Southwest Airlines weighing changes to unique boarding process, seating practices

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Southwest Airlines News

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Southwest Airlines is studying changes to its quirky boarding and seating policies as it searches for ways to raise more revenue.

Airline officials say they are studying possible changes but won't have anything to announce until September. That tease is leading to speculation about whether Southwest might ditch some longstanding traditions, including the practice of passengers picking their own seats only after they board a plane.

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.

“More importantly, I think it opens you up to a greater pool of passengers that would not consider because of the stress of the current process,” she said. “This is particularly important now that Southwest has lost the differentiation of no change or cancellations fees.” Southwest's closest rivals dropped change fees too during the pandemic.

 

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