The era of open seating on Southwest Airlines is coming to an end. The company announced the date assigned seating becomes the rule of travel.

Flights on Jan. 27 will be the first ones to have assigned seating, with passengers able to pick seats for those flights starting on July 29, The Washington Post reported.

Southwest announced the change to the nearly 50-year rule almost a year ago.

“Our Customers want more choice and greater control over their travel experience,” Southwest executive vice president of customer and brand, Tony Roach, said in a news release. “Assigned seating unlocks new opportunities for our Customers — including the ability to select Extra Legroom seats — and removes the uncertainty of not knowing where they will sit in the cabin.”

Roach called it “an important step in our evolution.”

A Senate investigation last year found that five airlines — American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, United Airlines, Frontier Airlines and Spirit Airlines — took in $12.4 billion in seat fees from 2018 to 2023, Fox Business reported.

In addition to having assigned seating, passengers will board in groups, not by position number as they do now.

Extra legroom seats and people with the top-tier loyalty status will board earlier than others, who have the option to pay to jump the line.

The breakdown for boarding, according to CNBC:

• Group 1 and Group 2: highest loyalty status, top classes of tickets.
• Group 3 to Group 8: will be “Choice” or “Basic” depending on their seats
• Rapid Rewards credit card members will board no later than Group 5

There will be standard seats, preferred seats and extra legroom seats, but the company did not say how much each type of seat will cost, CNBC said.

This is not the first change the company has made.

Southwest started bag fees for flights taking off on May 29 and after, a shift in policy that touted “bags fly free.”

The same Senate investigation also found that airlines made $1.2 billion from checked bag fees.

Southwest estimated that the changes would add $800 million to its profits before interest and taxes in 2025 and $1.7 billion in 2026, CNBC reported.

For more information about the changes, click here.

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