Closing the door on open seating?

Last month Southwest Airlines announced it would begin experimenting with assigned seating on selected flights from San Diego. For a good many long-time Southwest passengers such as myself, this news is nothing less than catastrophic.

Before I rant, first a little background. The airline was the first (and still one of the few) to introduce open seating to the air transportation industry. The concept is a huge component of Southwest’s success. It is largely responsible for the airline’s half-hour turnaround times, which in turn have helped propel the carrier to profitability during its last 60 quarters, as well as to its status as the world’s second-largest in passengers carried.

In an era of class divisions (read: first class vs. business class), Southwest’s radical departure from convention also proved to be a cultural phenomenon in the airline industry (it also spared its flight attendants from donning tailored business suits in favor of khakis and short-sleeved Polos).

So why change something that ain’t broke? CEO Gary Kelly likens the San Diego test to a laboratory experiment and nothing more. By assigning seats to passengers at the gate, Southwest is essentially trying to determine whether that process promotes equally fast turnaround times. According to the airline’s recent second quarter conference call, Kelly suggested that, so far, it has enabled even faster departures.

Over the July 4th weekend I had the great misfortune of flying with my wife and two very young children on American Airlines. We stood, and stood, and stood some more as first-class passengers boarded ahead of us, then frequent flyers, and so on and so forth. With a sobbing baby in tow, I finally approached the gate attendant and begged for passage down the elusive causeway onto the aircraft. Begged.

Not only have I never had to beg for pre-board access on Southwest, I’ve been able to sit WITH my family thanks to its open-seating policy. Every single time. Sure, it’s a scrappy, free-for-all mentality, but it sure beats the classist hierarchy of other airlines. As long as Southwest continues to embrace open seating, the skies will be a little friendlier for folks like me.