Comparing changing from plastic to paper boarding passes is not even close to a comparision of going to assigned seating.
I am a very frequent business traveler & I am completely against switching to assigned seating.
This is what makes Southwest unique & efficient.
Simply put, the convenience of booking/changing flights at the last second & still have the ability to get an aisle seat is what
allows me to easily chose Southwest over say Continental or Delta. This also allows me to complete my booking online a hell of
a lot faster then using the other airlines system. You change the system to what all other airlines do & my easy decision to fly
Southwest just changed to a decision between 3 airlines. Conclusion - I probably would fly Southwest 1/3 of the time vs. 90%+
under the current successful system. I guarantee you would lose more business frequent flyers than you will gain. The
compromise of creating a "1st class" of say 5 rows, where those people say they would pay "20% more" for an assigned seat,
does make some sense.
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