Southwest’s assigned seating crackdown sparking passenger backlash on half-empty flights

Southwest’s shift from open seating to assigned seats is building a powder keg as passengers are being told to stay put, even when dozens of seats and whole rows are empty, reports View from the Wing. The change comes as Southwest pivots from its open-seating policy.

In recent accounts circulating online, customers say flight attendants have blocked moves that many flyers consider harmless, such as sliding from a middle seat into an empty window seat in the same row, relocating to an open row, or using an adjacent open seat to help manage a lap infant. One widely shared incident describes a flight attendant sharply reprimanding a passenger who moved to an empty row: “Sir, you cannot move like that.”

Another report says a parent was kept separated from children, while a stranger remained seated beside them, because switching was not allowed. A separate thread alleges passengers were clustered into a few rows on a roughly 25 percent full flight, with limited permission to reseat only after crew consulted the captain.

By contrast, Delta explicitly allows same-cabin seat changes at flight attendant discretion, emphasizing operational and safety considerations.