Mike

I concur. I've never seen a full American , USAir, United, etc. flight have a quick boarding like a full Southwest flight does. SW can get you on and the plane moving in 10-15 minutes. No wonder they don't assign seats. This saves them an hour or more in the course of a day, assuming each plane flies 6-8 segments.

Ted

Just the facts:
I've never flown Southwest and never will due to the lack of assigned seating. Of course, if the policy changed so would my willingess to try Southwest.

Daniel

This is an interesting thread. There are 10 major airlines and one made money last year and again in the first quarter of 2002. That's Southwest.

You don't mess with success.

As for the comparisons with JetBlue, it's apples and oranges. JB has a hub-spoke system at JFK while Southwest has a decentralized route system with lots of mini-hubs. JetBlue also has something like 10 planes, compared to SW's 300.

Suzy

I like Southwest's no-assignments system because:

1. All the families with small children board first and take the front rows, so it's easy to keep away from them

2. The system screens out the prima donnas whose trip is spoiled if they can't get the exact seat they want.

The rest of us have a fine time.

joesorce

In their neverending quest to find ways to make money, I'm sure that Southwest will soon be offering assigned seating at an extra charge.
So now the question becomes, just how much would you be willing to pay for the "luxury" of an assigned seat? Any more than 10 bucks each way and I'd probably pass.

BC

I wouldn't pay a dime. I always get aisle seats on Southwest as most people traveling together take the window/middle so they can be next to each other!

Susan

Joesorce, I don't agree. I think a good part of the reason for the lack of assigned seating is as others have mentioned -- quicker boarding of passengers. People quickly get on and sit down.

Also, comparisons to JetBlue don't really work. Are there any flight segments that both airlines share? They are addressing different parts of the market.

Delta

JetBlue, AirTran and Frontier are three successful low-cost carriers. Notice that they've AVOIDED competition with Southwest by placing their hubs at New York, Atlanta and Denver. These are cities not served by Southwest.

In my humble opinion, it would be foolish for an start up airline to compete against SW. USAirways, a major, tried it with Metrojet. United tried SHuttle by United. Both are now kaput and SW dominates the routes.

Don

People who stay at Motel 6's don't complain about crummy mattresses and lack of amenities.

People who buy their clothes at KMart don't expect to find Prada labels there.

People who fly Southwest just accept the lack of amenities such as cattle seating and no food. They're bought in to the system so they aren't fazed by these things.

traveller

Pushing and shoving past people in the same boarding group to get a better seat is part of the fun of flying with Southwest!

Gladly

I would gladly pay $10. extra for an assigned seat so I didn't need to be at the gate 1 1/2 hrs. early.....this is a no brainer! I'm sure everyone would, isn't our time worth something? I can't stand feeling like cattle being herded!

xxx3

And I'd gladly give up assigned seating to pay $10 less.

Sure, your time is worth something -- but what you're really giving value to is a pre-chosen seating assignment (that's what you're giving up that alleged 1.5 hours for). SW has thrived on passengers who clearly DON'T need that particular feature.

I've only taken SW a few times, but I've never seen this pushing and cattle-call atmosphere, everyone was quite civilized about the whole procedure. The last time I took SW, my party got boarding passes no. 78, 79, 80 and were still able to sit together.

Rosemary

We've never stayed at a Motel 6 - I've never been to a K-Mart - I wouldn't describe us as either fat or blue collar. We fly Southwest from BWI.

For the life of me I just can't understand what the fuss is all about. We always seem to have checked baggage and always land up waiting for it at our destination. The people at the front with "good seats" are waiting too. So why on earth do people line up for so long just to get a "good seat"? I agree with Suzy - I prefer to sit nearer the back away from the young children at the front. I've never had trouble with the overhead lockers. My husband and I have always got to sit together however late we board - we just go straight to the back! The boarding is so much quicker and easier than with assigned seating. The web site is great - and if you need to call them you always get a person straight away, none of this sifting through menus and waiting for ages for an answer. We've flown many times with Southwest and only ever had one serious delay, which was weather-related. We recently flew out of Salt Lake City which has the most intense security (Olympics-related) that I've seen - Southwest had dozens of employees on duty and there was hardly any waiting.

I think Southwest has a winning system, why change it?

Neil

One time I was on Southwest and in the rush to get the best seats on the plane someone came crashing down, carry-on and all, people just crawled over them so they could get a good seat!

Reserved seats please SW!!!

Susan

Don, do you really feel pampered when flying other airlines? I mean, the food is always terrible, you still have to wait to go through security, you still have to get in line to get a boarding pass, you're still packed into an airplane with negligible leg room and mediocore "entertainment". You are still vulnerable to delayed flights and missed connections (actually more so than on SWA). Does it really make you feel like a four star traveller to fly on United versus Southwest?

r-travels

I doubt SWA will change it, not even for an extra charge. I've worked in the hotel business, and I'm now a programmer-analyst. Implementing a system to accomodate seating would be a major expense in the "back-office", but the real expense would be the extra time needed while taking a reservation, and the turn-around time at the gates.

You can't compare SWA with even other no-frills airlines. No one consistantly offers lower fares than SWA. And those of you who wish to disparage SWA (and those of us who like them) can spend your extra dollars somewhere else. I am satisfied with the way they do business, and do NOT wish to have to subsidize other's whims.
If it ain't broken, don't fix it.

"Greyhound of the air" ??? Damn, doesn't Greyhound WISH they could move me between Albany & BWI for $80 r/t in about an hour! I've now earned 3 free trips on SWA, all out of Albany, and have never witnessed anything like Anna's impression. (remove the x in my eddress)

Les

I will check on this board in two years and see the names of the people who stated that Southwest will not change to assigned seating. They will and you guys are wrong.

Lisa

If they did, then they'd be like alll the other airlines. Why would they want to do that?

xx

Yes Les, likewise we will see your name when they have not changed.

profit

No assigned seats DOES have an affect on ticket prices. Southwest keeps costs down by flying many segments and turning over planes FAST. Before 9/11 they could turn over a plane in 10 minutes (now it's about 20). Despite the long lines for customers, no assigned seating speeds up boarding and means SW can fly more segments. That keeps your ticket price low.