“Moving to assigned seating and offering premium legroom options will be a transformational change that cuts across almost all aspects of the Company,” Southwest CEO Bob Jordan said in a statement.
The company said its research showed that 80 percent of its customers and 86 percent of “potential” customers prefer an assigned seat.
“When a Customer elects to stop flying with Southwest and chooses a competitor, open seating is cited as the number one reason for the change,” it said in a news release.
Jordan first hinted at the change in April. “But early indications both for our customers and for Southwest look pretty darn interesting,” he said at the time.
The changes are the most significant shifts in decades for the airline, which built its reputation as a scrappy discount underdog but has evolved to become one of the dominant carriers in the United States. Even so, Southwest has been under pressure to boost revenue. As other airlines have found ways to charge for various “upgrades,” including more legroom and early boarding, Southwest’s model left it with few options.
The carrier will also begin offering overnight “red-eye” flights, confirming an announcement from earlier this year. It said the flights will begin in February, with the first overnight flight landing on Valentine’s Day 2025. Customers can begin booking those trips now.