Southwest Airlines Says Bye to Open Seating-and Hello to Boarding Complexity

"For five decades, Dallas-based budget airline Southwest made its reputation on its unique open seating policy. Savvy passengers who checked in early got to board early, too, lining up at distinctive silver stanchions to claim first dibs on whichever seat they preferred. The fairer-than-thou approach extended all the way into Southeast's cabins: For years, the airline had no first-class seating, and all seats basically looked the same."

"No longer! On Tuesday, Southwest Airlines officially inaugurated its new assigned seating policy, the last in a suite of changes that moves it closer to the mean of airline operations. Taken by itself, the new policy, which breaks passengers into boarding groups and loads them according to seat location, should be more efficient. But unfortunately for optimization enthusiasts, Southwest's new boarding plan comes with some asterisks-concessions that executives say will goose profits-that will likely make the process pokier than it could be."

"In lieu of boarding by check-in time, passengers will enter the cabin by group. They'll be assigned to those groups according to the Window-Middle-Aisle method, or WILMA for short: starting at the back of the airplane and moving forward, window seat holders get onboard first; then middle seaters, also starting at the back of the plane; then aisle. Airlines use the WILMA method because it reduces clogs in the aisle as people find their seats."

Southwest operated an open seating policy for five decades, where early check-in determined boarding order and all seats resembled one another. The airline inaugurated assigned seating and group boarding, moving toward industry norms. The new system assigns passengers to boarding groups following a Window-Middle-Aisle (WILMA) pattern that loads window, then middle, then aisle seats from the back forward. WILMA reduces aisle congestion and allows luggage stowage time, and other carriers report minute savings. Executives added profit-driven concessions alongside the new policy, which are likely to slow boarding despite the efficiency gains of assigned seating.

Read at WIRED