Southwest Airlines of Dallas, Texas, announced July 25 several new initiatives the airline says are designed to elevate the customer experience, improve financial performance, and drive shareholder value. As part of its ongoing focus on product evolution, the airline is moving forward with plans to assign seats, offer premium seating options, redesign the boarding model, and introduce red-eye flying.
Assigned and Premium Seating
Southwest will assign seats and offer premium seating options on all flights. The airline has been known for its unique open-seating model for more than 50 years, but the airline says preferences have evolved with more customers taking longer flights where a seat assignment is preferred. The airline’s research indicates 80% of Southwest customers and 86% of potential customers prefer an assigned seat. When a customer elects to stop flying with Southwest and chooses a competitor, open seating is cited as the No. 1 reason for the switch.
In addition to assigning seats, Southwest will offer a premium, extended legroom portion of the cabin that research also shows many customers strongly prefer. While specific cabin layout details are still in design, Southwest expects roughly one-third of seats across the fleet to offer extended legroom, in line with that offered by industry peers on narrow-body aircraft.
“Moving to assigned seating and offering premium legroom options will be a transformational change that cuts across almost all aspects of the company,” says Bob Jordan, president, CEO, and vice chair of the board, in a prepared statement. “Although our unique open-seating model has been a part of Southwest Airlines since our inception, our thoughtful and extensive research makes it clear this is the right choice—at the right time—for our customers, our people, and our shareholders. We are excited to incorporate customer and employee feedback to design a unique experience that only Southwest can deliver. We have been building purposefully to this change as part of a comprehensive upgrade to the Southwest experience as we focus on customer expectations—and it will unlock new sources of revenue consistent with our laser focus on delivering improved financial performance.”
Southwest Airlines Redeye Flights
Southwest Airlines also announced it is adding 24-hour operation capabilities with the introduction of overnight, red-eye flights. Booking on initial routes is through the airline’s website only, with the first overnight flights landing on Valentine’s Day next year in five initial nonstop markets: Las Vegas, Nevada, to Baltimore, Maryland, and Orlando, Florida; Los Angeles, California, to Baltimore, Maryland, and Nashville, Tennessee; and Phoenix, Arizona, to Baltimore. Southwest plans to phase in additional red-eye flying in its coming schedules as part of its multiyear transformation to a 24-hour operation.
Gary Kelly, executive chair of the board, says, “The board fully supports these efforts to usher in a new era for Southwest Airlines, and we have the ultimate confidence in Bob and our leadership team to design and deliver an experience that is unique and true to our Southwest legacy.”
