"Is this now the new frontier airlines???" said one Southwest flyer on X.

Southwest will also begin a new group-based boarding system starting on Jan 27. The new boarding process will prioritize passengers based on seat location, though tier members and Rapid Rewards credit ...

As of January 27, 2026, Southwest Airlines no longer has an open seating policy. Here's how Southwest now boards its aircraft and why it chose to go this route.

Southwest passengers will have assigned seats starting Tuesday. This marks an end to the Texas-based airline's well-known longstanding policy of allowing flyers choose their own seats as they board.

The introduction of assigned seating comes with other changes such as the addition of premium seating options and a new ...

American Airlines first-class and business-class passengers will now get even more of a head start when boarding. And, beginning in May, passengers on certain flights may need to get to the airport a ...

Flying Southwest Airlines changes forever as of Tuesday, January 27. Marketing it as seatisfacton for all, passengers flying Southwest will no longer be able to pick whichever seat they like during ...

DALLAS (AP) — Goodbye, cattle call. Southwest Airlines said Thursday that it plans to drop the open-boarding system it has used for more than 50 years and will start assigning passengers to seats, ...

(NEXSTAR) – The back-to-front boarding process, adopted by multiple major airlines amid the coronavirus pandemic, is “substantially worse” at preventing the spread of COVID-19 than the traditional ...