Southwest Airlines ended its free open-seating policy to charge for premium seats, abandoning the feature that made it profitable for 47 years and kept customers loyal. One speaker says open seating was the only reason they flew Southwest. The airline risks losing the customer goodwill that built its reputation.
Southwest Airlines just made a big mistake by pissing off their entire customer base. Here's what happened. So you go to book a flight on Southwest's site and holy crap, they've got the absolute best perks. 2 free checked bags, no fees to swap your flight, free in-flight entertainment, and the lowest fares around. But what do all the customers love the most? Their open seating policy. It means when you get on the plane, you can take any open seat. And I'm 6'6", so I always want that aisle seat. This perk is the number 1 reason Southwest has the highest customer satisfaction rating of any airline. And it earned them an insane streak of 47 straight years of profitability. But that's all changed recently. Ditching open seating and charging people for premium seats, and the internet is absolutely pissed off.
Southwest Airlines, do not do this to us.
I love the open seating policy. Literally the only reason I was a Southwest stan is because of their open seating policy.
Southwest says that customers don't like open seating anyway, but that announcement wiped out $600 million in value from the stock market for Southwest Airlines in just one day.
