This week, to feed Wall Street’s insatiable demand for higher profits, Southwest Airlines killed it’s five-decade-old first-come, first-served open seating boarding process. It is now just another airline in my book and I will now be treating it as such.
Washington Post columnist Michelle Singletary sets the right tone in discussing this sad change.
(Also, my blog needs a new category: “enshittification.”)
Et tu, Southwest?
It was only a matter of time. Southwest Airlines, which set itself apart from its nickel-and-dime competitors, will soon scrap its open-seat policy and charge folks for more legroom.
It’s a momentous change that, in some respects, speaks to a metaphor I’ve written about before — airline seating is much like America’s economic divide — the less room you have to be comfortable, the more likely you’ll get stuck in a miserable middle position.
Source: Money buys a better position. Just look at Southwest’s new seating. – The Washington Post