Southwest retires open seating and begins assigned seats with premium options

Southwest Airlines on Tuesday officially ended its decades-old open-seating policy and began assigning seats, marking the change with a water-cannon salute, balloons and commemorative bag tags at Orlando International Airport. The first two flights with assigned seating landed early in the day, at Chicago Midway and at Orlando, on a flight from San Juan, P.R.

For more than 50 years Southwest used an open-seating system in which passengers were given a group and number at check-in and chose any available seat on board. The airline said the new policy, which includes assigned standard, preferred and extra-legroom seats, responds to evolving customer expectations and will increase revenue.

Tony Roach, an executive vice president, said Southwest had “outgrown” open seating and that assigned seats reduce traveler anxiety and allow the carrier to offer cabin products such as extra legroom. Boarding order now depends on fare class, elite status or whether a traveler holds the airline’s credit card, and passengers can pay to board in an earlier group.

The most expensive seats can cost hundreds of dollars more than the cheapest fares. Southwest also ended a flexible policy for plus-size passengers that allowed them to request an extra seat at the gate or pay and later receive a refund; those customers must now purchase two seats ahead of time without a guaranteed refund.