Hi Gary, PLEASE, PLEASE do not move to open seating. It will force many a loyal customer like myself to start flying elsewhere. I luv flying Southwest today. In fact, as a retail analyst I wrote an analyst advisary specifically on "What Retailers can Learn from Southwest Airlines. See link here.
http://www.ihlservices.com/ihl/analyst_corner_detail.cfm?AnalystCornerID=13&filename=analyst_corner_archives.cfm
Your announcement of the test prompted me to look at the parallel to retailing again in a briefing today called "Why Southwest is about to Blow It".
http://www.ihlservices.com/ihl/analyst_corner.cfm
Perhaps this is all a PR ploy with the USA Today articles and customers voicing their opinions. I hope that is all this is. You have an incredibly loyal group of customers who care enough to take time out of their days to voice their support for your airline. PLEASE don't mess with the secret sauce.
You are facing a Coke vs. New Coke decision. Don't let the competition and a few complaints of Delta, American, and Northwest loyalists lull you into a New Coke decision.
Open Seating is part of the secret sauce. Please, PLEASE don't mess with it. If you do I think you will find that the planes will load faster because there are fewer passengers.
Thanks
Greg Buzek
President
IHL Consulting Group
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