Southwest planes at Honolulu.

Southwest Will Change The Way You Fly To Hawaii—Big Time

During Thursday’s Q4 earnings call, Southwest confirmed some of the most significant changes yet for Hawaii flights. From new red-eye service, 100% assigned seats, and a premium service to intriguing partnerships that we suspect may directly impact Hawaii visitors. Here’s how Southwest is disrupting Hawaii travel once again—starting now.

Red-eye flights to Hawaii will launch soon.

For the first time, Southwest Airlines is adding overnight red-eye service to Hawaii. The first of these flights will take off on Valentine’s Day 2025, with more routes rolling out through June. By midyear, Southwest will operate 33 red-eye markets, including those flights connecting Hawaii with the mainland.

While red-eye flights allow for better aircraft utilization and potentially lower fares, Southwest’s cabin setup raises questions about comfort on overnight flights. Unlike airlines that offer premium or even widebody service to Hawaii with lie-flat seating in business cabins, Southwest operates a single-aisle Boeing 737 MAX 8 with its unique and soon-to-be legacy one-class section.

Southwest said they expect 75% of red-eye passengers to connect to or from another flight. This suggests Southwest will strategically integrate Hawaii into its broader nationwide route network, making it easier for travelers to reach from the islands across the U.S. However, the degree to which these flights will prove comfortable for overnight travelers remains to be seen.

Assigned seating replaces open boarding.

One of Southwest’s biggest competitive distinctions—open seating—is coming to a clear end. The airline confirmed a full transition to 100% assigned seating, which aligns the carrier with industry norms but represents a major cultural shift for Southwest flyers.

This change also sets the stage for Southwest to introduce new paid seating options, allowing passengers to select seats with more legroom or better placement in the cabin. For travelers accustomed to Southwest’s traditional free-for-all boarding, this shift could be significant.

Read: Hawaii Travel Shakes Up: Southwest Tackles Abuse With New Playbook.

Premium seating option coming soon.

Southwest is moving beyond its all-economy layout by introducing a premium seating option. While full details have not yet been disclosed, the airline has revealed that about one-third of seats on its aircraft will feature more space.

The seats will have adjustable headrests, lumbar support, and wider armrests. Southwest has not yet confirmed how pricing will work, but these premium seats will likely be available for an additional fee, similar to offerings on other airlines. We expect it to be positioned somewhere between just extra legroom and a true premium economy offer.

With Southwest continuing to fly only the Boeing 737 MAX 8 on Hawaii routes, this new premium section will likely be the closest travelers get to a business-class experience on the airline.

New Southwest partnerships could touch Hawaii this year.

Perhaps, in some ways, the most unexpected announcement was Southwest’s hint at airline partnerships that will allow for more international connections.

While the airline has not yet revealed specific partners, it is clear that Southwest is looking to expand further beyond its current domestic-only network. This could create new opportunities for travelers flying to and from Hawaii by linking Southwest’s extensive U.S. routes with international carriers.

Ryan Green, Southwest’s EVP and Chief Commercial Officer, said:

“Earlier this month, we signed our first commercial agreement with Icelandair, making them our first partner carrier. And starting February 13, we will begin connecting customers and bags crossing the Atlantic on Icelandair into the Southwest network at our Baltimore station. We will continue to evolve this partnership and plan to also connect Icelandair into our network in Denver and Nashville later this year, which provides even more connection opportunities through shared gateways.”

“We continue to pursue partnership agreements with other global carriers and still plan to announce at least one additional partner carrier later this year.” (Ryan Green, Southwest Airlines).

Beat of Hawaii has some ideas of just what could evolve, and we’ll say that it is very exciting.

What these Southwest changes mean for Hawaii travelers.

With Southwest implementing these upgrades, the airline is taking a more competitive stance in the Hawaii market. The move to assigned seating and premium options could generate new revenue, while red-eye flights and international partnerships may make travel to and from Hawaii more convenient.

However, these changes also signal a shift away from the airline’s original low-cost, no-frills model. For frequent Southwest travelers used to the airline’s open-seating and egalitarian boarding process, this transition may take some getting used to.

At the same time, Southwest is now fully leveraging dynamic pricing for its upcoming premium and assigned seating options.

Andrew Watterson, Southwest’s COO, confirmed this shift, stating:

“We intend to dynamically price the seats and the new product. And we went live with dynamic pricing for our upgraded boarding product this quarter, actually just recently, and that’s going to be…training the models… giving us practices and the processes and technologies for almost a full year here before we go live.”

This suggests that pricing will fluctuate based on demand rather than being fixed when Southwest’s premium seating becomes available. It follows the trend of monetizing seat selection and could impact what passengers ultimately pay for their preferred seats.

With these updates rolling out throughout 2025, Southwest’s Hawaii routes are set for a major transformation. Are you on board?

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52 thoughts on “Southwest Will Change The Way You Fly To Hawaii—Big Time”

  1. So this will help competitions pricing to go to Hawaii. I’m hoping that Southwest does bring some premium seating and other amenities that have been lacking and the reason why I have never flown Southwest after the first and only time years ago. I always hated their everybody jump on the bus and get the seat that they can get first instead of a sign seating. Good luck to Southwest!

  2. I prefer assigned seating, so this is good news to me. Never liked the “cattle call” style lines. SW low fares were awesome for a long time but it wasn’t sustainable.

  3. My husband is unable to walk on his own he has a walker but needs his electric wheel chair to get to gates. We board together in front of the passengers for the room in front of the plane. How will this affect our flying henceforth?

    1
  4. I will probably go to checking out other airlines and not use southwest if this happens it has been years since I went to Hawaii
    I may decide not to go at all as southwest makes changes it will be come just another airlines not my pick too bad changes aren’t good

    1
  5. I purchased tickets to Hawaii for June 28, 2025. How do I upgrade to get better seats since there wasn’t a seat assignment when I purchased the tickets?

    2
  6. Completely agree. I avoid red-eyes out of Hawaii as much as possible (East coast is pretty much only red-eyes). Maybe for the young, but as I’ve gotten older, no-can-do. I live in HI and the trend away from wide-bodies is defintely a disincentive to travel to the mainland.

    1
  7. I do not see much “disruption” in these changes. SW is simply catching up to the other airlines which have assigned seats and red-eye flights. And a partnership with Icelandair to Baltimore won’t exactly scare the other established carriers to Hawaii.

    2
  8. IMO these red eye flights might be the entry level fare type flight. Anything else will be a preferred or premium fly time at which prices will be way higher because of the convenience. IMO all airlines will raise other fly time flights and charge way more for the same time slots. I guess you could relate it to paying extra for a fast pass or ultra fast pass at Disneyland vs. a standard gate wait in line admission.

  9. Interesting how ppl misread the new red-eye flights. These flights are from Hawaii to the mainland only, Not from mainland to Hawaii.
    I am really curious what the actual value and product WN will be offering in the “premium cabin”. If these seats offer more leg room then the rest of the cabin will have less leg room. The seating will still be 3X3, with seats ABC on one side of aisle and DEF on the other. WN doesn’t have ovens on any plane, so don’t expect any hot meals in premium.

  10. It seems to me that most people who travel to Hawaii don’t mind paying a little more for a full service airline. Looking at the comparitive fares amoung airlines, I don’t see any value in booking Southwest. What always keeps me away from Southwest is that they do not have interline agreements with any other airlines. In other words, if your flight misconnects or cancels you are out of luck. Southwest will not put you on another airline. Their policy is that you will have to wait for the next Southwest flight (if it has availability on it). Never a good option, especially traveling to or from Hawaii.

    3
  11. Southwest 6-7 hr flight to Hawaii is a joke. Uncomfortable as hell and no food, except crappy unhealthy snacks, really am unacceptable experience

  12. SW is doing what their new owners want them to do. Compete head to head with the other majors. Pure and simple. Most red eyes will be east-bound. STVR’s are much more user friendly for guests arriving and departing at odd hours than hotels are so they will have an advantage. Thousands of HI passengers have used red eyes for years so quite acting like the world is ending.

    1
  13. Hawaiian has several red eye flights. I tried them a few times years ago, but never again. To each his own, but to me trying to save a day and a few bucks is not worth it. Most people can’t have a quality good night’s sleep on a plane and the following day you feel drained and miserable which defeats the purpose of doing this. The trip is supposed to be fun, not torture.

    13
  14. I stopped flying SWA becuase of people abusing the boarding process on flights and claiming to be disabled so they could board before others and get a better seating position, now that they are moving to assigned seating I will give them another shot.

    10
  15. The main reason I fly Southwest to Hawaii is because they always flew back to the mainland during the day. I am older and I hate the redeye flights that other airlines have. They also have been much cheaper to fly on but now I doubt that will be the case any longer. I probably won’t be flying Southwest much longer.

    4
  16. To be clear, these are red-eye flights Back to the mainland, not the other way around. That way you can maximize your time on the islands, then land back on the mainland as the sun rises. Would not make sense to leave West Coast after 10pm just to land in Hawaii at 2 or 3AM. Can’t check-in!

    Trickle down effect of this would be Everyone wanting a late checkout so they can leave the hotel by 3 or 4p. Hopefully you have hotel status that can grant you one. Or even additional revenue stream for hotel to charge a half-day rate to stay in your room until the evening. Either way, hotel staffing and operations would be greatly impacted (can’t clean the room in time for the morning arrivals).

    Rental car center would be Packed at around 8pm. Hope Hawaii is ready!

    6
    1. Well we used to be able to take a red eye flight to Honolulu , land at around 6:00 a.m, Bring a carry-on on board with essentials, and leave our bags at the concierge at the hotel and go out to the beach for the day until it was time to check in.
      Hoping to be able to do that again soon.
      And added bonus… Tom Selleck AKA Magnum PI used to be on the red eye all the time. 🙂

      4
    2. I doubt we’ll see any trickle down effect as all the other legacy carriers are already operating these red-eye flights and the tourism industry is familiar with it. Lihue in particular is definitely most staffed in the evening.

      3
  17. Do to all the pre-board abuse or I’m saving a seat for my mythical wife or husband Southwest’s current boarding method needed to change.

    Like any business if it fits are needs at a price we can afford I will continue to do business with them, if not there’s other options.

    8
  18. Have never flown SW, partly b/c of the free-for-all seating process. That change and the others will not make me clamor to fly on narrow-body, single-aisle jets.

    5
  19. I loved the red eye flights that Pan Am used to have from San Francisco and Los Angeles.
    Looking forward to having more red eye flights again, so I can get in early and sleep at the beach all day !
    I’m also glad to see assigned seats come to SW, I really hated paying 50 bucks to get on early just to find out that a bunch of other folks have already boarded ahead of time in front of me.

    7
  20. This is probably just the start. Next, Southwest will finally find a way to charge for bags, then for beverages like in Europe.

    9
    1. SWA already charges for drinks (unless you’re A-List or buy Business Select). And at this point, are fully committed to “2 Bags Fly Free”.

      1
  21. A premium seat on a Southwest 737 is still a seat on a 737. Until they upgrade their planes in some significant way, it’s not really going to be premium.

    13
  22. I remember when Southwest was all about keeping things simple and fun. Assigned seating and premium seats feel like this is a whole new airline. Also, red-eyes are a smart move, especially for people who want to maximize time while in Hawaii. The real question is—how uncomfortable will they be, even in premium.

    7
  23. Dynamic pricing! Sounds like another way to join the others in majorly nickel and diming passengers on everything. Just tell us the price up front!

    14
  24. Connecting to international flights through another Southwest partnership could be a game-changer! Wonder which airline that might be?

    2
  25. If the new premium seats have decent legroom, I’m all for it. But Southwest still needs to work on in-flight amenities including more than that weird snack before I’d call it a premium experience. Even Hawaiian’s weird roll beats that.

    4
  26. I get that they need to make money, but Southwest is really starting to look like every other airline. The quirky, fun airline we knew is slowly disappearing. Not sure how this will play out.

    9
  27. Finally! Red-eye flights to Hawaii were long overdue and are a big help for our family. Hope the fares stay competitive, though, as they have risen a great deal.

    3
  28. Not sure how I feel about changing to assigned seating on Southwest. I have liked their boarding process since they got to Hawaii, even if it was chaotic at times.

    3
  29. With Southwest now beginning to fly over night flights,
    I suspect they will discontinue inter-island flights and make their flights from the mainland turnarounds like all the other airlines do.

    The only reason Southwest had inter-island flights in the first place was because they had to do something with the plane that flew in from the mainland and had several hours of service available, but couldn’t return without flying over night.

    The only way you can get from Hawaii to the mainland without flying over night is to leave Hawaii no later than mid-day, but that means you can only have one bank of flights leaving the West Coast first thing in the morning and doing turnarounds.

    2
  30. How are Disabled pre-boarders factored into this pay for seat scheme? Also, this will increase those showing up in wheel chairs that don’t actually need them; seen that on many occasions!!

    3
    1. I think you’ve got this backward, this will fix the issue you’re speaking of. People with disabilities will get assigned seats in advance just like everyone else and it’ll be more important for them to pre-board as they can’t just sit right at the front and might need to go considerably farther to their seat. Every other airline follows this system.

      2
    2. I think it would work like any other airline, pre-board, and go to the seat you purchased! Actually might reduce the number of wheel chairs at the boarding gate.

      5
  31. Bogus! Southwest
    Airplanes are capable flying,Hilo To kona,Via kauai Mauai oahu,No reason to fly Hilo then oahu to get to Mauai!Really
    Hilo stop then Kauai
    Thats called,Dangerous
    Way to many take offs and Landings,This is really bad,FAA,cant believe they would allow
    This!Public at Risk.I have
    Spoken to flight Attendants many Times.

    1. Spelling, capitalization, and punctuation! What a concept that made your comment pretty much unreadable. By the way, it is spelled “Maui”.

      11
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