Yesterday I flew my first Southwest flight since the assigned seating. Couldn’t have gone any better. I am very happy with the change.
Well that is good news. I'd really love to see Southwest grow, and I've long felt in order to do so they'll have to give up on a sacred cow or two, I just wouldn't have guessed it'd be that one. (I keep expecting them to break down and go to a mixed fleet in order to have some leggier aircraft to pick up some transoceanic routes.)
I'm nervous, but you give me some hope. Glad it went well.
I do think the no free bags was a misstep. Thats really the only one in my mind. I think they should have gone to one free first. I have a credit card so its not a big deal but I can see why others would be upset.
They did send this to A-List members so they are making some changes as they go through this.
First, thank you for being an A-List Member and for being among the first to experience our new assigned seating and boarding process. Your feedback over the first 30 days—both what you’ve liked and where you’ve suggested improvements—has been invaluable to us. Because of your input, we’ve already made several enhancements and will continue refining the experience to reward your loyalty while delivering the industry’s best operational reliability* and hospitality.
Here’s what’s rolling out next:
Better-balanced boarding groups: We’re refining how boarding groups are assigned to improve overhead bin availability near your seat while maintaining the fast boarding and deplaning process you expect from Southwest.
More overhead bin space: We’re upgrading our cabins with larger bins that hold up to 50% more bags. At least 70% of our fleet will have these larger bins installed by the end of this year which will improve bin space availability near your seat.
Designating bin space for Extra Legroom seats: Throughout the month of March, we are adding signage to the bins above our Extra Legroom seats to reserve them for Customers sitting in those rows.
Going to be a long post with some in the weeds stuff. I don't usually post it on this forum cause it is a little to AVGeek-ish for here but wanted to post a few stat related things since its been a while. If you have questions please ask.
March Frequency Update - first update after Southwest cut the short routes.
New Routes
Southwest - Puerto Vallara
Frontier - Fort Lauderdale
Returning Routes
Southwest - West Palm Beach, Panama city, Pensacola, Destin, Charleston, Myrtle Beach, Montego Bay, Punta Cana, Savannah
Frontier - Tampa
Lufthansa - Frankfurt
Allegiant - Jacksonville
Cut Routes
Southwest- Tulsa, OKC, Des Moines, Wichita, Little Rock
Flights per week
2026 (2025)
Soutwest 767 (830)
AA 217 (200)
United 148 (138)
Delta 146 (142)
Frontier 53 (29)
Allegiant 34 (34)
Alaska 13 (12)
Air Canada 7 (7)
STL total 1366 (1405)
Monday seats % vs March 2025
AA 3564 +7.61%
Delta 2553 -8.63%
United 1827 +1.9%
Notes
United moves ahead of Delta in flights, but still a ways behind in seats. This hasn't been totally uncommon in the past.
Southwest - down 9 flights a day on average vs last March. Some extra flights were added in since the original release so that made the drop not quite as bad. Orlando 8x on Saturday
Frontier - way up. Orlando 3x a day some days. 11 flights total on peak days for F9.
AA - MIA seats double what they were last March
___________
International loads February (Customs)
Southwest Cabo 92.61%
Air Canada Toronto 67.79%
Alaska Puerto Vallarta - 72.39% - last outbound of month removed. It only had 17 people on it due to the cartel violence.
Frontier Punta Cana - 58.98%
Cancun I can't break out between AA/Southwest/Frontier
__________
October loads - (December come out later this week, so I'll probably post full year numbers at some point)
Air Canada
Montreal 80.85%
Toronto 73.20%
Alaska
SEA 86.44%
AA
Boston MA (BOS) 83.87%
Miami FL (MIA) 80.92%
Dallas/Fort Worth TX (DFW) 79.91%
Los Angeles CA (LAX) 78.97%
Charlotte NC (CLT) 78.06%
New York NY (LGA) 76.85%
Phoenix (PHX) 75.68%
Washington DC (DCA) 71.50%
Philadelphia PA (PHL) 70.94%
Chicago IL (ORD) 69.33% AA/Envoy only
DL
Detroit MI (DTW) 81.31%
New York NY (LGA) 80.38%
Minneapolis MN (MPS) 79.10%
Salt Lake City UT (SLC) 75.78%
Atlanta GA (ATL) 74.51%
New York NY (JFK) 65.52%
Frontier
Cancun MX (CUN) 75.06%
Denver CO (DEN) 74.60%
Orlando FL (MCO) 73.48%
Atlanta GA (ATL) 72.72%
Las Vegas NV (LAS) 67.01%
Dallas TX (DFW) 63.36%
Pheonix AZ (PHX) 39.03%
Tampa FL (TPA) 23.57%
Southwest
Charleston SC (CHS) 93.88%
Charlotte NC (CLT) 93.66%
San Francisco CA (SFO) 89.70%
Boston MA (BOS) 87.83%
Sacramento (SMF) 86.69%
Miami FL (MIA) 85.54%
Destin FL (VPS) 85.43%
Panama City FL (ECP) 84.21%
Burbank CA (BUR) 84.11%
Long Beach CA (LGB) 83.85%
Philadelphia PA (PHL) 83.15%
Los Angeles CA (LAX) 82.58%
Phoenix AZ (PHX) 81.76%
New York NY (LGA) 80.96%
Orlando FL (MCO) 80.13%
Las Vegas NV (LAS) 80.06%
Oklahoma City OK (OKC) 79.94%
Denver CO (DEN) 79.90%
Kansas City MO (MCI) 79.67%
Cleveland OH (CLE) 78.76%
Minneapolis MN (MSP) 78.60%
Pensacola FL (PNS) 78.47%
Ft. Lauderdale FL (FLL) 78.00%
Omaha NE (OMA) 77.71%
Tampa FL (TPA) 77.48%
Ft. Myers FL (RSW) 77.30%
Dallas TX (DAL) 76.91%
Austin TX (AUS) 76.89%
San Diego CA (SAN) 76.86%
Cancun MX (CUN) 76.16%
Raleigh NC (RDU) 75.82%
San Antonio TX (SAT) 74.93%
Little Rock AR (LIT) 74.91%
Sarasota FL (SRQ) 74.80%
Milwaukee WI (MKE) 74.22%
Myrtle Beach NC (MYR) 73.89%
Pittsburgh PA (PIT) 72.30%
Nashville TN (BNA) 71.47%
Wichita KS (ICT) 71.17%
Jacksonville FL (JAX) 70.87%
Columbus OH (CMH) 70.55%
Houston TX (HOU) 70.44%
Tulsa OK (TUL) 70.19%
Detroit MI (DTW) 69.57%
Baltimore MD (BWI) 69.23%
Chicago IL (MDW) 69.18%
Atlanta GA (ATL) 68.93%
Washington DC (DCA) 68.34%
Des Moines IA (DSM) 64.27%
New Orleans LA (MSY) 63.21%
Spirit
Fort Lauderdale 66.83%
United
Newark NJ (EWR) 86.55%
Denver CO (DEN) 82.92%
Chicago IL (ORD) 78.49% - United/Gojet only
Washington DC (IAD) 77.82%
San Francisco CA (SFO) 76.62%
Houston TX (IAH) 70.32%
^Just curious. What load% is considered good, bad, etc? At what load% does a flight become not profitable for the airline & over what time period does an airline typically determine the flight will be cut due to that unacceptable load capacity?
^ Thanks.... Looks like a lot of these flights are right at or lower than 70%. I wonder what is considered a 'good enough' load% to keep the flight alive... 75%, 80% + ...... ? Hopefully some of these load% are lower due to the time of the year.
^ Thanks.... Looks like a lot of these flights are right at or lower than 70%. I wonder what is considered a 'good enough' load% to keep the flight alive... 75%, 80% + ...... ? Hopefully some of these load% are lower due to the time of the year.
Southwest had a down year all around not just here. Hoping they are better this year.
Agree with Dbs numbers. 80%+ is good and safe. 70s to 80 probably safe unless they are selling cheap fares. Once you get below 70% then it’s more danger zone and frequencies might be adjusted. But some of the “hub to hub” routes will trend lower just because they have more frequency.
Also this is one month. Ill post full 2025 next week probably when they come out.
April 2027 - Airlines will move from A concourse to D/C
April 2029 - airlines will move from C/D to new terminal
March 2031 - Southwest moves into new terminal.
These dates have been updated (delayed)
Terminal 1, Concourse A Close, August 2027
Terminal 1, Concourse C Extension Opens, August 2027
Terminal 1, D Concourse Opens, August 2027
Terminal 1, Concourse C Extension Closes, April 2029
Terminal 1, D Concourse Closes, April 2029
Terminal 1 and Terminal 2 Closes, November 2031
Thankfully this will not affect any flights through STL.
Cities losing this service include: Austin, Cancún, Dallas–Love, Denver, Fort Myers, Las Vegas, Nashville, Orlando, Panama City (FL), Phoenix–Sky Harbor, Tampa (all end June 4, 2026)
This was a complete failure of expansion into ORD and cost Southwest a lot of money.
ST. LOUIS, Mo. (First Alert 4) - U.S. Rep. Wesley Bell presented a ceremonial check Tuesday for more than $3.1 million in federal Community Project Funding during an announcement at Lambert International Airport.
Airport officials said the money will help build a new central utility plant and west electrical substation. The existing plant was built in 1956, when the terminal first opened, and is near the end of its life.
Funding tied to broader modernization effort
Officials said the infrastructure upgrades will support plans for the Consolidated Terminal Program, a proposed 64-gate terminal, and the airport’s long-term growth.
Lambert Airport Director Rhonda Hamm-Niebruegge told First Alert 4 the central utility plant is one of the most critical enabling projects required for the terminal to move forward.
Thankfully this will not affect any flights through STL.
Cities losing this service include: Austin, Cancún, Dallas–Love, Denver, Fort Myers, Las Vegas, Nashville, Orlando, Panama City (FL), Phoenix–Sky Harbor, Tampa (all end June 4, 2026)
This was a complete failure of expansion into ORD and cost Southwest a lot of money.
Am I remembering it wrong; but wasn't there a pretty short period where there was 1 or 2 STL<>ORD flights with Southwest?
Thankfully this will not affect any flights through STL.
Cities losing this service include: Austin, Cancún, Dallas–Love, Denver, Fort Myers, Las Vegas, Nashville, Orlando, Panama City (FL), Phoenix–Sky Harbor, Tampa (all end June 4, 2026)
This was a complete failure of expansion into ORD and cost Southwest a lot of money.
Am I remembering it wrong; but wasn't there a pretty short period where there was 1 or 2 STL<>ORD flights with Southwest?
Crazy way-out-there theory. Since Lufthansa and British will be at that gate for (hopefully) another 5+ years, is there any potential for the Wingtips lounge to expand/convert into something better? There's unused commercial space right next to it, I'm sure Lufthansa and BA would love for their business customers to have a good lounge, and maybe Priority Pass or Southwest (if they expand into the lounge game) would chip in. I know it'd be temporary, but 5 years is a long time...
Not likely. Unfortunately, we’ll probably spend the next two years praying both flights survive Trump’s fuel fiasco. Fuel eats into margins, meaning 80% full planes might not be enough.
I'd really love to see Southwest grow, and I've long felt in order to do so they'll have to give up on a sacred cow or two, I just wouldn't have guessed it'd be that one. (I keep expecting them to break down and go to a mixed fleet in order to have some leggier aircraft to pick up some transoceanic routes.)
