Friends,

I flew Southwest this past Friday and am working on full review — it was a great flight.

It also reminded me why I’ve long appreciated the airline’s historic simplicity: ruthless efficiency, one type of airplane, and no frills. Just get on the plane, pick any open seat, and go (with generally friendly service and a safe, reliable operation).

But today, Southwest announced day zero for assigned seats will be January 27, 2026. Boarding groups A, B, and C’s era is coming to pass.

I literally cannot wait to fly on a Southwest flight with assigned seats — and I know I am not alone in that sentiment.

There’s something refreshing about knowing exactly where you’re sitting, especially for families, business travelers, or anyone who doesn’t want to play the T–24 check-in game. And the current boarding process — while efficient in theory — can feel chaotic in practice. A bit of structure can go a long way.

But here’s where I’m torn: this kind of shift, while welcome, risks stealing Southwest’s focus. Or maybe it is long gone?

The simplicity that made the airline lovable (and profitable) for decades doesn’t scale easily when you start layering complexity. The obvious rebut is that scale necessitates complexity. But look at Ryanair — a carrier whose product discipline borders on dogma. Their success hasn’t come from bells and whistles; it’s come from clarity. And they’ve sustained it to massive scale.

I don’t know that Southwest has that kind of clarity right now. And I’m not sold on the competency of their current leadership team to navigate this next chapter.

Assigned seats? That’s not implicitly a distraction. It stands to be a great product evolution. And the way they are rolling it out as a function of overall tone and messaging is good.

But this all does require a bigger vision — and quality execution that’s a function of focus— to get it right.

So yes, I’m in favor of the change and (obviously) watching closely. Because simplicity, once lost, is hard to win back.

We’ll see.

Fly well.

NEWS

Southwest will start assigning seats in January.

Jeju Air crash: did pilots shut down wrong engine after bird strike?

Delta Connection crew makes evasive maneuver to avoid a B-52 in Minot.

New EU entry & exit system begins in October.

This is innovative and amazing: way to go, American.

Alaska is flying again after an IT outage canceled over 200 flights.

Authenticity over aesthetics: pushback against “Instagram-washing” in travel.