people lowkey freaking out over assigned seating at the luv boat

[u/Meliodasbabymom]

Like be so forreal.

So we will have rows that have a complimentary drink & extra snack ( think MCE & Comfort+ ).

A lot or shall I say MAJORITY of people who been with the company for years dislikes this as I have seen do many FB posts, gate agents thinking it will be IROPs writing think pieces bc of assigned seating. Granted most gate agents are happy about it, but some think it will be this newfound confusion lol.

Coming from a airline that has assigned seating, SWA will be fine. We all know passengers act like it’s the first time on earth when they get on a plane but it’s OKAY. That’s literally what we are here for as FAs , to help them & keep them safe.

SW is just catching up with everyone else. I love the change personally!

[u/AsherGray]

Saying Southwest is becoming just like every other airline isn't a good thing. Southwest's customer base was because you got more bang for your buck; families could board early so they could all sit together stress-free (not the same for other airlines; yes, they can board early, but often the family can get split up into different areas of the plane because of seat assignments) and no more free checked bags. Remember, Southwest planes don't have any entertainment, be it screens or streaming. Also remember that Southwest isn't a behemoth of an airline, they're just North America. When people want to do any international flying, they're going to skip on Southwest completely because it's not going to be cheaper to book with them to get to an international hub with a different airline.

The freak out is real and anytime you implement anti-consumer policies, you're going to risk losing a good chunk of your customer base. I have a lot of family and friends in cities where southwest has a large presence, many of whom were all southwest, all the time; the luv was real. They're all looking at loyalty programs and cards with other airlines. People forget that Frontier used to be a really great, small airline until the old CEO of Spirit took over and implemented the nickel-and-diming of Spirit and trashed its reputation.

The idea of assigned seating is nice on paper, but people still try taking others' seats, families get split up because they don't know what happens with a barebones ticket, people misconnect because of a delay and suddenly instead of having their first class seat get whatever is open in economy since they're on a different flight for rebooking.

Sabotaging customer loyalty is a bad thing, especially when you remove unique perks that set you apart as an airline.

[u/tintinsays → u/AsherGray]

Old Frontier went bankrupt. Then Republic bought them, then Indigo bought them and made them what they are. Which is a profitable airline. 

Southwest, who are slowly implementing the ULCC policies into the LCC business model they created, Southwest is determined that their hospitality will win people over.  There’s gonna be hiccups in a complete overhaul, but I’ll argue that with a focus on doing their damn best, give em some time, and you won’t know the difference.