The Radio this morning said Southwest was exploring assigned seating in the futre. This is a open request to all Southwest executives to just say NO to assigned seating. It is a long term bad idea that will hurt the future of the airline.
One of the things that separates Southwest from all of the other airlines is the ability of the passenger to choose their own seat. For those who want first on privileges, they can pay more. If you are the last on the plane (and I have been on occasion) I still get to where I am going. Imposing assigned seating will add aggrivation prior to the flight and reminder of that aggrivation when boarding.
Southwest is different because there are not fees for everything. for bags, for certain seats, for food. This streamlined process makes the airline far more attractive to the vacation traveler and for business travelers who appriate a process that does not require extra steps for every little thing. Seeing a map of seats that are taken and the extra fees needed to pay for certain seats annoys the flyer who just wants to get where they are going without all the fees for everything.
Right now Southwest is a haven for those who don't want to deal with what is standard for other airlines. Stay classy and true to your corporate identity.
