I have only encountered that on airlines with pre-assigned seating, not on Southwest.
I rarely see any of this - people hold seats but no one gets mad - and I fly often and maybe one every 10 or 15 flights do they ask if people can move so kids can sit together.
Itās the only airline where the employees arenāt miserable. They sign, they joke, they have fun.
Will that change? I donāt know.
But iāve been both A List and A List Preferred every year of the last 15 and I always read/here these horror stories or untruths like - youāre not guaranteed a seat.
Iām sure these things happen (not the seat issue as everyone is guaranteed a seat if they have a ticket) - but while these things happen, they likely happen far less frequently than people make them out to be on an overall basis.
Itās also not brutally hard (with the credit card) to get a companion pass - where your companion flies with you for $5.60 domestically or more internationally due to taxes (Iām paying $145 to bring my wife to Cabo).
That doesnāt happen on the other biggies.
After the big layoffs, employees are probably less happy now than before. Probably means that future contract negotiations with unions will be more acrimonious than before, with greater risk of strike or lockout. I.e. another way that Southwest may be becoming like other airlines.
Depends on who they are laying off.
They say the corporate workforce -so that wonāt hit the skies - but it could impact them psychologically.
That they are caving to activist investors - yes this company could end up looking little like the path they took to get here which is easily the most successful US carrier EVER - always profitable, never BK.
Itās the kind of story that perhaps, in five, ten years from now, when the activist investor is gone and the airline struggles (if they do) that they realize they have to go back to their routes.
Everyone is following the ultra discounters - and that includes the legacy airlines.
It happened to us in C seats or getting on 2nd leg of a plane. We never asked anyone to move as it was never as bad as only middle seats left (though I have seen that happen to others) but there were a few times we had to split up the family, not ideal when a young kid is with you (but not young enough for early boarding). So now we early bird but I would much, much, much rather have pre assigned seats even if I have to pay for them. With early bird you pay but still have no guarantee (that low A number looks fine until you get on the flight and itās already mostly full as itās a direct with stopover flightā¦) .
JetBlue was always fun with joking employees, but since they moved out of our āhomeā airport I havenāt flown them much. When they were there I would almost always choose them over southwest for the same route. More legroom, nicer seats and pre assigned seats.
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If you have an early bird, unless you got to the gate late (with the Cs),that will never happen.
I fly often, am typically A16-30 but have been with the late Bs and can always find multiple open rows in back.
With the early birds, even on connection and most every flight in Nashville is as itās a hub, usually after row 10, at least 1/2 the rows are completely empty.
Well, anyway the Southwest I experience never seems to jive with what others say.
But if thatās what youāve seen, thatās what youāve seen. But I never have personally.
And Iām telling you thatās what Iāve seen. Own experience. Not what other others are saying. Hence, why I hate the open seating system and only fly southwest when there arenāt other options. So unlike many others, the change will make me more rather than less likely to fly it.
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We only flew Southwest when we lived in Chicagoland. It was great while it lasted - we flew out of Midway so (1) almost every flight was direct since it was a hub and (2) we could get to the airport on local streets and avoid the highway. Then we moved to San Diego, son moved to Seattle, and Southwest stopped all nonstops between the two cities. We tried out Alaska and havenāt looked back.
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Alaska is our favored airline at the moment both because of routes and because you get to status (free bags and automatic upgrades if available) so quickly. Yes first class isnāt like first class on a premium airline but if itās a free upgrade and youāre not flying 12 hours across an ocean, itās perfectly fine!
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Ugh, Southwest fares tend to be a little more out of Maine, but I used it when I could take two bags for free (a lot of times, I bring stuff back from Texas). No more, I guess. 
And I loved the open seating. Everyone standing so courteously and not rushing to board. So much better than the mob scene.
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We donāt know how pricing will be.
They are introducing a new basic fare. Lower cost.
So higher fares may include extras. Like all the others.
And that was the appeal of SW for all these many years. They were NOT like all the others.
Since they are joining the others, I will choose other options. I donāt mind paying more for some convenience like non-stop or a layover that is not 4 hours long.
Iāll still look at SW, but they will have to be competitive with other airlines for me to continue to use them. Iāll see how this all plays out.
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Exactly.
Iāve often been willing to pay more for Southwest in the past, because I appreciate the flexibility. (I actually like the open seating too.)
In the future, I will probably just choose whatever airline has the lowest cost ticket. For the routes I fly most frequently, I expect Iāll be flying on Alaska more often.
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I agree. I worry that they lose their ethos. I worry as a share holder.
Short term it might be good but that investor will leave and the company will be in crisis - potentially.
Last time I flew SW, I paid extra for Business select. My boarding pass was A6, so there should have only been five people in front of me. When they called for the first group to board, there were suddenly at least 15 people in front of me, and the gate agent did not do diddly about it, like they used to. That kind of ticked me off-because what is the purpose of charging people extra for a perk that they do not deliver?
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The day this information came out, my daughter and all those within Twitter feed distance, had already mentioned that they were switching over to whatever airline made it easier for them to travel without extra fees.
Theyāre not loyal to Southwest and theyāre willing to go Alaska, Delta and any other airline if theyāre going to pay the same prices.
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Not how it works. 1-15 line up. You need to find 5 and 7 and say Iām here and step in to your place.
You were in the boarding line and 15 people were standing in the section marked 1-5? Or are you talking about people doing preboard?