Southwest Rumor Mill is ramping up

[obsesseddisneyfan]

This is maybe a bit off topic, but I guess I wonder how they (or any airline) or going to be able to enforce this in a way that is fair to solo travelers and adults.

Maybe you could do something like, with each adult seat purchased (at a premium), one adjoining seat is allowed at no charge. But, even with that....they don't want to buy the seats. That's why there are issues now. Parents don't want to buy the seats in advance, and they just hope it works itself out on the plane. I don't think that would change.

They could do something like maybe the last 1/3 of the plane is family seating. And they can choose seats from there at no charge, and if they want better seats, they have to pay for it, just like everyone else. But...for destinations like Orlando, 1/3 of the plane won't be enough capacity for families.

I guess it just depends how strict this requirement is. I wonder if it will just be that airlines have to make fair attempts to seat families together via their policies and booking/boarding processes. Or if it's so strict that 100% across the board, for example....if a family chooses not to pre-pay for seats and just waits till check in to take what they can get....are airlines going to be required to displace passengers in order to seat them together?

Yes airlines are supposed to sit a parent can sit with their young child 13 and under . The whole family does not need to sit together nor are older kids required to be by a parent. At this time they don't have to displace others who have paid for their seats. It is an unfair charge based on family status. However airlines have had so many complaints on not volentry following this ask that a rule with fines is supposed (currently there are lawsuits) to go into effect.

We don't pay for seat assignment and usually get seats in the back of the plane with all of the other families with young kids. We have not been separated from our kids in the last 3 years and have been on over 10 flights with them. On many airlines.

https://www.transportation.gov/airconsumer/airline-family-seating-dashboard


That is why I think they are going away with paying for seat assignments and having people pick there seats when they book. I know airlines started adding that fee to make a bit more money without raising the cost. However it has caused them a lot of headache. They did this to them selves.

 

[reddog21]

I don’t think they’ll eliminate free bags at this point, people love that perk so much and they will have enough of an uphill battle with whatever seating changes they implement.

Did we forget that every airline used to offer free checked luggage and how did that go?

 

[focusondisney]

That is why I think they are going away with paying for seat assignments and having people pick there seats when they book. I know airlines started adding that fee to make a bit more money without raising the cost. However it has caused them a lot of headache. They did this to them selves.

They may not specifically charge for selecting your seat. But there’s nothing to stop them from just raising all fares $25-50. So families (& everyone else) will pay anyway. There’s no way they’ll give up that revenue.

 

[Three cats]

I’d be happy if they start allowing seat assignments. We don’t fly Southwest now for this very reason.

 

[sam_gordon]

It is an unfair charge based on family status.

And it IS fair to all of the other passengers who want to sit with their companions?

 

[mrsstats79]

I will be happy to pay for assigned seating.

 

[obsesseddisneyfan]

And it IS fair to all of the other passengers who want to sit with their companions?

I don't think it is. I really hope they go back to picking your seat when you book. Charge more for some seats. But at the very least they will start to book the kids with at least one parent. As someone who's kids are getting older I really don't care if they sit by me anymore. However it was a pain when they were little.

 

[dioxide45]

Wonder how they will handle preboarding?

Pre board won't be an issue with assigned seats. The number of pre board passengers on flights that don't really need pre board will drop drastically. You don't see these huge lines of wheelchairs on other airlines. Preboarding still happens for those in wheelchairs on airlines that have assigned seating.

 

[dioxide45]

I can understand your frustration but please don't judge others that you don't know. When our kids were little, my parents traveled with and without us for many years. Early on, they were very able to walk through the airport and to the gate. As time went on, they both developed severe heart & lung diseases and multiple cancers, then getting to the gate might as well be climing a mountain. It wasn't so bad when we were with them and the only help they needed was to have us pull their luggage from the conveyor and put it on a cart. Once they started traveling without us (when our kids were too old to miss school) they were at the mercy of getting assistance from airport staff. By then, they were able to walk short distances in their single level home but walking thousands of feet through an airport was impossible.
It's been 5 years since my mom passed away and my dad hasn't traveled since then, but I'm glad that they were able to take several more trips together because of the assistance of airport/airline employees.

The way I see if there should be two levels of wheel chair service. If you just need assistance for long distance to the gate. They can push you to the gate and let you board the plane with the rest of the fliers. If you need to be pushed to the plane door then you can remain in the chair until you board. If you can stand up to walk down the jet bridge then you probably don't need to preboard. The problem is with the whole unassigned seats and people really using wheelchair pre board to get on the plane first.

I would actually be okay with assigned seating on Southwest. We do preboard, but don't usually sit in the first few rows. Our seats could be in the back. Assigned seats would also help with issues regarding their COS policy.

 

[LoveToDisney]

Without assigned seats, I wish the “family boarding” was only for back of plane. If the families want to sit together farther to the front, they need to buy EBCI. I think that would eliminate the rush for family boarding. Right now, C families are getting priority over the Bs that have bought EBCI which is not right.

 

[jo-jo]

The way I see if there should be two levels of wheel chair service. If you just need assistance for long distance to the gate. They can push you to the gate and let you board the plane with the rest of the fliers. If you need to be pushed to the plane door then you can remain in the chair until you board. If you can stand up to walk down the jet bridge then you probably don't need to preboard. The problem is with the whole unassigned seats and people really using wheelchair pre board to get on the plane first.

My DH uses a rollator all the time but at disney where he uses an EVC. He does get wheelchair help and does preboard. He could slowly walk down the ramp with his rollator. Slowly is the key. He has balance issues on top of knee issues. He would have issues walking up the ramp.

I wonder if SW had a rule of first on, last off, if that would cut down on the number of wheelchairs preboarding. We tend to wait since I have to wait for DH's rollator to get unloaded anyway.

 

[dreamer17555]

The first on last off rule for medical preboarding could be considered discrimination and run against ADA. There is a reason they don’t do it.

 

[jo-jo]

The first on last off rule for medical preboarding could be considered discrimination and run against ADA. There is a reason they don’t do it.

That's true. I was thinking of people saying , 10 people need to preboard, 4 people jump up and run off the plane.

 

[dreamer17555]

That's true. I was thinking of people saying , 10 people need to preboard, 4 people jump up and run off the plane.

My son is autistic and trust me you want him to preboard and get his rituals out of the way so he isn't disruptive the entire flight and you also want him off that plane ASAP at the end so he also isn't disruptive. We preboard on all flights- not just SW. We have had times where we had plans to fly but at the airport he melted down so bad we ended up driving last minute.

 

[dioxide45]

The first on last off rule for medical preboarding could be considered discrimination and run against ADA. There is a reason they don’t do it.

I think it is just a hard policy to police. Not something FAs want to be getting involved with.

 

[kristenrice]

If the law is enacted that "requires" children under a certain age to be seated with their adult companion, what is to stop people from buying a first-class seat for the adult and a basic economy ticket for the child? There is probably not going to be an empty FC seat to move the child into, and there's no way they are going to forcibly move an adult who paid for the FC ticket back into a random main cabin (probably middle) seat. (Disclaimer: My children are adults and I don't fly first class so I don't have a horse in this race...just randomly inquiring)

 

[focusondisney]

I don't think it is. I really hope they go back to picking your seat when you book. Charge more for some seats. But at the very least they will start to book the kids with at least one parent. As someone who's kids are getting older I really don't care if they sit by me anymore. However it was a pain when they were little.

Except SW never had you pick seats when you book, so there is no “going back” to that. They always had open seating. If that business model doesn’t work for your travel party….don’t book SW. Easy peasy.

 

[focusondisney]

If the law is enacted that "requires" children under a certain age to be seated with their adult companion, what is to stop people from buying a first-class seat for the adult and a basic economy ticket for the child? There is probably not going to be an empty FC seat to move the child into, and there's no way they are going to forcibly move an adult who paid for the FC ticket back into a random main cabin (probably middle) seat. (Disclaimer: My children are adults and I don't fly first class so I don't have a horse in this race...just randomly inquiring)

IDK, but I would assume you would have to book the same cabin class for the adult & the child. I don’t think they can make the airline give away a premium seat like that. They just wouldn’t be able to charge that fee to pick the child’s seat assignment.

 

[TwoMisfits]

If the law is enacted that "requires" children under a certain age to be seated with their adult companion, what is to stop people from buying a first-class seat for the adult and a basic economy ticket for the child? There is probably not going to be an empty FC seat to move the child into, and there's no way they are going to forcibly move an adult who paid for the FC ticket back into a random main cabin (probably middle) seat. (Disclaimer: My children are adults and I don't fly first class so I don't have a horse in this race...just randomly inquiring)

The ticket AI - you have to buy a child ticket with an adult (no "solo" child tickets allowed)...and the child ticket will only be allowed in X places once the adult ticket has found its seat.

It's an easy thing to make your online ticketing platform manage this...

 

[Simba's Mom]

If you had a seat assignment from when you bought your ticket, would you still have to do the check in the day beforehand? And more important, you now can change your flight if the fare goes down-so how would that work if you had an assigned seat already? Or am I "overthinking", as my former boss used to accuse me of?