When Southwest officially began its system of assigned seating a week ago today, there were a lot of cheers – and a lot of hand-wringing. People either loved or hated the airline’s previous open seating plan and the two camps often went head to head about it on social media (because that’s THE best place to change someone’s mind).
Of course, the first few days of ANYTHING brand new are going to be bumpy as both the company and customers get their footing. But it’s been a week – did things get better, or is it still one big cluster… with people still vowing to “never fly on Southwest again?”
Here are some anecdotal updates about how things are going now, as per reports on various forms of social media.
What people said last week
The new system went into effect last Tuesday, January 27. Here’s what people said about it on Day 1 and Day 2.
Here’s how the major things have changed. Or not changed:
New boarding system
Filling up the bins in front
Last week, there were a LOT of complaints that those who were boarding first were putting their belongings in the overhead above the first few rows of seats, then continuing on to their own seats in the middle or back of the plane (you know, like what selfish A-holes do).
This week, those complaints continue quite a bit. However, SOME flight attendants on SOME flights are fixing this problem by closing the overheads in the first few rows to keep them available for those seats. If someone had, I dunno, Seat 4A, the flight attendant would tell them to open the overhead, put their stuff up there, and close it again.
On other flights, SOME flight attendants were proactively telling people to take their overhead bags with them to wherever their assigned seat was.
However, neither of these were being done consistently. So there were still lots and lots of flights where the front overheads were full, which meant people who had the seats under them had to “swim” back like salmon to place their bags and, later on, get their belongings.
We boarded on time but since passengers had to walk back to find bin space and then walk back up into traffic to their assigned seats with no bin space it took sooooo long to board (full flight) and we left 35 minutes late. – Janie S.
This problem was mainly affecting those who were in the very front of the plane – typically A-List Preferred (ALP) or those who had purchased seats with extra legroom. Neither are groups an airline should want to anger – they spend the most to get their seats.
I fly weekly and AA, AS and of course SW. since the change the companion is likely the only reason I’ll pick SW going forward. All my business will move to AS, AA, or maybe even DL.
The boarding is slower and as A list preferred boarding far later. Yeah I get a little extra room but all the overhead is gone and my bag is three rows back. It’s a joke as even the older AS overhead can turn your luggage for more room.
Tell me why I should pick WN over AS, AA, DL if schedule and within a few tens of dollars? — Charles C
But…when you go from offering free checked bags to charging for them, everyone is going to bring as much carry-on as they can – which means more stuff in the overheads. And more selfish A-holes take advantage of empty overheads in the front.
Emergency exit row
It’s still unclear whether you no longer have to go to Customer Service before sitting in the exit row, or if this practice will soon end (it was hard to tell – I saw both in different forums and message groups).
Preboarders
Preboarders (those who need extra time to get settled and therefore board early) continue, of course. It sounds as if there are not quite as many as there had been when it was open seating. But there were apparently enough on some flights – especially those who could {{{GASP!}}} walk unassisted – that their fellow passengers – at least those who were as much of A-holes as the ones who leave their stuff in the front overheads – were still badmouthing them, as if someone on the autism spectrum (who might run away), or with a heart condition (who needs to walk slowly), or with life-threatening allergies (who needs to wipe down their area) didn’t “deserve” to board early, in their not-so-humble opinion.
Gate lice
More people are mentioning something brand new at Southwest: GATE LICE!
Don’t act surprised – we all knew it was going to happen LOL!
Reassigning seats with no warning
It’s still happening.
It wasn’t happening much to begin with, but apparently some people are still experiencing it.
…they did the same to me. I need a window for nausea reasons and they put me in a middle seat right next to someone when the ENTIRE SECTION of 3 seats is empty where I originally booked and the entire row of 6 seats is empty behind that one. W.T.F.
They let me switch to the original window seat when I showed them the email confirmation but turns out that row doesn’t have an actual window, just a wall. I asked to sit in the empty row behind me and they said not until after takeoff.
I told her I took an extra dramamine so hopefully it’s okay. She said “it will be” and ever so kindly found an XL barf bag for me. This might be my last southwest flight. — slydexic_bergil 1/29/26
Flying back from Costa Rica I paid $200 one way for Exit Row seats (I’m 7’ tall and NEED the extra leg room) two months ago. I go to check in for my flight and the exit row seats I had selected for both legs had been re assigned to a different seat. I went to the counter at the airport and they had no explanation and someone else had gotten assigned my exit row seats so they couldn’t change it for me. — 7footbeast 1/30/26
Booked a Choice Extra fare, selected an exit row aisle seat. Checked in 24 hrs before and no issue, still showing my exit row seat. Got my boarding pass on my phone, at the airport with heaps of time before the flight.
It wasn’t until pre-boarding had been started that they paged me up to customer service to tell me their system said I am “not eligible” for the seat and they needed to move me. CS said their system wouldn’t put me in any of the other exit row seats but they’d put me in the next closest option. This was apparently just a random standard aisle seat, not in the extra legroom/premium areas. Unfortunately I had little time to push back on this as the flight was actively boarding as they changed my ticket, so I took it and boarded.
This flight was maybe 25% full. Definitely not oversold. Plenty of exit row and other premium seats available that they could have rebooked me to. — MoreNuancedThanThat, 2/1/26
The overall feeling
There were some passengers who said they liked the new system:
Boarding process was smooth and arrived 15 min early again! Most middle seats were filled and plenty of bag space. Great job, SW! – Anonymous FB comment, 1/30/26
I will say I am happy for assigned seating. – Anonymous Reddit comment, 2/1/26
Boarding was orderly, efficient and on time. We may even depart early. Also can confirm the death of Jetway Jesus, one pre-boarder. — Another anonymous Redditor, 2/2/26
But there were many, MANY more posts that detailed complaints.
As of the first day or two of the new system, people were unhappy with the changes. I get it; change is hard. But you’d think that, after a week’s worth of time for things to get better, things would be. As of today, a week later, some of the bugs seem to have been worked out.
Aside from SOME flights having fewer issues with overhead bins, and the issues with being in an exit row POSSIBLY being fixed, the overall gist, from reading hundreds of messages on social media, is that people are still not in the least bit happy. Save for pre-boarders, the vast majority want their “old” Southwest back.
And unfortunately, that’s most likely never going to happen.
This passenger, Emily Stein, pretty much said it all on a Southwest group on Facebook (re-posted with permission):
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