest Airlines' substantial changes to its business and boarding process are coming, but not for a while.

Open seating isn't going away for more than a year. The airline said on Thursday that its passengers will be able to book a reserved seat in late 2025 and those seats will start to become available on flights in early 2026.

Southwest announced in July it would move away from the open seating model it has been known for throughout its 53-year history. It also announced it would offer premium seating for the first time. It currently has the same class of seats throughout its cabins.

Part of the reason Southwest isn't rolling out its assigned seating model sooner is that premium seating will take some time to reconfigure in the planes. But reserved seating is available on virtually every other airline and could have started much sooner. Southwest pushed back the expected start date in an announcement made as part of its "investors' day" presentation Thursday. It did not give details for when the premium seating with more legroom between seats would be available.

Southwest has found itself under pressure from an activist shareholder group, Elliott Investment Management, which wants to replace its top management and make other changes to improve its profitability. The airline insists the plans for assigned seating had been in the works even before the pressure from Elliott and says that 80% of Southwest customers and 86% of passengers who choose other airlines want assigned seats.

It also announced it would start partnerships with foreign airlines to offer its passengers the chance to book overseas flights. Southwest has far fewer international flights than its three largest rivals, American, United and Delta airlines. Its first partnership will be with Icelandair next year, connecting with it at its Baltimore-Washington International Airport hub. The airline confirmed an earlier statement that it will continue to allow passengers to check up to two bags for no fee.