Get ready for changes in boarding and seating at Southwest Airlines.
FILE - Southwest Airlines plane prepares to land at Midway International Airport, Feb. 12, 2023, in Chicago. Flight attendants at Southwest Airlines on Wednesday, April 24, 2024, ratified a contract that includes pay raises totaling more than 33% over four years, as airline workers continue to benefit from the industry's recovery since the pandemic. Airline officials say they are studying possible changes but won't have anything to announce until September.
Southwest doesn’t have a first-class cabin or assigned seats. Passengers line up in the gate area in an order determined partly by who checked in first and – increasingly – who paid extra to. The lucky or high-paying ones get in the “A” boarding group, followed by the middling “B” crowd and finally the dreaded “C” group, whose unfortunate inhabitants usually wind up in a middle seat, maybe in the back of the plane.
Savanthi Syth, an airlines analyst with Raymond James Financial, said the lack of assigned seating is “a huge pain point for passengers," although a shrinking contingent still likes it. Syth thinks passengers would prefer the ability to select a seat in advance to trying to get a better spot in the boarding line.
Southwest executives are frequently asked about changes in their policies around baggage, seating and first-class cabins. At an industry conference in November, Jordan said there was nothing in the works.Southwest's financial results have become more dismal. The company reported Thursday that it lost $231 million in the first quarter, which was worse than analysts expected and a wider loss than a year ago.
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