You people complaining about the changes absolutely confound me. Why shouldn't the person paying more for their plane ticket expect preferred boarding? Why do you think that because you were able to plan your trip 3 months in advance and secure a ticket for a transcontinental flight for $99 that you are entitled to the absolute best seat in the airplane. Let me explain a little something about airline economics to you. Airlines don't make money by filling an airplane with $99 passengers to fly across the country. They make money by responding to the laws of supply and demand.
So you're going to go shop around for airfare now? Why in your right mind were you not doing that before? You'd rather pay more for bad service instead of flying Southwest?
Come on; get off your high horse. Southwest is tweaking its business model to cater to a demographic that they have essentially ignored, at their peril, for the past 30 years. As a business traveler, I welcome these changes. Life on the road isn't pleasant and when you're racing back to the airport to catch your flight after a day of meeting to discover that you're stuck in a middle seat in the back of the plane between two individuals who leave arm rests up because they don't fit in their own seats is not a pleasant experience.
70% of business travel revenue is generated by 10% of the flying public. Now you tell me why Southwest shouldn't target that group?
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