An End To Tradition?

Could this be the end of an era? Ever since the very beginning, passengers flying Dallas-based Southwest Airlines have waited for the starting gun -- then rushed the gate in hopes of grabbing their favorite seat onboard the aircraft.

That's the way it's been... and that's the way we always assumed it would be.

But now, Southwest says... starting July 10, passengers on about 200 flights from San Diego will be assigned seats. That confirms a rumor Aero-News first reported on last month.

No more cattle call. No more standing in line for an hour before the flight. You get your seat assignment, you grab a six-dollar soda at the restaurant there in the terminal... and you board at your leisure.

Man, that don't seem right. It seems so... civilized.

Granted, this is only a test... and the measure of whether cattle calls fade into the sunset will be the airline's ability to turn planes around as fast as it does now.

"We want to make sure that we have studied all the possibilities and aspects of assigned seating before we make any change to what has been a very successful formula for the past 35 years," said Southwest CEO Gary Kelly. "This evaluation is an important step to determine the feasibility of assigned seating, but this is only a test."

With unassigned seating... Southwest can turn a flight around in about 25 minutes. Anything more than that, and the airline is losing money.

FMI: www.southwest.com