Southwest’s assigned seating crackdown sparking passenger backlash on half-empty flights

Southwest’s shift from open seating to assigned seats is building a powder keg as passengers are being told to stay put, even when dozens of seats and whole rows are empty, reports View from the Wing . The change comes as Southwest pivots from its open-seating policy.

In recent accounts circulating online, customers say flight attendants have blocked moves that many flyers consider harmless, such as sliding from a middle seat into an empty window seat in the same row, relocating to an open row, or using an adjacent open seat to help manage a lap infant. One widely shared incident describes a flight attendant sharply reprimanding a passenger who moved to an empty row: “Sir, you cannot move like that.”

Another report says a parent was kept separated from children, while a stranger remained seated beside them, because switching was not allowed. A separate thread alleges passengers were clustered into a few rows on a roughly 25 percent full flight, with limited permission to reseat only after crew consulted the captain.

By contrast, Delta explicitly allows same-cabin seat changes at flight attendant discretion, emphasizing operational and safety considerations.