A business trip to Las Vegas this week on Southwest Airlines gave me one more chance to experience the cattle call open-seating approach just hours before the new assigned seating scheme went into effect. I can’t say that I’ll miss it…

One Last Cattle Call: My Final Flight With Southwest Open Seating

As further proof that I am a free agent this year, when work took me from Southern California to Las Vegas for a meeting earlier this week, I booked Southwest Airlines on the way out and JSX on the way back. I would have booked JSX round-trip (it was about the same cost…) or even Spirit, but I needed an early flight to Las Vegas and Southwest was the only option out of Burbank (BUR).

As I have for the last 20+ years when I’ve flown Southwest, I dutifully checked in right at the 24-hour check-in window in order to get an “A” boarding group  (I could not justify paying extra for A 1-15 priority boarding). I landed with A45…good enough.

I showed up at the boarding gate just as boarding was commencing and had to try to approximate where to insert myself. (Southwest sections off each boarding group with signs designating groups of 10 passengers; for example, A 1-10, 11-20, 21-30, etc). I got in line and noticed I was just after A46 but A43 and 44 were behind me…great.

Burbank Hollywood Airport is a small Southern California Airport that proudly has avoided jetbridges for 95 years. Southwest boards via airstairs from both the front and the back in Burbank.

I elected to use the rear stairs and plopped down in a window seat near the back of the aircraft. The flight was lightly filled: everyone who wanted their own row had one, making me all the more glad I had not paid extra for priority boarding.

Our aging 737-700 had no in-seat power or functional Wi-Fi, but it was a 45-minute flight and I had the row to myself…it could have been worse.

Assigned Seating Is Coming In 2026

Assigned seating will not begin until January 27, 2026, but since July 29, 2025, passengers can purchase tickets for flights with assigned seating. The “cattle call” era is coming to an end and while I don’t think Southwest’s tinkering with its business model will ultimately help its bottom line, I must admit I just don’t like the open seating.

The rush to check in and line up to board is such a Southwest thing…but it encourages wheelchair abusers and just feels undignified. I’m hoping that Southwest conducted sufficient market research to determine that the lack of assigned seating turns many passengers off and that this change may attract some passengers who would not otherwise have considered Southwest.

CONCLUSION

I had what will probably be my last Southwest Airlines open-seating “cattle call” experience this week. I can’t say that I’ll miss it, though it’s the sort of thing that has always been a staple of Souhwest…assigned seating just doesn’ feel like flying Southwest!