Southwest Airlines recently announced the end of its open seating policy. Assigned seats are the policy now, beginning with travel booked now for Jan. 27, 2026, and beyond will feature assigned seating.

You can now officially book Southwest Airlines flights with an assigned seat. The carrier just started selling flights that will depart on (and after) Jan. 27, 2026 — the day it plans to bid farewell to open seating and welcome in its long-discussed assigned and extra-legroom seating setup.

Southwest Airlines has announced a major change coming to its current seating system. The Texas-based airline previously had a “pick any seat” policy, allowing customers to purchase tickets in different boarding groups by selecting where they wanted to sit upon boarding the plane.