Southwest Airlines is known for the games people play to secure the best seats, because the airline doesn’t assign seats – it’s first-board, first-served. That’s changing next year, and it’ll throw a crimp not just in passenger shenanigans angling for extra space, but flight attendants doing the same thing too.
Currently, passengers go to some extreme lengths to keep anyone from sitting next to them on a flight which isn’t full – or buying early boarding for one passenger and having them save seats for an entire family rather than spending the money for everyone to board first.
For instance, here’s a woman who lays out bags of donuts on a row of seats she isn’t even sitting in to reserve the seats for her travel companions who haven’t gotten on the plane yet.
Woman saving an entire row of plane seats behind her with donut bags.
byu/Hog_Fan inmildlyinfuriating
There are classic techniques like crumpling up tissues on the seat next to you, spreading out onto that seat, or just being intentionally creepy so no one wants to sit down.
@mikewdavis How to keep seats open next to you on a flight 😂
You might also offer the passenger thinking of sitting down beside you hard boiled eggs out of a plastic bag?
How to keep a middle seat empty on a flight! @SouthwestAir pic.twitter.com/wYY4l4ovnf
— Craig Muni (@CraigMuni) May 14, 2023
Southwest Airlines is adding extra legroom seats, and that will come at the expense of legroom in the rest of coach on many planes. Once they do that they need to assign seats – or else people would just grab the extra legroom seats for free.
And this is a bummer not just for passengers trying to get more or better space than they’ve paid for, but also flight attendants trying to get more or better space for themselves because they can’t block off rows on flights that aren’t full so that they don’t have to use their jump seats.
One passenger reports being “kicked out the last row by the flight attendants because they wanted to be able to sit there during the flight.” The flight wasn’t full but they faced a choice – sit down in a middle seat, or in the empty last row? To a passenger that’s easy. But they were told the last row was off limits – it was for crew only.
[S]he even asked me if there was no other seats for me to sit because they wanted those rows, I explained to her that there wasn’t any other rows that wouldn’t involve me being in the middle of people.
… There was a flight attendant sitting on one side of the row, playing on her phone while waiting for us to be prepared for take off, so I sat on the opposite side. She looked at me and got up and went and told the other flight attendant that “someone just sat in your seat” and the flight [attendant] said “nope, not happening”, peeked around the corner and asked me to move because they were keeping the rows empty.
Once seats are assigned of course, crew won’t be able to do that – passengers won’t be choosing their seats on the plane, able to be bullied into a middle. They’ll be assigned seats in that last row. Most haven’t considered that the change to assigned seating is actually a loss for flight attendants.
It’ll be a miracle if Southwest survives both its own self-inflicted wounds and the pending recession. Oof.
Don’t blame the crews; it’s executives and Elliott (mis)Management.
given all that WN mgmt needs for its employees to do to execute its transition plans, it would seem that blocking the last row for assignment only at the airport and if needed would be a small peace sign – whether in the contract or not.
Back before the days of 90%+ loads the last row was typically where flights attendants hung out. Once planes became completely full that wasn’t an option. I think Southwest is also trying like every other airline to have a butt on in all seats on every plane on every route.
Poor little waitresses. The na know isn’t for them to hang out. They have a job to do and jump seats to use.
@Frank — I knew someone, like you, would disparage the crews. Mere ‘waitresses,’ you say. That’s shameful. They’re there for our safety, then our comfort. Wonder what it’d take for you to actually ‘get it.’ May you never have to experience an inflight emergency or evacuation…
@1990 — it’s ragebait, and you’re engaging. Just ignore.
Why don’t the flight attendants just quit and go get other jobs that allow them to lounge wherever they please while on duty?
As far as evacuation goes, I learned from watching a recent video of a Southwest flight attendant that evacuating with bags and heels is now acceptable.
I’ll take my bags and 1990 can wear his heels!
@dontfeedthetrolls — Aww, the teacher becomes the student… I’m here for engagement. Sometimes, it’s fun to be trolled and to troll the trolls.
@CHRIS — Nice callback. It wouldn’t be VFTW if we didn’t complain about survivors taking their bags with them in an evacuation. Sneakers/trainers (or whatever you want to call them) always.
1990 – I’ve been down the slide for realsies, troll. Waitress is the politest term I have for them. They are bone idle.
We are specifically prohibited from doing exactly what those FA did and when they do that they’re subject to discipline. If nobody sits there we can occupy the last row but we aren’t to discourage anyone from sitting there. It drives me nuts when my CoHearts (CoFarts, in this case it seems) do that.
That is absolute nonsense. The working flight attendants should not be in those seats anyway. They are for paying passengers.
1. @Frank — you’re an idiot.
2. FWIW, I’ve never been on a Southwest flight when an FA sat in a passenger eat. I guess it happens, but I’ve never witnessed it. The only employees I’ve ever seen sitting in pax seats are deadheading, and they are just as likely to work for another airline than WN.
3. @1990 — “Self-inflicted wounds” and “pending recession” — is Elliot channeling Trump?
What an fing idiot 1990 is.
@Jason — Follow the money. Even in downturns, some make a killing. Used to be illegal to do insider trading (or, in Elliott’s case, to sabotage a company just to profit off shorting it). Oh well.
@Frank — As a slide rider, you should know better! Bah!
@mike s — Oh my, to upset you (and the others) makes my day! Where’s @Mike P these days?
The article indicates “Once seats are assigned of course, crew won’t be able to do that… ” Sorry to inform you that American Airlines did that to me a month ago, mid March 2025. I was in the last row looking to stretch out on an international flight. I double checked it 10 minutes before boarding. Only when boarding I was directed to the gate agent for a new seat. He informaed me that the Captain has designated those seats to not be occupied. I thought it might have something to do with weight. The gate agent was very helpful in getting me into something else and I could tell he knew something was up. When I got on the plane the attendents had layed out all their stuff in the last 4 rows to prevent passengers from moving into to sleep. During the flight they read and watched movies in those rows when not working.
I have been forced out of the last row o. SwA by these lies. Typical FA behavior.
Had that happen to me on a AA flight. Wanted to move to very last row for it was empty. However, one FA chastised me for wanting to make the move. A second FA was embarrassed by the outburst of the 1st FA, and moved me to the first row of economy+ which was immediately behind 1st class. Due to configuration, It had more leg room than those in 1st and was provided with a cocktail.