Gadling

I’ve got some more Southwest Airlines news for you: Today CEO Gary Kelly announced his company’s decision to continue their open-seating boarding policy, but he failed to mention they will also ditch pre-boarding for families.

“Beginning Oct. 2, people traveling with small children will no longer be allowed to pre-board Southwest Airlines flights,” reports World Hum. “It’s all in the name of fairness, the airline says.”

There’s been no mention of this on the official Southwest Airlines blog, but one commenter responds negatively in a seperate thread: “I just heard on cnbc that families and adults with children will not be allowed to board 1st. If this is true, I have officially flown with southwest for the last time.”

I don’t have kids, so it doesn’t really affect me… but I can’t imagine why people would complain about families with children being able to board before the rest of the group. Maybe these are the same people who pick fights with 5-year-old kids? I’m not sure.

So, folks with kids: is this a deal-breaker?

Update: As many of our readers have pointed out, Southwest didn’t completely get rid of pre-boarding — but they did move it. With the new system, families with at least one child under 4-years-old who do not have an “A” boarding pass will be allowed to board in between the “A” and “B” groups. Which basically means that all families with small children will automatically have an “A” boarding pass. So technically they did get rid of pre-boarding, but they’re still accommodating families by allowing them to board before of 66% of the passengers on a full flight (when it really matters).

Our sister blog, ParentDish, has their own take on the situation. Click here to read what they have to say.

“To assign, or not to assign,” the Southwest Airlines blog reads. “That is the question.”

I’ve always been a fan of Southwest for two reasons: they’re generally cheaper than other carriers in my neck of the woods, and I enjoy the open seating and boarding process. Why? Because it rewards those that make an effort to get a good seat instead of randomly assigning them. Why should Joe Blow get the emergency exit row? He showed up at the airport late, held up the security line with his 18-hole boots, and made it to the gate in a breathless, mad dash. With Southwest, because I’m dedicated (read: anal) to being a part of the elite “A” group, I’m rewarded with the first pick of seats. I like that.

I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a little worried as I read Southwest Airline’s blog post this morning stating they had reached a decision. Would they adopt the standard assigned-seating boarding process? Would they do away with open seating? The tension was building.

“Southwest has decided to keep open seating, but to adopt a new and improved boarding process,” writes Gary Kelly, Southwest Airlines CEO. [We wrote about the improved boarding process here.] “These decisions were based on the input we got from you, our Customers, through this blog, written correspondence, and surveys taken during the tests. While a substantial majority of our Customers prefer the ability to select their own seats onboard the aircraft, many of those folks have told us they don’t like our existing boarding procedure that sometimes has Customers doing everything possible to be at the front of their boarding group.”

This is perfect. No longer do you have the line sitters (okay fine, I admit it — I was one of them), the people who cut in line (never did that, of course), or the people who stand in the “B” line even though they have a “C” boarding pass, hoping the ticket agent will say, “Oh, sorry you have a ‘C’ boarding pass… but that’s okay, come on through!” Thankfully every time I saw this happened, the agent kindly sent them to the line they belonged in.

Anyway, good job Southwest. To read the details of the new boarding process, visit the Southwest Airlines blog.

Southwest Airlines is testing a modified method of their popular A-B-C group-based boarding technique in San Antonio, Texas. From the Southwest blog:

“Here’s how it works: you check in and get your boarding pass, just like today, but now it has a position on it. That position is your spot in line! We’re holding a place for you in line so you don’t have to camp out for boarding.”

When I fly Southwest (which is often) I’m always, always in front of the computer precisely 24-hours before my departure so that I can print out an “A” boarding pass. Then one day on a flight to Las Vegas I chatted up the guy in line next to me and he asked me what number I was. What number? I didn’t even know there was a number. Sure enough, right below the big “A” there was a number. I had A2. He had A1. From that point on, I became even more obsessed; I needed to get that A1 no matter what — even though it didn’t mean squat. I liked looking around the crowded plane and knowing that I was the first person to print their boarding pass. I’m a dork like that.

Now Southwest will actually be using that number (along with A, B, or C) to queue passengers. No more camping out at the gate’s A line. No more elbow throwing. If the testing goes good in ole’ San Antone, soon I’ll be rewarded for my obsession — everyone will know who number one is.

Related: Print Your Southwest Airlines Boarding Pass Without a Printer

Update: Luxist writer Trey Evans had a chance to experience the new boarding procedure on a flight from San Antonio to Houston Hobby, and here’s what he had to say: “…the big deal here is that they’ve doubled the size of the ‘A’ group and done away with the C group completely, and that families with small kids get boarded between ‘A’ and ‘B’ groups. It worked well on my flight, but it wasn’t a crowded flight and there were only 50 or so people trying to board.” Thanks, Trey!