Assigned Seating

Airline policies change all the time. Most adjustments are minor and barely noticed outside of aviation circles. This one was different. When Southwest altered its longtime passenger of size policy …

Airline elite status is only useful when you can actually take advantage of the benefits. In my wife Sharon’s case, getting JetBlue Mosaic status for 25 years was the main …

When Southwest moved to assigned seating, one problem was almost guaranteed to show up sooner or later: what happens when a passenger pays extra for a “window” seat…and there isn’t …

Southwest Airlines has been making a lot of changes lately — and not all of them have gone over well. Now even The Onion is getting in on the action. …

A viral complaint about a flight attendant “using her phone” raised a bigger question: what are those airline-issued devices actually used for onboard? A couple of years ago, a passenger …

A wording issue tied to Southwest’s year-old Basic fare is causing passengers to believe they’ve been placed on standby—even though they still have confirmed seats on the flight. In aviation, …

Southwest finally flipped the switch on the last of its “this is how we’ve always done it” policies. Assigned seating went live in late January, which means Southwest’s transformation is …

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 …

When Southwest announced it was rolling out a new Basic fare to replace Wanna Get Away, my first thought was, “Well, there goes the last ‘simple’ airline.” On paper, Basic …

With Southwest’s new seating system set to begin for travel on or after January 27, 2026, all the major U.S. airlines now use assigned seating. For passengers, that means one …