Southwest Airlines plans to start assigning seats, breaking with a 50-year tradition Boston 25 News [Video]

DALLAS — (AP) — Goodbye, cattle call.

Southwest Airlines said Thursday that it plans to drop the open-boarding system it has used for more than 50 years and will start assigning passengers to seats, just like all the other big airlines.

The airline said it has been studying seating options, running tests and surveying customers. Southwest discovered that preferences have changed over the years and the vast majority of travelers now want to know where they are sitting before they get to the airport.

Southwest’s unusual boarding process started as a fast way to load passengers and limit the time that planes and crews spend sitting idly on the ground, not making money. It helped the airline operate more efficiently and even squeeze a few more flights into the daily schedule.

It was one reason that Southwest alone among U.S. airlines remained profitable every year until the coronavirus pandemic.

Here’s how it works: Instead of being assigned a seat when they buy …