Southwest Airlines has been making a spread of changes, with the carrier now charging for checked luggage and eliminating its famous open seating policy in favor of assigned seats.
From Jan. 27, 2026, passengers will now have assigned seats — but they’ll be boarding in a different way from most other carriers.
Per the Wall Street Journal, Southwest flyers may have a boarding pass that accommodates a boarding group and a number from 1 to eight — unless they booked priority boarding.
After priority boarding, Southwest will mostly follow the WILMA method — window, middle and aisle — for boarding.
Passengers in window seats will board first, followed by those in middle seats and aisles, starting in the back of the plane.
“If queuing isn’t good, boarding isn’t good,” Lisa Hingson, managing director of innovation, told WSJ. “So we spent a whole lot of time studying queuing.”
This method isn’t latest — United Airlines switched to this type of method a pair years ago, saying it was more efficient.
But flyers with perks will routinely get an earlier boarding group, regardless of where their seat is.
Perks can include frequent-flier status, ticket type, seat type or bank card — and these people might be in group 1 or 2 no matter their seat.
Because of this those sitting toward the front of the plane that aren’t in top notch or priority boarding could have trouble with overhead bin space for a carry-on bag. They’ll even be in later boarding groups.
The Journal noted that they saw a boarding pass for a passenger seated in 12C, which is taken into account to be an excellent economy seat on any airline — and the passenger was put in group 7.
Nonetheless, Southwest also plans to supply a last-minute Priority Boarding option with dynamic pricing, WSJ said, so those that pay can join the priority boarding group, which boards before group 1.
While the pricing will vary per flight, the Journal noted that it cost $93 one-way on a recent Phoenix-Dallas flight.
Passengers with disabilities and active-duty military members can even board first.
Boarding passes can even clearly state whether the passenger is sitting in a window, middle or aisle seat, so those latest to this technique won’t need to emphasize.
“Since we’re moving away from boarding positions, we desired to be very clear concerning the difference between a boarding position and a seat,” Hingson said.
