The Southwest Airlines seat scramble is a familiar drill for South Florida travelers.
Line up to get on the plane, search for a good open seat, pray that there’s some nearby overhead bin space.
But the 50-year-old tradition is ending.
Southwest, which has up to 67 daily departures from Miami and Fort Lauderdale airports, will start assigning seats to fliers for the first time, the company said on Thursday.
Open seating helped Southwest become one of the nation’s most popular low-cost airlines, although customers have had a love-hate relationship with the free-for-all.
The airline said it decided to start assigning seats after communicating with customers. Southwest research found that 80% of its fliers and 86% of potential customers prefer an assigned seat. And when a traveler chose to switch from Southwest to a competitor, open seating was cited as the No. 1 reason for the change.
The airline did not give a time frame for the switch to assigned seating.
Other changes for Southwest Airlines
The airline also is making other changes, which include adding premium seats on all flights, more legroom on about one-third of all seats and the return of overnight flights known as red-eyes.
The moves are meant to appeal to a broader group of travelers, including business people. The company is also looking to improve its bottom line after having a rough year so far.
The changes will “better position Southwest Airlines to produce higher returns in a more competitive, higher cost environment,” Bob Jordan, president and chief executive officer of Southwest, said on a call with investors and media on Thursday.
Jordan said seats assignments would bring in more customers and that premium seats would bring in more money for tickets and future amenities.
Southwest’s Miami and Fort Lauderdale market
Southwest has as many as 49 daily departures from Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport to places including Raleigh/Durham, Baltimore, Chicago, Kansas City and New Orleans.
The carrier has up to 18 daily departures from Miami International Airport to destinations such as Los Angeles, Phoenix, Oakland and Austin.
The Dallas-based airline even added flights to Fort Lauderdale and Miami for Taylor Swift’s concerts at Hard Rock Stadium in October.
But changes come with risks, especially for a popular airline. For three straight years, JD Power has ranked Southwest as fliers’ top economy class.
Reconfiguring the Southwest Airlines fleet
On Thursday, Southwest executives said they are close to finishing the design of the newly configured planes. The Federal Aviation Administration will then need to certify the changes, a process which could take several months. Then would come the construction work on Southwest’s 800 aircraft and the rollout to customers in 2025.
On Thursday, executives said the extra legroom is needed now because the airline runs longer and fuller flights than in past years.
Southwest on Thursday also said red-eye flights are coming. The first ones will land the morning of Valentine’s Day in 2025, serving Las Vegas to Baltimore and Orlando, Los Angeles to Baltimore and Nashville, and Phoenix to Baltimore.
