Southwest announces open seating change. When will the airline start assigning seats?

Greg Giesen, Delaware News Journal
·2 min read
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You want to get away, but you also want to make sure you have a good seat? You'll finally be able to.

Southwest Airlines, which flies out of Philadelphia International Airport, announced Thursday several changes to improve the customer experience including assigned seats and premium seating.

Southwest Airlines opening seating change

For more than 50 years, Southwest has had first-come seating arrangements with passengers boarding in groups. Passengers in the first boarding group got their choice of seat. Subsequent boarding groups got what was available after each group boarded.

Those seating arrangements are changing to assigned and premium seating. According to Southwest, 80% of Southwest customers and 86% of potential Southwest customers prefer assigned seats.

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Southwest Airlines adding premium seating

Southwest Airlines is adding premium seating with an extended legroom portion of the cabin. Southwest expects roughly one-third of seats across the fleet to offer extended legroom.

Southwest already unveiled a cabin refresh earlier this year and is in the middle of upgrading its fleet with changes announced in 2022, including in-seat USB charging and stronger Wi-Fi.

Southwest hasn't announced a date for the seating changes.

Southwest Airlines adding red eyes

Southwest is adding red-eye flights. The initial red-eye flight routes are:

  • Las Vegas to Baltimore

  • Las Vegas to Orlando

  • Los Angeles to Baltimore

  • Los Angeles to Nashville

  • Phoenix to Baltimore

The airline plans to eventually increase the number of markets with red-eye flights and offer 24-hour operational capabilities. The red-eye flights are available for booking and are scheduled to take off on Feb. 14, 2025.

This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: Southwest open seating change: When will airline change rules?