Southwest Airlines suggests that he could abandon unremitted seats
The CEO of the carrier said they "currently envisage new initiatives".
I love or hate Southwest Airlines “The seats policy certainly highlights it from the pack. The carrier has a single boarding process and does not attribute passenger seats, which means that you can choose yours once you are on board. But certain recent challenges for the airline now have the CEO acknowledging that there could be changes in store - and the unrelated seats that have come to define the South West could soon be something in the past.
In relation: Travelers boycott the Southwest for a new change of boarding .
When Southwest released her Financial results of the first quarter For financial year 2024, it has become clear that the carrier has financially difficult. The airline said a net loss of $ 231 million for the quarter.
In a declaration accompanying the exit, the CEO of Southwest Bob Jordan Called the "disappointing" loss and revealed that the company is working to explore options to reverse its financial setback.
"We focus on controlling what we can control and have already taken rapid measures to meet our financial underperformance and adjust the revised expectations of the aircraft delivery," he said.
During Interview with CNBC On April 25, Jordan hinted that a possible option could be a modification of its arrangement of undertaken seats.
"We are examining new initiatives, things like the way we sat down and aboard our plane," he said.
Jordan also discussed the future potential change in a call with investors The same day, explaining that the leaders "study very seriously" its seats process and how passengers on board southwest planes, by The Washington Post .
"It has been several years since we have studied in detail, and the preferences and expectations of customers change over time," he said during the call. "We also study the financial operations and benefits of any potential change."
In relation: Southwest Airlines cut flights to 4 airports on Boeing Problems .
Southwest has not yet made concrete decisions on the seats or the boarding. Company representatives said they are currently studying customer preferences for seats and how they could change, The Washington Post reported. As the company explained, its open seat system was implemented when the airlines did not see as much request and had fewer complete planes.
"There is no decision, there is nothing to report that we are seriously examining this," said Jordan during the appeal. "But the first indications for both customers and southwest seem damn interesting."
But the fact that nothing has been decided did not prevent travelers from weighing with their thoughts, many hoping that the South West does not give up seats without allocation.
"If the Southwest gets rid of its open seats policy, then they will lose what makes the Southwest different from other large airlines," wrote a person in a April 26 x post , with the hashtag #keepeopeneating. AE0FCC31AE342FD3A1346EBB1F342FCB
Another user Make a post Directed on the Southwest official account, "please don't change seats open to the attributed seats. We don't want that!"
At the same time, however, Henry Harteveldt , travel analyst and president of the atmosphere research group, said The Washington Post His research has shown one of the reasons why many people avoid The southwest is due to the fact that the carrier does not attribute seats.
He said he thought that the airline could make "a huge amount of money" by abandoning its current boarding and seats.
"I think that could be an incredibly positive thing for the airline, but I recognize that the Southwest has a history of more than 50 years to be egalitarian, to have open seats and to be different from other companies air, "said Harteveld.