Southwest Airlines to launch assigned seats in 2026, will partner with international airlines
- Southwest assigned seats go on sale in late 2025, take flight in early 2026.
- Carrier is pursuing international airline partnerships, starting with Icelandair.
- New Rapid Rewards perks coming, including free extra legroom seats for A-List members.
Southwest Airlines' new assigned seating model — complete with its first-ever extra-legroom seats — is set for takeoff in early 2026.
Meanwhile, big changes are in the works for Southwest's Rapid Rewards loyalty program, including new benefits for A-List and A-List Preferred elite status members and opportunities for international redemptions as the Dallas-based carrier prepares to launch partnerships with international airlines.
Together, these changes will mark perhaps the biggest commercial overhaul for Southwest in a half-century, as the carrier faces mounting concerns about its financial performance.
"We are moving urgently and efficiently to evolve and transform," CEO Bob Jordan told investors in Dallas Thursday as the company held its annual investor day.
This news comes two months after Southwest executives first unveiled plans in late July to add extra-legroom seats and ditch its trademark seating policy, a unique arrangement that's been a hallmark of the airline for the last half-century.
Both are part of a comprehensive plan by executives to boost revenue, as the airline has far trailed its larger U.S. competitors like Delta Air Lines and United Airlines in profitability since the coronavirus pandemic.
Now, as TPG reported last week, one key Southwest policy will remain in place: The carrier is not ditching its popular two "bags fly free" policy.
But big changes are around the corner across many aspects of Southwest's operation. Here's what we know about the plans.
Related: Southwest Airlines cuts 15 destinations from Atlanta, adds 6 new Nashville routes
When will Southwest assigned seating begin?
Southwest will begin selling assigned seats in late 2025.
The airline will begin flying with its assigned seating model in the first half of 2026, the carrier said Thursday.
This summer, the carrier cited exhaustive customer research in deciding to shift to a new assigned model. In July, Jordan cited survey data which found that 80% of Southwest flyers would prefer assigned seating, and that a whopping 86% of customers who don't fly Southwest preferred the model.
"Customers travel different following the pandemic," Jordan told investors Thursday. "Customer preferences have changed."
The goal, executives said, is to broaden the airline's appeal to more flyers.
"Southwest flies farther than ever, and seat assignments are a higher priority on long-haul flights," Southwest added in a broader Thursday statement summing up its overhaul plan.
Will Southwest charge for assigned seats?
Southwest passengers flying on the airline's lowest-level ticket type, Wanna Get Away, will not get complimentary seat selection. Travelers who don't pay to select a seat ahead of time will receive a seat assignment prior to departure.
Customers who select a Wanna Get Away Plus fare type (or higher) will get complimentary seat selection at booking.
The airline will also upcharge passengers on some tickets for "preferred" seats — which are standard seats situated closer to the front of the aircraft.
Southwest extra-legroom seats
Southwest's "premium" seats will offer up to five additional inches of pitch, the carrier said Thursday — though depending on the row and aircraft, the difference from standard seats may be closer to three inches. (Pitch is the distance from a fixed point on one seat to the same spot on the seat in front of it, often viewed as a proxy measurement for legroom.)
About a third of the seats on board Southwest's planes will offer the extra legroom, the airline said Thursday while noting it will maintain "a standard economy seat pitch among the best in the industry."
However, standard economy seat pitch will decrease by about an inch on some Southwest aircraft, the company revealed.
Extra-legroom seats will cost extra, but the airline will offer the seats for free as part of its reworked status perks for A-List and A-List Preferred.
New international partner
To boost interest in its Rapid Rewards loyalty program and offer more global connectivity to its frequent flyers, Southwest is now formalizing partnerships with international airlines, the carrier said Thursday.
Southwest's first partner will be Icelandair, with an initial launch of the linkup expected in 2025.
The two airlines will use Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport (BWI) as their initial joint gateway but expand their offerings next year.
The partnership will be more limited from the outset, with Icelandair selling Southwest segments through its booking channels.
However, the longer-term vision calls for a much deeper tie-up once Southwest begins assigned seats. Rapid Rewards members should be able to use Rapid Rewards points to book overseas flights, to Icelandair's home base Keflavik International Airport (KEF) in Reykjavík and beyond.
"In the not-too-distant future, our customers will be able to earn and [redeem] Rapid Rewards points to go to Rome, and go to London, and go to places in Asia," Ryan Green, Southwest's executive vice president of commercial transformation, said Thursday.
Southwest also expects to add at least one international partner next year.
The carrier is "in discussion," leaders said, with other transatlantic and transpacific airlines.
Rapid Rewards changes expected
Earning and redeeming Rapid Rewards points will remain unchanged — with no blackout dates for redemptions — even as the carrier prepares to make changes to its benefits, including the perks for elite status.
Assigned seats and premium seating will certainly play prominently into those tier benefits, leaders have said — as will the airline's new partnerships.
A-List and A-List Preferred seating benefits
As part of the changes, A-List elite status members will be able to select standard legroom seats at booking and extra-legroom seats within 48 hours of departure for no additional cost.
A-List Preferred members will be able to select all seats, including extra-legroom seats, at booking for free.
Credit card program updates
The airline also said to expect forthcoming updates to its cobranded credit card program, "including how assigned seating will make being a credit card member with Southwest even more valuable," Green told investors Thursday.
Those details are expected in early 2025.
Current credit card perks, terms and policies will remain in place in the meantime, the company said.
Related: Earn up to 85,000 points with these Southwest welcome offers: Should you apply now?
Bags will still fly free
Last week, Southwest assured TPG that no changes to its lenient policy on baggage were on the horizon and reiterated that stance Thursday.
Unlike U.S. competitors that charge for checked bags, Southwest offers all passengers two free checked bags. The airline also does not charge for a full-size carry-on bag.
Southwest executives acknowledged Thursday that they studied, in great depth, the possibility of adding some sort of paid baggage model — be it one free checked bag instead of two, or some sort of basic economy-esque model that excluded free bags in exchange for a lower price point.
Ultimately, though, leaders concluded any such move would drive customers away.
"Based on Southwest's research, the company believes that any change in the current policy ... would drive down demand and far outweigh any revenue gains," Southwest said Thursday.
Bottom line
Perhaps the biggest changes in Southwest Airlines' history are coming to the carrier over the next couple of years.
The airline will start selling assigned seats in late 2025 for flights departing during the first half of 2026. As part of the changes, the carrier will also roll out its first-ever extra legroom seats, featuring rows with three to five inches more space than standard seats.
As part of these changes, the carrier is pursuing partnerships with international carriers, beginning with Icelandair. And once Southwest fully rolls out its assigned seating model, the carrier expects customers will be able to use Rapid Rewards points to book overseas partner flights.
Altogether, Southwest executives hope these moves boost revenue, entice more passengers to fly with the carrier, and to focus their attention on its Rapid Rewards loyalty program and cobranded credit card portfolio.
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