{"id":2356482,"date":"2024-10-18T00:20:00","date_gmt":"2024-10-18T04:20:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/no-more-musical-chairs-assigned-seating-becomes-the-norm-in-planes-trains-and-movie-theaters-washington-examiner\/"},"modified":"2024-10-18T00:25:25","modified_gmt":"2024-10-18T04:25:25","slug":"no-more-musical-chairs-assigned-seating-becomes-the-norm-in-planes-trains-and-movie-theaters-washington-examiner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/no-more-musical-chairs-assigned-seating-becomes-the-norm-in-planes-trains-and-movie-theaters-washington-examiner\/","title":{"rendered":"No more musical chairs: Assigned seating becomes the norm in planes, trains, and movie theaters &#8211; Washington Examiner"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">36<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fno-more-musical-chairs-assigned-seating-becomes-the-norm-in-planes-trains-and-movie-theaters-washington-examiner%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2356482&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The article discusses Southwest Airlines&#8217; decision to adopt assigned seating\u200c for its flights, moving away from\u200c its <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/southwest-airlines-the-end-of-open-seating-freedom-3\/\" title=\"Southwest Airlines: The End of Open Seating Freedom\">long-standing <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/southwest-airlines-comes-under-criticism-for-letting-devious-passengers-exploit-boarding-system\/\" title=\"Southwest Airlines Faces Backlash Over Allowing &#039;Devious&#039; Passengers to Manipulate Boarding Process\">open seating<\/a> policy<\/a>. The\u2064 change comes in response to\u200d various \u2064operational \u200bchallenges the airline has\u200b faced, including staffing and fleet issues, which have significantly\u200b impacted its performance and led to a historic\u200b $140 million penalty from the Department of Transportation for consumer protection \u2064violations.<\/p>\n<p>The airline&#8217;s\u200b research indicated \u200ca strong preference among customers for\u200c assigned \u2064seating, with 80% of passengers favoring\u2064 it. This shift aims to improve the\u200c customer experience and operational efficiency, especially after the\u200b airline&#8217;s disastrous performance over the 2022 holiday season,\u2063 which resulted in the \u200bcancellation of\u2062 thousands \u2062of flights.<\/p>\n<p>In addition to adopting assigned \u200dseating, Southwest plans to revamp\u200b its\u200c aircraft cabins and introduce more flights, including red-eye services, as part of a broader\u2064 strategic transformation. However, the \u200bairline is currently dealing with issues related to\u200b its\u200b fleet supply, specifically delays in receiving new Boeing aircraft due to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/biden-allegedly-visiting-east-palestine\/\" title=\"Biden rumored to visit East Palestine\">ongoing safety concerns<\/a>\u2063 and production challenges with Boeing.<\/p>\n<p>The transition to assigned seating is expected to allow \u2062Southwest to explore new revenue opportunities through <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/southwest-airlines-to-implement-assigned-seating-in-a-significant-change-washington-examiner\/\" title=\"Southwest Airlines to implement assigned seating in a significant change. - Washington Examiner\">premium seating options<\/a>,\u200b much like\u2064 other modes of\u2063 transport, including \u200cAmtrak trains, which have also \u200dembraced assigned seating \u2063to enhance customer\u2064 experience. the adjustments are seen as essential \u2063for stabilizing the airline&#8217;s operations and regaining investor \u200dconfidence amid ongoing\u200c challenges.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-header-search-button-mob dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search\" aria-labelledby=\"td-header-search-button\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search-inner\">\n<form method=\"get\" class=\"tdb-search-form\" action=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\"><\/form>\n<div class=\"tdb-aj-search\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/#\" role=\"button\" aria-label=\"Search\" class=\"tdb-head-search-btn dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div class=\"tdb-sacff-txt\">Magazine &#8211; Business<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<h1 class=\"tdb-title-text\">No more musical chairs: Assigned seating becomes the norm in planes, trains, and movie theaters<\/h1>\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-title-line\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div id=\"Brid_1215175\" class=\"tpd-featured-video bridtv\"><\/div>\n<p>Over the last several years, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/dallas\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>Dallas<\/a>-based <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/southwest-airlines\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>Southwest Airlines<\/a> has been plagued with operational issues, including staffing and fleet problems. These difficulties have caused the carrier to pull out of some airports and have plummeted its bottom line. One solution Southwest is looking at to help right things financially is assigned seating.<\/p>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/air-travel\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>airline<\/a> announced on its <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/blizzard-entertainment-to-suspend-all-game-services-and-sales-in-china-starting-january-2023\/\" title=\"Blizzard Entertainment to Suspend All Game Services and Sales in China Starting January 2023\">investor relations website<\/a> that it had &ldquo;decided [to] assign seats and offer premium seating options on all flights,&rdquo; likely early next year, &ldquo;after listening carefully to Customers and conducting extensive research.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Southwest told investors in late July that it had &ldquo;conducted robust operational testing that included live and over 8 million simulation-based boarding trials&rdquo; to ensure that an assigned seating-based system will not disappoint customers or hurt &ldquo;operational efficiency.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">(AP photos)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Perhaps even more surprising, the airline had found that &ldquo;80% of Southwest Customers, and 86% of potential Customers, prefer an assigned seat.&rdquo; Thus it was abandoning its &ldquo;unique open seating model [in place] for more than 50 years.&rdquo;&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The airline is also giving many of its airplane cabins a facelift and introducing more flights at certain locations, including red-eye overnight flights. The airline announced all of this as &ldquo;the next step in a continuing strategic transformation.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Fines and bottom lines<\/h2>\n<p>Whether or not the fixes will help is all up in the air, but the difficulties the carrier is facing are well known.<\/p>\n<p>Last December, the Department of Transportation announced a $140 million penalty against the airline, a record, &ldquo;for numerous violations of consumer protection laws during and after the operational failures that canceled 16,900 flights and stranded over two million passengers over the 2022 Christmas holiday and into the New Year.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>The penalty was &ldquo;30 times larger than any previous DOT penalty for consumer protection violations&rdquo; and came &ldquo;in addition to the more than $600 million in refunds and reimbursements that DOT already ensured Southwest provided passengers who faced travel disruptions during the operational meltdown,&rdquo; the department announced in a news release.<\/p>\n<p>Normally, such fines are bargained down after they are broadcast, but Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg was facing immense pressure to put some teeth in enforcement. His department made sure Southwest agreed to pay the fine before it was announced.<\/p>\n<p>This all hammered Southwest&rsquo;s stock price and shook the confidence of investors. It stood at a high for the last five years of $63.42 on April 9, 2021, and fell to a low of $22.34 on Oct. 27, 2023, leading up to what amounted to a legal settlement with the government.<\/p>\n<p>The price has since recovered, but not fully. Southwest stocks were at $30.49 per share at press time. A decent holiday showing and next year&rsquo;s seating and flight changes could improve it further.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Boeing, Boeing, gone<\/h2>\n<p>A big problem that Southwest faces is the supply of new wings. Its fleet is all Boeing airplanes. Boeing has had problems delivering planes to airlines because of 737 Max crashes, a door flying off a plane in flight, other safety concerns, striking workers, and legal woes.<\/p>\n<p>Southwest expected more than 80 new planes from Boeing this year. So far, it has received a fraction of that order. The airline had to take the 737 Max 7 out of its plans for this year entirely because of government certification delays.<\/p>\n<p>In August, the airline pulled all operations out of four airports: in Houston; Syracuse, New York; Bellingham, Washington; and Cozumel, Mexico. It also cut 2,000 jobs this year, or about 3% of its workforce.<\/p>\n<p>The problem is not just that the airline doesn&rsquo;t have enough airplanes. It also doesn&rsquo;t have enough of the right size of planes.<\/p>\n<p>Of Southwest&rsquo;s fleet of 816 aircraft, 381 are Boeing 737-800s, according to Flight Radar 24. These are larger planes, requiring more crew and thus giving the airline less flexibility than more nimble aircraft.<\/p>\n<p>Southwest has publicly ruled out buying planes from Boeing&rsquo;s chief competitor, the European aerospace company Airbus. However, if Boeing can&rsquo;t get the &ldquo;all clear&rdquo; from U.S. regulators, the airline is either going to have to abandon more airports or explore other fleet options, including buying other airlines for the planes.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Wave of the future?<\/h2>\n<p>Abandoning its open seating model has several benefits for Southwest. It can now differentiate and upsell, charging more for window or aisle seats or more legroom, for instance. &ldquo;Status&rdquo; is a major concept that frequent airline travelers embrace, and it can be lucrative for airlines.<\/p>\n<p>Assigned seats have also become more common in other forms of transportation. Amtrak greatly expanded assigned seating in its business class cars in the Northeast in 2020.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Our assigned seating offering in&nbsp;Acela<em>&nbsp;<\/em>first class has proven to be popular, efficient, and an improvement to the customer experience, so it&rsquo;s only natural that we expand it onto more of our trains,&rdquo; Richard Anderson, then Amtrak&rsquo;s CEO and president, said at the time. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re proud to offer<em>&nbsp;<\/em>Northeast Regional<em> <\/em>business customers the same perk that&nbsp;Acela<em> <\/em>first class customers already enjoy that benefits the onboarding and traveling experience.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>And while unassigned public transportation continues to stagnate below its pre-COVID-19 levels, Uber and other rideshare services with more intimate assigned seating are surging forward.<\/p>\n<p>Sit-still things are also embracing assigned seats and in seemingly ever greater numbers. Most movie theaters, for instance, used to be &ldquo;seat yourself.&rdquo; Now most have reserved seating, at prices that would have made the previous generation&rsquo;s matineegoers wince.<\/p>\n<p>Box-office receipts have not exactly prospered. In 2019, with open seating and lower prices, theaters did $8.8 billion in movie sales. Last year, with reserved seating, they did $7.3 billion. This year, so far, the total is $6.4 billion, according to Box Office Mojo.<\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"http:\/\/washingtonexaminer.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>There remains the possibility that Southwest will not stick the landing on this new policy. It&rsquo;s also possible that this change will be overwhelmed by the company&rsquo;s other problems.<\/p>\n<p>Polling doesn&rsquo;t necessarily work the same way in business as it does in politics, where 80\/20 is a crushing victory. In business, if a firm changes things and manages to drive off 20% or even 10% of its existing user base, that becomes a serious problem for the bottom line.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p> <script data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/cdn-cgi\/scripts\/5c5dd728\/cloudflare-static\/email-decode.min.js\"><\/script><script>!function(){var g=window;g.googletag=g.googletag||{},g.googletag.cmd=g.googletag.cmd||[],g.googletag.cmd.push(function(){g.googletag.pubads().setTargeting(\"has-featured-video\",\"true\")})}();<\/script><script>var _bp=_bp||[];_bp.push({\"div\":\"Brid_1215175\",\"obj\":{\"id\":\"27789\",\"width\":\"1280\",\"height\":\"720\",\"stickyDirection\":\"below\",\"video\":\"1215175\"}});<\/script><script defer src=\"https:\/\/services.brid.tv\/player\/build\/brid.min.js\"><\/script><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Southwest Airlines faces operational issues, leading to assigned seating<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2692,"featured_media":2356486,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/Musical-Chairs-Biz-1024x433.webp","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[538],"tags":[36202,36135,36643,41302],"class_list":["post-2356482","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-washington-examiner","tag-airline-policies","tag-assigned-seating","tag-public-transportation","tag-travel-trends"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/Musical-Chairs-Biz-1024x433.webp","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2356482","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2692"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2356482"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2356482\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2356486"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2356482"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2356482"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2356482"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}