The best thing about taking a flight with Southwest Airlines? Open seating. The worst thing about taking a flight with Southwest Airlines? Open seating. Also, the unruly passengers that continue to plague the flying experience.
However, this heated discussion about whether or not one of the biggest airlines in North America should continue to offer open seating is no longer up for discussion and is going away, due to the company’s newest transformational plan. Southwest Airlines’ new “Southwest. Even Better.” three-year plan will build upon its original business model but provide more choices and greater comfort for customers. The airline’s new plan follows ongoing efforts from the airline industry to improve the (much degraded) passenger experience, as seen by United Airlines and American Airlines.
Beginning in the second half of 2025 and going full operational in 2026, Southwest Airlines will boost demand with an assigned seating model, citing that 86% of passengers want assigned seats, especially on long-haul flights. Additionally, Southwest will offer extra legroom options with up to five additional inches of pitch for one third of its seats.
On the global scale, Southwest Airlines will officially partner with Icelandair through Baltimore-Washington International Airport, offer vacation packages through its new “Getaways by Southwest” vacation bundles, and update its tier benefits for credit card holders.
With all of these changes, Southwest Airlines will keep its “bags fly free” policy, allowing two free checked bags per passenger.