Open seating no more? Southwest CEO says airline is weighing cabin changes

Southwest
Airlines
is
considering
changes
to
its
single-class,
open-seating
cabins
to
drive
up
revenue,
CEO
Bob
Jordan
told
CNBC
on
Thursday,
a
shift
that
would
be
among
the
largest
in
the
airline’s
history.

“We’re
looking
into
new
initiatives,
things
like
the
way
we
seat
and
board
our
aircraft,”
Jordan
said
in
an
interview
after
the
carrier’s

disappointing
first-quarter
report.

Southwest’s
all-Boeing
737
fleet
has
a
single
economy
class
cabin
and
no
seating
assignments,
though
it
does
offer
earlier
boarding
for
a
fee
so
customers
can
snag
their
preferred
seats.
The
airline
has
focused
on
keeping
its
product
simple
and
user-friendly
for
years,
aiming
to
keep
its
own
costs
and
complexity
to
a
minimum.

Meanwhile,
rivals
including


Delta
and


United
have
touted
high
revenue
growth
for
premium
seating
such
as
business
class
and

strong
upsell
rates.

Analysts
have
repeatedly
asked
Southwest
about
opportunities
for
premium
seating
or
additional
fees.
(The
airline
doesn’t
charge
travelers
for
their
first
two
checked
bags.)

Most
U.S.
airlines
charge
travelers
to
choose
many
of
its
seats
in
advance,
even
those
that
don’t
come
with
extra
legroom.
Eight
U.S.
carriers
—


Alaska,


Allegiant,


American,
Delta,


Frontier,


JetBlue,


Spirit
and
United
—
together
brought
in
$4.2
billion
from
seating
fees
in
their
domestic
networks
in
2022,
according
to
Jay
Sorensen,
an
airline
ancillary
revenue
expert
at
IdeaWorksCompany.

Jordan
said
no
decisions
have
been
made
on
what
kind
of
changes
Southwest
will
ultimately
make,
but
he
said
studies
have
yielded “interesting”
results.

“Customer
preferences
do
change
over
time,”
Jordan
said.

While
details
were
scarce
during
Southwest’s
earnings
call,
when
asked
whether
Southwest
would
consider
a
separated
cabin
on
its
planes,
Ryan
Green,
the
carrier’s
chief
commercial
officer
said: “Curtains
and
things
like
that
are
a
bit
far
afield
from
what
Southwest
Airlines
is.”

Green
added
that
the
carrier
is
not
considering
charging
for
checked
bags
because “people
choose
Southwest
Airlines
because
we
don’t
have
bag
fees.”

—
CNBC’s


Phil
LeBeau

contributed
to
this
report.