Apparently, a lot of people think the whole sitting on the floor routine is crazy -- but they don't want SWA to give up the open seating thing, either. So they've announced a new "not-necessary-to-sit-on-the-floor" process they are rolling out -- http://tinyurl.com/2cm6al

I refuse to fly Southwest because their seating policy would turn me into one of those people. I fly mostly Alaska Air. (where I have a definite assigned seat!)

Wait - the commercial says they do it better than those "other guys" that assign you a seat.

So sitting on the floor must be good, right?

(I haven't flown Southwest since they lost the hot pants)

and then when it's time to get in line those adults become crazy animals, fighting for their territorial rights. i've seen some people get downright vicious as they fight for the window seat.

That's about to change! You will soon get a # attached to your A, B or C on your boarding pass. That # will then be your place in line and you can roam the airport to your hearts content. YAY!

See, it is not SW's fault. It is people wanting to have that first best seat in the house. If we didn't care about the middle seat in row 29, between the two larger than life folks, there would be no need to sit on the floor. Nope, I put this one on human nature and the need to get ahead. Not that I haven't sat on the floor waiting.

If there were any men in chairs, and you were really without recourse but the floor - that's insane.

Try flying ExpressJet in a fifty-seater for two and a half hours. No, make that three and a half hours since we had to turn around and go back to Kansas City an hour into the trip due to some kind of mechanical failure.

I went back still looking for the kinder, gentler airport.

Chirst, did not know about the required floor seating. Remind me to skip Southwest, I suffer from fanny fatigue on even the softest surfaces.

I wondered the same thing while sitting to board in my section c line. lol

actually it amazed me, we boarded among the last and I actually had to have a flight attendant get someone to give up a seat so I could sit with my youngest son. no one wanted to budge.

Yup, I flew Southwest once. Never again.
Though I am totally passive aggressive and just cut in line.

Very good question...
-d

Yes, I am one of the crazies who sits on the floor in the hopes of a good seat. Also, SW lets people with children up to age 5 pre-board- I wept when my son turned 6.
I think the new seating policy will work better for everyone. I only hope they bring back the crazy singers. I miss them!

The one and only time I flew SW there were no A, B, or C designations (what is that?). My friends and I were first in line, when an elderly lady marched right up, got in front of us, and proclaimed, "I'M always first." We were all so shocked that none of us knew how to react.

I too was wondering if sitting on the floor for one hour really made up for sitting in your selected seat for another hour on the flight. I actually preferred getting on last because my flight was full, so I got to pick who I wanted to sit in between whereas everyone else was at the mercy of the C-lister's whims.

The...floor? I am SO confused.

I have flown Delta. No floor.

I have flown Continental. No floor.

I have flown American Airlines. No floor (but $3 pretzels!)

I have flown AirTran (my fave). No floor.

You people out west are just WEIRD. That's all there is to it!

They say they're fixing this but they're not going to pre-board families with children under five anymore. I'll just plop my two-year old in the seat between you, a'ight?

Hi,

As a parent of a toddler who was happy to fly SW IF we could pre-board to take some of the stress of travel out of the day, I will not longer fly since the change in pre-board policies were made stopping families from pre-boarding.

Shaun Dakin
www.StopSouthwestPreboard.com