Huge Changes Coming For Southwest Flyers Out Of Missouri

I recently wrote an article detailing potential changes impacting Southwest Airlines flyers. Today, the news hit that flying Southwest Airlines will be a little different in the future. Here's what you need to know if you like flying Southwest.

For the first time in the airline's history, Southwest will change from the cattle call boarding process, which lets flyers pick their own seats when boarding, to assigned seating. Most outlets, including CNN Business, report that Southwest says customers are the reason why the airline is changing this policy.

The airline says the number one reason unhappy passengers choose another airline is the seating policy. According to Southwest, this change will allow the airline to offer "a premium, extended legroom portion of the cabin," which, of course, will serve as another source of revenue for the airline moving forward.

Another significant change, according to the airline, will be the addition of redeye flights. Traditionally, that hasn't been part of Southwest's operations. Southwest will begin offering redeye service in the following markets, with the first overnight flights landing on Valentine's Day, 2025: Las Vegas to Baltimore and Orlando; Los Angeles to Baltimore and Nashville; and Phoenix to Baltimore. These red-eye flights are now bookable on the airline's website, and Southwest says it will phase in more overnight flights as part of its transformation into upcoming schedules.

When I wrote about these potential changes a few days ago, I pointed out that, in my experience, flying Southwest has changed over the last decade or so, and not for the better. The words I used were "more hassle."

Expanding on that, the hassle in my mind mostly came from the airline's decision to offer people the ability to buy a better boarding position. When I first started flying Southwest with some regularity, getting a good seat was all based on your motivation to get checked in on time or early. Yet,  it seemed fair. It became more of a hassle when they started charging for the ability to get an early boarding position.

Yes, I'm disappointed to lose the ability to get into a good boarding group and pick my seat. Yet, as Southwest has added opportunities to pay for better boarding positions through upsells or the type of ticket you buy, I'm not sure moving to assigned seating is a bad idea. Open seating worked when it was "fair," all passengers knew the game, and getting a good bonding position wasn't driven by ticket class or upsells.

At least moving forward with assigned seating, you'll know where you'll be sitting on the plane, and you can decide whether to pay for a better seat. It will also take some of the stress and frustration off of the boarding process since your seat is your seat, whether you're the first on the plane or the last.

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The other change, adding red-eye flights, seems like a no-brainer. If it can bring more revenue to the airline and offer flyers more choices when flying, that sounds like a win for the company and the flyers. Flight crew members who are low on the seniority list are most likely the ones who might not enjoy Southwest turning into a 24-hour airline since I suspect they'll be working overnight.

Southwest's challenge moving forward is to ensure that the airline keeps its identity and many of the things that make it an airline people want to fly on. It's one thing to adapt when part of your business model stops working or working as well as it had, yet Southwest Airlines needs to be Southwest. If flying them is no different than flying Delta, American, or United, that's a huge mistake.