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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowSouthwest Airlines will soon require travelers who don’t fit within the armrests of their seat to pay for an extra one in advance, part of a string of recent changes the carrier is making.
The new rule goes into effect Jan. 27, the same day Southwest starts assigning seats.
Currently, plus-size passengers can either pay for an extra seat in advance with the option of getting that money back later, or they can request a free extra seat at the airport. Under the carrier’s new policy, a refund is still possible but no longer guaranteed.
In a statement Monday, Southwest said it is updating some of its policies as it prepares for assigned seating next year.
“To ensure space, we are communicating to customers who have previously used the extra seat policy that they should purchase it at booking,” the statement said.
It marks the latest change at Southwest, which had long been known for letting its passengers pick their own seats after boarding the plane, and for letting their bags fly for free, which ended in May. Those perks were key to differentiating the budget carrier from its rivals.
Southwest says it will still refund a second ticket under its new policy for extra seating if the flight isn’t fully booked at the time of departure, and if both of the passenger’s tickets were purchased in the same booking class. The passenger also needs to request the refund within 90 days of the flight.
If a passenger who needs an extra seat doesn’t purchase one ahead of time, they will be required to buy one at the airport, according to the new policy. If the flight is full, the passenger will be rebooked onto a new flight.
Jason Vaughn, an Orlando-based travel agent who posts theme park reviews and travel tips for plus-size people on social media and his website, Fat Travel Tested, said the change will likely impact travelers of all sizes. Southwest’s current policy helped create a more comfortable flying experience for plus-size travelers, he said, while also ensuring all passengers have adequate space in their seats.
“I think it’s going to make the flying experience worse for everybody,” he said of the new rule.
Vaughn described the change as yet another letdown for Southwest loyalists like himself, likening it to Cracker Barrel’s recent logo change that has angered some of the restaurant’s fans.
“They have no idea anymore who their customer is,” he said of the airline. “They have no identity left.”
The airline has struggled recently and is under pressure from activist investors to boost profits and revenue. It also said last year that it would charge customers extra for more legroom and offer red-eye flights.
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I read the article, and I believe I understand the policy and the change, but I’m not understanding the grievance. What is it about this change that is considered upsetting, or how does the policy make Southwest “worse for everybody” as stated?
Because they are “journalists” and will always find their way to the wrong side of any issue
but the author of that comment was not a “journalist.” He is a travel agent with a social media account.
It’s upsetting to those of “excess girth” because they will now have to pay their way, and not impose their physical bulk on those in the next seat. They’ll have to pay for occupying two seats.
Normally these “oversized” passengers just allow their girth to flop over into the seat of the person next to them. None of them have ever offered to pay for the portion of the adjacent person’s seat they are using, while the person next to them has to sit sideways the entire flight. You want to be large, that’s your choice…and choices must be paid for.
The problem is airlines have installed minus-sized seating for corporate greed appeasement reasons .flying once was a pleasant experience . Now it is more like livestock transportation .
Charles B. if you can’t fit in a standard airline seat then that is a YOU problem.
There is a difference between fitting in a seat and being comfortable in a seat . The “standard seat size has been downgraded from what it was before passengers were considered a commodity .
so Charles B., adapt. I’m 6’3″ and weigh around 200lbs. If the flight is under 2 hours, I book steerage/main cabin, and deal with it while hoping for a free upgrade. It the flight is 2 hours or longer, I book the next class up (Comfort or Business Class or whatever the airline calls it). I find the seat issue far less detracting from the flight experience than those who insist on carrying their luggage on to save $25, or because they are important and need to not use baggage claim. Which causes me to not be able to place my computer bag into the overhead, and so it decreases the space allotted.
If you know you will not fit in a standard sized seat, i.e too large, then either purchase the adjoining seat or upgrade to Business or First Class with larger seating. I do not like “sharing” with an oversized person who intrudes into my seat and makes me accomodate them.
It’s not just “fat” passengers that are likely to be affected by this policy change, but also passengers with certain physical disabilities. Consider someone, like myself, who has severe scoliosis, to the extent that, depending on the side of the plane I’m sitting on, puts my head just into the aisle way or just into the seat next to mine. Or consider someone with muscular atrophy who, after turbulence, might flop one way or the other. I always travel with a companion who sits next to me and doesn’t mind my presence in their space. But if other passengers with disabilities cannot afford the extra seat and are using space beyond the bounds of their seat, one would think the extra seat should be covered by the airline – even if the plane is full – as a reasonable accommodation under the Air Carrier Access Act.