Everyone Hates Southwest’s New Seat And Boarding Rules

Southwest was once the beloved airline of average Americans, but those days might be over after the Dallas-based company used its 30 seconds of Super Bowl fame on Sunday night to mock its customers and their affinity for open seating.

The “Boarding Royale” advertisement begins with clips of passengers clamoring through clumps of trees to get their caboose in their airplane seat of choice, which are laid out in rows in a random field. One couple hurdles a log as they lament the Group C boarding status they received after allegedly checking in “a minute late.” A screaming woman with a satchel swings by on a vine while another woman dragging her luggage across the forest floor insists she “can’t have a middle seat.”

Moments later, viewers see a family with a stroller and suitcases yell their desire to “sit together” as a grandma shoves a young man so that he falls onto his neck pillow. Another man situated on a row with an empty seat uses his very own Wilson/Weekend at Bernie’s-inspired prop to scare away anyone who tries to slither into the chair next to him.

“That was wild,” the onscreen text states before cutting to a clip of the log-hurdling couple sighing as they slowly sink into assigned seats they may have paid an extra $66 to secure.

The only way to describe most of the 30 second scene is chaos. Yet the “pandemonium” Southwest’s so-called “self-aware” depiction of its longstanding open seating policy has nothing on customers’ reports of the bedlam and befuddlement caused by its new assigned seating regime.

Tough LUV

The pay to park it policy has only been in effect less than two weeks, but the report card so far is not looking good. Complaints that the previously smooth boarding process is now disorderly, dysfunctional, inefficient, and prolonged to the point of delaying departure as passengers scramble to find the seats they paid for quickly rolled in.

If Southwest’s perception of its previous boarding process was jungle-esque, its new “enhancements” appear to have turned flights into a complete zoo. Families who were once honored by Southwest with their own boarding group are now subject to separation policies that force parents to pay extra to sit next to their underage children or risk getting booted to a later flight.

The airline’s decision to ditch its popular “bags fly free” policy and start charging for checked luggage in May 2025 seems to have only made things worse. The inevitable influx of carry-ons paired with the new boarding system means passengers desperate to avoid paying yet another fee are cramming their luggage separately from where they sit and then forcing their way through the throngs of people deplaning to retrieve their precious cargo later.

“There’s simply no reason to fly Southwest anymore. You don’t have the lowest fares. Miles and status don’t matter because of how badly you dorked up boarding. And the service quality has gone waaaaay down, with fun and cheery flight attendants being replaced by nasty, bossy cranks with bad attitudes,” Federalist CEO Sean Davis wrote on X.

His frustration appeared to resound with hundreds of commenters who reported similar disappointment in Southwest’s pivot away from its simple, flexible, and affordable branding. Even corporate media such as the Wall Street Journal and New York Times printed stories more than hinting that people miss the charm and convenience Southwest policies brought to sky travel.

The Southwest price and loyalty perks that once rewarded LUV loyalists have also been replaced with a scramble to pay premiums for a chance at privileges such as earlier boarding and extra leg room. As a result, Southwest exclusive customers, such as A-Listers, who once refused to fly with anyone but the “wanna get away?” airline are threatening to look elsewhere for their sky travel. In fact, just one or two flights into the “seatisfaction” guarantee and some passengers have already committed to changing their preferred airline for good.

CEO Bob Jones insists that Southwest is “now offering things that the vast majority of people want” and that the beloved airline of so many Americans has “seen no defection from the brand.” That was of course after his company tried to gentle parent customers like me out of disgruntlement over the airline’s flip flop on bag fees, Southwest’s “fatties fly free” policy, its embrace of wokeism, and now assigned seating.

Southwest used to be special. Its newfound disdain for the unique policies that captured the hearts of so many passengers, however, leaves a bad taste in the mouths of the people who cared enough to stay their customers for decades. Even if the airline sorts out the slew of problems caused by its new seating and baggage policies and manages to boost profits, Southwest’s number one priority as of late, its reputation among the Americans who have loved the brand through other turbulence is at risk.

Jordan Boyd is an award-winning staff writer at The Federalist and producer of “The Federalist Radio Hour.” Her work has also been featured in The Daily Wire, Fox News, and RealClearPolitics. Jordan graduated from Baylor University where she majored in political science and minored in journalism. Follow her on X @jordanboydtx.