Itsme

I don't understand this....I thought they had already proven they saved time before they implemented the original open seating.

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Southwest to test assigned seating

By DAVID KOENIG, AP Business Writer 1 hour, 26 minutes ago

DALLAS - Southwest Airlines Co. will test assigning seats to travelers, another indication that the maverick carrier may get in line with other U.S. airlines by junking its first-come, first-served seating system.

Passengers will be assigned seats on about 200 flights from San Diego for several weeks beginning July 10, an airline spokesman said Tuesday.
The airline wants to know if assigning seats will slow down Southwest's ability to unload incoming planes and board passengers for the next flight. It takes Southwest about 25 minutes on average to turn a plane around. Any delay can add to the airline's costs.

Southwest is already updating its computerized reservation system to handle assigned seating and international flights. Chief Executive Gary Kelly has said neither change is definite, and that Southwest won't eliminate what it calls "open seating" until late next year, at the earliest.

"We want to make sure that we have studied all the possibilities and aspects of assigned seating before we make any change to what has been a very successful formula for the past 35 years," Kelly said in a statement Tuesday.

Travelers on Southwest flights board in three groups, with priority given to those who get boarding passes first — up to 24 hours before the flight.

Priority boarding passes are so valued that some customers pay Web sites to check in electronically and secure a Group A pass. In May, Southwest filed a lawsuit in federal district court in Dallas against one of the Web sites and has asked more than a dozen others to stop handling electronic check-ins for customers.

During the San Diego test, passengers will be called ahead of time and told to check in at the gate for an assigned seat, said Southwest spokesman Ed Stewart.

"We're going to take a look at this and see if it improves overall operational efficiency and see whether it customers are still smiling," Stewart said. "We really want to know how it affects turn times."

San Diego was selected — and only for outbound flights — because of its mix of short, medium and long flights, Stewart said. The airport is Dallas-based Southwest's 10th busiest, with 92 daily departures from 10 gates to 15 cities.

VTGreg

Sounds to me like this is more of a customer satisfaction issue and they want to make sure it isn't going to cost them a ton of money.

I travel every week and refuse to fly Southwest because they don't offer any seat assignments. The majority of business travelers I have spoken with share the same opinion. This is a very important segment of customers that become more important to Southwest as they mature and grow as a company.

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Thesifer

Well aren't they still one of the only non-bankrupt major airline companies out there? I believe it is them and Jet Blue. So obviously they are doing something right. It's been a bit since I flew southwest, but honestly I keep trying to remember and I can't remember NOT having assigned seating. But I guess I didn't? Unless this was a change since I have flown with them.

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cheapie

you were likely in a zone, not a specific seat.

Itsme

Before I retired I flew almost every week...99% on American Airlines...racked up over 5 million American Airlines miles. At the time I too liked very much the assigned seating.

Now that I am retired I fly whatever I can get, depending on where I am going. I fly Soutwest quite a bit. I agree that my viewpoint has changed since I am no longer flying on business, but the ability to print my boarding pass the day before, and therefore "guarantee" I get an "A" pass has helped me to not worry about being able to get on in the first group and get a seat near the front.

kgsilvas

I LUV Southwest!

I fly Southwest regularly and typically get an A boarding pass, so their current system works well for me. I like their quick boarding process, so I hope this doesn't slow it down.

Hey Southwest, keep those A B & C boarding passes!!!!

Markel

I doubt that assigned seats will slow down the unloading process (everybody wants to get off the plane as fast as possible anyway), but without the impetus for people to rush to board in order to get a better seat, I would bet that the boarding process will take longer.

One thought - when there are assigned seats, it should make it much easier to locate a particular passenter ("Mr. XYZ is sitting in seat 12A"). There might be a benefit in certain situations (terrorist threat) to knowing where a passenger was assigned to sit.

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blueindian

i love that you don't have assigned seats, that way you just get to pick whereever you feel like sitting.

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yeah, pretty much we missed the boat on that one. but it's still here. get you some.

MrGreg

Yeah, there's nothing better than being the creepy guy who makes eye contact with the hot girl who's already seated, she looks away and silently says a prayer "Please don't sit next to me", and then you sit next to her and leer at her all the way to Phoenix. Girls love that.

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hapoo

http://www.gotapex.com/avatars/mrgre...ine=1121113257


I wonder if there is a correlation

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blueindian

i always have an "A" boarding pass, so i'm usually seated by the time the hot girl gets on. back when i was single, i used to say smile at the hot girl, who would smile back 50/50, i's day hello, and the hot girl would generally sit down.

never did make it to the mile high club though.