The skies over the Pacific have seen mounting frustrations creating headaches for airlines and fellow passengers. With increasing passenger volumes and smaller narrow-body planes packed tight, policies have come under strain, and the collective experience has shifted.
Airlines are caught in one tug-of-war: accommodating legitimate needs while curbing policy abuse. Southwest Airlines seems ready to tackle this as it pivots on a core policy—a decision that signals a strategic pivot from its iconic ways.
The rise of “Jetway Jesus.”
These passengers require wheelchairs to board but appear fully mobile and healed upon landing. While many travelers genuinely need mobility assistance, others exploit it to bypass lines and secure early boarding and preferred seats.
This issue has been far more pronounced on Southwest Hawaii flights than on those of competing airlines. Why, in a word, getting to the best seats.
Read: Misuse On Southwest Hawaii Flights Became Last Straw For Old Ways.
Similarly, dubious “service animals” are making headlines, with some handlers mislabeling pets to dodge fees and restrictions.
See: Baby And Pit Bull Service Animal Spark Debate On Hawaii Flight.
As one BOH reader commented, “People just don’t care anymore. It’s about gaming the system, not sharing the aloha.”
Southwest’s next solution: assigned seating.
Southwest Airlines, long defined by its open seating policy, among other unique ways, is taking a decisive step to address core issues. By introducing assigned seating, which will occur when buying their tickets later this year, Southwest aims to reduce pre-boarding abuse and restore order to their unique boarding process.
While the change has yet to roll out, it reflects, in part, the airline’s recognition of escalating frustrations among passengers and at the airline.
Assigned seating will minimize these conflicts over seating arrangements.
One commenter noted, “If you need more time or a specific seat, great—but let’s not weaponize kindness at others’ expense.”
In addition to exploiting pre-boarding privileges for themselves, some Southwest Hawaii passengers engage in seat-saving, wherein one traveler boards early via pre-boarding and “reserves seats” for friends or family who board later. This can lead to disputes and frustration.
The absence of assigned seats gives some passengers odd incentives to employ creative tactics to game the Southwest system and secure preferred seating. This, too, has led the airline to move to 100% assigned seating to end these practices that started in an era when such behavior was virtually unheard of.
Additionally, the shift aligns Southwest with the airline industry. It also comes as passenger satisfaction becomes increasingly critical to the Hawaii travel paradigm. The current boarding system is no longer working.
Hawaii flights are a literal breeding ground for these issues.
Tensions flare quickly, with flight times exceeding five hours and small planes often at full capacity. The unique challenges of longer-haul, narrow-body travel make it harder for airlines to balance fairness and accommodation. It is for that very reason that on Southwest, it appears that some of the greatest number of boarding abuses occur on Hawaii flights.
Readers like Mike J. also weighed in on the service animal issue, saying, “No question, the airlines should prioritize safety first. Untrained animals are a recipe for disaster in a confined space.” Sue F. added, “Gate agents need better training to spot fake service animal claims. Abuse like this hurts those of us who rely on legitimate accommodations.”
While Southwest Airlines has procedures to verify service dogs, the process primarily relies on the handler’s attestation and the dog’s behavior during travel.
Southwest requires that passengers traveling with a service dog complete and submit the USDOT Service Animal Air Transportation Form. This form is the passenger’s attestation to the dog’s health, behavior, and training.
What lies ahead for Hawaii travelers?
Airlines across the board are tightening their policies, while enforcement remains inconsistent for now. For Hawaii-bound passengers, patience and adaptability are always a necessity. Southwest’s shift to assigned seating could signal one turning point for the better.
The spirit of aloha begins with each traveler’s choices. Whether navigating new policies or sharing space with pets and preboarders, it’s up to passengers to bring the kindness and aloha they also hope to receive.
Share your experience.
Have you experienced issues in pre-boarding or other policies on Hawaii flights? What do you think of Southwest’s new approach? Please let us know in the comments.
Get Breaking Hawaii Travel News
Once bought business select and had A1. There were 49 people ahead of me. Even some of the emergency exits were occupied which is against regulations.
SWA will always be perceived as the second tier airline in Hawaii. The equivalent of someone from the mainland that moves to Hawaii, starts speaking pidgin when they can’t even pronounce the street names and generally disrespects the people that live there. This is one more example of their lack of “Aloha”.
For people who have specific seating due to physical or medical issues, that can be resolved by showing our disabled parking ID.
It is proof of a disability for parking privileges and should also be used for proof of pre-boarding. I have torn meniscus in both knees but I try to walk more than being pushed in a wheel chair. Long distance walking in the airports are difficult at times , but I try to walk out my pain. This is just a suggestion in working with some of your PB customers. Mahalo
I’ve always been a fan of the Southwest boarding system but I will admit the pre-boarding has gotten out of control on all their flights. So I guess it’s time for a change. It will be nice now to have reserved seats on Southwest and do the 3 seats/2 people trick which you can’t do now. Southwest will continue to be my airline of choice as I like the way they treat their passengers.
Great article, illustrates some of the many reasons I do not and will not fly Southwest.
This new policy has long been needed. We typically pay for the first 15 seats and end up farther back due to the pre board shenanigans. Not to mention the whole family boards with them. I blame that on the attendants who aren’t pushing the rules. Pre-board people need to show proof they have an issue. No more mental people on board!
Also, people who don’t have to use overhead bins should be allowed to exit the plane first. All others need to stay seated.
I’m happy to see Southwest change to assigned seats, I always pay for early boarding but find myself further and further to the rear of the plane because of way to many early boarders and people saving rows for the rest of their follow traveler’s.
It’s too bad we had to get to this point.
Elephant in the room here is that a lot of what people are doing, regardless of pono or not – are self-inflected. With lax enforcement and turning blind eyes, they set themselves up for this. Fake and phony pre-boarders, service peacocks and the rest of the nonsense.
And don’t get me started on squeezing seats in to the point of people panicking or triggering hostile environments for passengers that they created. It’s been a setup from the jump. This doesn’t even count the death by 1000 cuts of fee’s…
We fly in and out of Hawaii fairly often. One time out of Kona we counted 30 wheelchair bound passengers boarding early. We asked how many chairs were ordered at flight’s end. Three. More than once, even when we have paid to be in the A group, we have had earlier boarding passengers tell us, rather aggressively, that another seat in the row was saved for a spouse who was “boarding later.” No reasonable person wants to start an argument on a plane or bother the flight crew with a complaint.
This, too, has led the airline to move to 100% assigned seating to end these practices that started in an era when such behavior was virtually unheard of. That is the most important line…such behavior was virtually unheard of. The “Me” generation vs the “Greatest generation”. And I understand, with less and less room per person, it gets testy…but respect for one another has gone by the wayside.