TBH I dread that moment at the end of boarding when the plane is almost full and I have an open seat next to me. Looking up the isle as a few late comers arrive, one being extremely large……
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It used to. Now, with more passengers boarding in wheelchairs, that speed advantage is disappearing.
As @hebegebe pointed out earlier, the majority of passengers still look for the cheapest fares. Southwest no longer offers a pricing advantage, unless the passenger has multiple bags to check. Since Southwest blocks third parties (including Google flights) from displaying search results, passengers would have to compare Southwest fares themselves. They would do it only if they believe Southwest fares are competitive and would likely stop making such extra effort if they aren’t as competitive as they used to be. Another advantage Southwest used to enjoy is its more generous cancellation policy, but that’s no longer the case with its major competitors offering essentially the same cancellation policies (except for their Basic Economy fares).
This happened quite accidentally once on SWA: I was seated in the aisle seat and some stranger was seated in the window seat. We got to chatting and were facing each other talking. Next thing we knew, boarding was complete and no one sat between us! It was intentional, but appreciated!
Personally, I have no problem lifting the armrest when I am seated next to someone who needs extra room. But, reading these comments, it clearly upsets a lot of people. And since nobody should have to worry about whether they will be seated next to someone who doesn’t want them there, Southwest’s new policy seems like a good one.
I still find SWA to have certain advantages.
We had to cancel a trip. One leg of the flight was on HAWAIIAN AIRLINES and one on SWA.
All the funds from the cancelled SWA flight were credited to my account. These FFCs do not expire. Hawaiian also issued FFCs but with restrictions. One has to rebook using the credits within one year of the ORIGINAL booking date. Flight was booked Jan 2023 for travel May 2023. The replacement flight has to be booked by Jan 2024.
We did rebooked that trip for October. Hawaiian fare is $75 less than the original booking. But there is no refund or retention of the additional credit. SWA was also cheaper in October. When booking the new flight one only uses the exact credits needed, no loss if price went down.
The legacy carriers will issue FFCs for cancellation for most fare classes except basic economy. However, those credits do expire and at least with UA fall under the same rules of rebooking as Hawaiian.
And you haven’t really lived until you’ve experienced Ryanair and EasyJet. 
the statistics would defy the comment- more and more fly on southwest each year. Their issue will be and is labor costs.
Personally, I have a much bigger issue with people who smell than people who are overweight on flights.
Last year on a flight back from visiting my kid abroad, a man in front of me smelled so bad I thought I’d vomit. You couldn’t breathe. It was honestly enraging for everyone around him. You can’t possibly be unaware of it.
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Of course, if most customers look for the cheapest fares, that means basic economy on other airlines, which often means:
- Restrictive change/cancellation policy.
- Checked bag = extra fee.
- Carry on bag in overhead = extra fee.
- Preassigned seat that you can choose = extra fee.
Their issues within the last year were antiquated IT infrastructure.
I flew for the first time in 25 years, a few years ago.
I was morbidly obese and terrified at how humiliating it would be to not fit in my seat. I honestly worried about this for weeks, checking and rechecking the seat dimensions, trying to replicate that width at home to see if I would fit. I found out about seatbelt extenders and learned how to discreetly request one upon boarding.
We were flying Alaskan, and my H was with me, so I took the window and he took the middle seat. At least I wasn’t going to offend a stranger.
I can’t tell you what a relief it was to finally board and find my seat to be adequate - not as horrible as I’d imagined, but of course, fairly snug. They had long seatbelts, so I didn’t need the extender, but was glad to have it ahead of time so i didn’t have to request it in front of everyone.
It’s been interesting to read the comments in this thread. I was an average sized teen and young adult, but became heavier and heavier after having kids, and the more I dieted, the more I’d regain after a loss.
Anyway, I don’t know the answer, but seeing how tight it was for my very average sized husband, I thought the seats were pretty darn small in general.
I appreciate reading the comments showing compassion for people who are larger sized.
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I have often “buckled up” as an average sized person and thought - gosh, this seatbelt certainly cannot accommodate any size! For the average flyer who doesn’t/can’t get pay-for-more seating, airline seating is just without extras/frills/space!!
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Yes but that’s not an every day thing and that blows over.
As a shareholder, as someone interested in long term trajectory, their issue, as all airlines are impacted, are labor costs, especially with the upcoming dearth of pilots.
I’m fortunate not to have problems, but this is entirely the responsibility of airlines.
If it’s okay for them to squeeze people like sardines, to maximize the number of seats they can sell for less than average height/length/circumference people - then THEY have to also “eat” the directly related expense of occasionally needing to accommodate oversized (in any dimension) passengers, by being able to sell a few seats (or premium seats) less!
They should determine necessary seating accommodations at reservation time for capacity planning but absolutely be barred from charging for it.
This way, economics will eventually control how big they make the average seat so they’ll have to make accommodations less often.
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I just want to say…if airlines offer plus size passengers larger seats, I’m going to want one also…and I’m just average.
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Reminds me of the time I made the bad mistake of bringing a box of Fiber One bars onto an international flight to snack on.
Yeah, I don’t know how they could enforce that if they didn’t charge extra. People would fudge it just to get the extra space.
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Yup. Like the current pre-boarding fiasco.
Where would it stop…
I’m claustrophobic (even have a Dr note). I’d grab one of those extra sized seats in a flash. What about those at higher risk for DVTs, they need the ability to move more freely.
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I reject that completely.
Each airline is selling a set of services at a a specific price. It is fairly easy to find out what each service provides in terms of seating from places like seatguru. If you are not happy with that service, you are free to buy a different service from that airline, or from a different airline.
I have fairly long legs. I specifically avoid some airlines because of it, and will always pay for an exit row seat or an aisle seat.
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Seats are just too, too small. For anyone.
It makes flying miserable unless you pay extra for premium seats, etc. (which we did for our 6’2” all leg son but it’s not smthg he can afford when he’s not being funded by us in a few years).
It stinks.
Makes me happy to stay home to be honest.
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There’s always this hack…if those extra sized seats become available…not only do you get more space for now being ‘of size’, you also avoid any issues with carry on baggage ha.
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