Southwest’s U-turn after 50 years: It will charge for assigned seats

The American low-cost airline Southwest, which for 50 years allowed passengers to sit in any seat they wanted, has announced its new policy that establishes a charge for assigned seats, which will imply different prices for the one chosen.

The airline will implement the measure starting in 2025. With this new policy, the airline, in addition to changing the way of boarding, would have an additional income estimated at USD 2 billion annually, according to the average Preferential.

Southwest justifies the new policy by pointing out that travelers’ preferences have changed over the years and most want to know where they will be sitting before arriving at the airport.

The airline will also offer a portion of its premium cabin with more legroom and expects about a third of seats across the fleet to offer more legroom.

Southwest will also soon be operating night Flights, known as “red eye Flights,” which will allow it to make better use of its aircraft, according to the same source.

As reported by REPORTUR.cothe Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has begun an investigation into an escalation of incidents during Southwest Airlines landings and takeoffs, with risks for passengers and crew, as well as for the population near airports. (Southwest, investigated for a series of incidents at several airports).

One case involves a July 14 Flight that landed in Tampa on a very low approach, just 150 feet off the ground while 4.8 miles from the runway, when the air traffic controller alerted the pilot, the FAA said, while other aircraft were flying at 1,200 feet at the same point according to information from Flightradar24.