Southwest officials told CBS News that one of the main issues the airline is troubleshooting is overhead bin space. In some cases, customers who are part of the airline’s loyalty program and others who paid for extra legroom are finding they don’t have storage above their seats because early boarders are taking up the overhead compartments at the front of the plane. This is forcing them to walk back several rows to store their bags.

The issue, which could slow boarding and deplaning, has sparked ire among loyal Southwest customers, with some taking to social media to voice their complaints.

“On a Southwest flight for work and it’s actually awful. New process is terrible. I’m in row four. Boarding group 5, no overhead bin space until rows 20. Actually insane. @SouthwestAir,” one X user wrote on Monday.

Some flyers are also expressing frustration with how seats are assigned. Southwest announced in July 2024 that it was scrapping its decades-old policy, which allowed customers to choose cabin seats on a first-come, first-served basis. The airline now offers assigned seats, while giving passengers the choice to pay for certain seats, including those offering more legroom.

One X user said Thursday that his two-year-old was assigned a seat in a row without any family members. “My wife and two kids (5 and 2) are flying @SouthwestAir today. And because I refuse to pay for seats, their seats were auto-assigned,” he wrote. “My 2 year old in his own row without his mom or sister.”

Southwest says its own research found 80% of its flyers preferred assigned seats. The airline spent years testing the boarding process using computer simulations and in-person tests meant to mimic real-world conditions.

Southwest says it’s addressing issues

Southwest is now making adjustments to address some of the issues that have cropped up, an airline official told CBS News senior transportation correspondent Kris Van Cleave.

One such change is moving the dedicated overhead bin for flight attendants from the front of the plane to the back to free up space. The airline said it will also continue to examine its boarding procedures to figure out best practices for customers. The changes are expected to be rolled out in the near future.

“I think that we should expect some hiccups — that’s inevitable,” Henry Harteveldt, a travel analyst at Atmosphere Research Group, told correspondent Kris Van Cleave in a January interview.

“It’s going to be a huge change,” he said. “The airline is abandoning a 50-plus-year-old business practice and adopting something that is tried and true by every other airline in the U.S., so hopefully it works well. There will be some teething pains; that’s to be expected. But Southwest says that they are prepared for it.”

Credits: Southwest Airlines

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They said checked bag fees would generate $1.5 billion in revenue but cost them $1.8 billion in business. It turns out to be worse than that – in July, they touted they’d achieve just $1 billion in revenue even as once-loyal customers abandon them. So they’re flailing – they executives revamped the business model to save their jobs as Elliott Management took effective control of the board. And CEO in name only Bob Jordan says they’re now considering new planes, first class, and lounges.

Southwest is chasing whatever customers say they want, whether it’s iPhones, donuts, or European destinations.
We are going to continue to pursue the customer and provide the things that they want. We’ve got … millions of folks that love Southwest Airlines. They would love to fly us to Europe, as an example.

That could mean new planes, premium cabins, and airport lounges.
Southwest Airlines doesn’t have lounges… We don’t serve destinations beyond what the 737 [can] serve. We don’t have a true premium product… A first class. A business class.

And all Boeing 737 operators could go with Airbus A321XLRs for Europe, because those are cheaper to operate than widebodies and can fly further than the carrier’s 737 MAXs (that could operate to places like Iceland and Ireland).
Should we choose to fly to Europe… that’s not a mission the 737 Max will do, so we need a different aircraft…It could be that a widebody is just too much, at least for a start.

But Jordan doesn’t actually know, because they’re quickly trying to figure out a future for an airline that’s become rudderless.
I’m not promising those things… Everything is on the table at Southwest.

Southwest now partners with Icelandair, China Airlines, and Eva Air. That’s a start, and something they should have done years ago – sell tickets to customers of airlines bringing passengers to the United States, and sell travel beyond their own destinations to their customers.

There’s a lot of change that’s been needed at Southwest. They probably maxed out their business model of one plane type, which limited them to flying to large-ish destinations close to the United States. They don’t have feed from smaller cities with regional partners or small planes (for markets that can’t support 737s) or to long-haul destinations too far to reach with a 737. And they haven’t had the products people want to buy – they’re adding extra legroom seats, but still won’t let you pay to block a middle seat. And they became top-heavy and underinvested in IT (hence their famous Christmas 2022 meltdown).

The problem is that this implies there’s no real opportunity to return to the kind of growth the airline saw in the past, and the kind of valuation multiples for their stock. There’s no great answer for Southwest, but their approach – to copy the business models of financial laggards JetBlue and American – isn’t promising.

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