Sunday Morning Coffee — February 22, 2026 — Flying New Coke
By Roy Berger, Las Vegas, NV
To say she pulled no punches would be a wee bit of an understatement.
“If they don’t like it, let them go ahead and fly another airline.” Whoa! I didn’t expect that when I asked a flight attendant last Monday on my Southwest Airlines trip from Las Vegas to Birmingham, Alabama, how the public response has been to Southwest’s new boarding and assigned seating changes.
The former fun little carrier that was started by Herb Keller and Rollin King in 1967 with three airplanes which flew exclusively intrastate Texas hopping between Dallas, Houston and San Antonio. They built that into a giant specializing in convenience and customer service for almost 60 years. Currently Southwest commands about 20% of the domestic passenger market, but is now entering a very treacherous stage despite becoming a domestic behemoth. Can anyone say New Coke?
Over the past five years what was once the most customer friendly domestic airline has been chipping away at its clientele and its reputation.
Bags fly free? Gone. Cattle-car but efficient boarding? Gone, replaced by a surcharge allowing fliers to improve their boarding positions. Cheaper fares? Mostly gone, too. And then three weeks ago, on January 27, came the end of Southwest as we once knew it—the introduction of assigned seating overturned the entire apple cart that once was so full of goodwill and customer service.
Jogging your 1985 memory, Coca-Cola, then the big dog in the soft drink industry, decided it was time for something new and spent massive amounts of money in developing and marketing what they labeled ‘New Coke.’ It was a colossal failure right from the get-go; the company received over 8,000 daily complaint calls and 77 days later the experiment went to the graveyard. More recently, Southwest, despite its record 2025 revenues said that wasn’t enough and launched 2026 changing the entire formula that made it the success its become. Kinda like Coke rolling out New Coke for no reason. Now, the airline whose New York Stock Exchange symbol since 1971 has been LUV is no longer feeling that luv from its faithful.
Early returns of the new format from many SWA loyalists has not been good. Everything that made Southwest different is gone, replaced by the same formula used by Delta, United and American, carries that Southwest once mocked mercilessly.
I’ve been a Southwest customer since 1999, the year I moved to Birmingham. As President and CEO of travel assistance provider Medjet (Medjet.com) most of my travel was domestic. We had sales offices in multiple cities and customers around the country. Delta dominated the Birmingham market, but Southwest was a friendly and cost-effective alternative. It also allowed me to avoid changing planes in ATL, every road warriors’ nightmare.
I was with Southwest in the days of the color-coded numbered boarding cards. I would get to the airport a couple of hours pre-flight and get on a line that didn’t exist until I got there trying to grab number one. That assured me of my exit row seat aka Southwest Airlines first class. Then the game changed— the numbers were gone and A/B/C group colored boarding passes were given out in tandem to checking in at the gate. Then it was 24-hour advance check-in on your phone. Or you could buy a 36-hour check-in assuring you of that A boarding group, a choice seat and overhead space.
In more than a half-century of airline travel my best airline perk is my Southwest Companion Pass. I’ve qualified every year since 2015. Over the years my Companion Pass has become my best friend. Simply, I designate a companion. They fly free wherever I go as long as we are on the same itinerary. And the bonus is I can change my companion three times a year, which means if Andi starts to give me fits, I can designate her for reassignment on the taxi squad and switch my free traveling companion. And then she can rehab on the sidelines and work her way back up as my final annual companion switch. This benefit literally saves me thousands of dollars a year and is truly appreciated. And unless I miss my guess, and I hope I do, it probably won’t be around much longer as SWA will try and monetize it like they’ve done with everything else.
The airline has two tiers of status flyers: A-List and A-List Preferred. Back in the open seating days of old Coke, oops I mean Southwest, that was good for a choice boarding position in the first boarding group. That has gone away and now the traveler becomes a prisoner of some kind of algorithm assigning eight numbered boarding groups.
However, I’ve remained fortunate to be an A-List Preferred the past couple of years even though I am not flying as much. I now earn my status through a Southwest branded credit card. That is the epitome of good news/bad news. What that entitles me to with the new system is important. In addition to assigned seating, Southwest has also gone to priority seating offering more leg room in the first six rows and exit rows of the aircraft. It’s available for purchase depending upon the fare basis and ticket cost but can run up to $100 for a segment. As an A-List Preferred I can go right to the seating map at booking and grab my exit aisle with no up-charge. I may not like the system, but I like the benefit.
The only thing better than an exit row aisle seat is an empty middle seat to complement it. I was pretty good at protecting that unoccupied seat and keeping it that way during open seating. Or if the flight was full then drafting my middle seat companion. Offensive lineman and linebackers need not apply. The New Coke format doesn’t let me do that anymore. The airline controls the seats now.
My experience overall so far has been okay. I’ve flown five legs since the change was made and because of my A-List Preferred status it’s been fine save for the boarding process taking at least five minutes longer that it used to. What we are hearing and reading from the public tells a little different tale than maybe the airline wants to admit. People are confused. And frustrated. Sure, the regulars get it but the very casual traveler who used to get on-board a LUV flight and grab the seat they wanted now have to hunt and peck. Overheads fill up quickly in the front from early boarders. Those in the same area who board later find overhead space rare. One recent traveler was sitting in row five and the closest overhead space was in row 20. That is incredibly uphill when trying to deplane. Of course Southwest has an answer for that too in what they call ‘priority boarding.’ No matter what boarding group number you are assigned to, $30 gets you on the plane before anyone else. More cha-ching.
I’ve flown five legs since the change was made and because of my A-List Preferred status it’s been okay save for taking at least five minutes longer during the boarding process. For others not so much. In fact, comparisons have publicly been made to the Coca-Cola flop with New Coke and hoping that ‘New’ Southwest gets scrapped and return to the old, successful model like Coke did.
Along with complaints about available overhead bins, the airline has other issues to ferret out. If you pay the basic published fare you don’t get to pick a seat until 24 hours before flight or at check-in. That has created havoc for budget minded families who can’t get seats together. One airport checked-in family had a two and a five-year old assigned to seats, not together, and away from Mom and Dad. Now even further delays in asking people to change seats so the family can be together. This happens over and over again every day. It was never an issue in open seating. Others are confused by the process and struggle to find their assigned seats. And then there is the plain stupidity on the airlines part—a flyer who paid for an elite seat had a middle seat passenger next to him. There were 100 available seats on the flight. He moved a row back which was totally empty. A flight attendant saw this and approached asking him where his seat was. He pointed to the row in front. She told him, “We can’t leave until you are in your own seat.”
Unlike New Coke, Southwest will survive this drastic model revision but the days of the old, friendly, customer service driven airline are gone. Further changes are still to come based upon experience and customer feedback. However, SWA will cease to become the airline of choice for many diehards and casual travelers. They now have equal options elsewhere in the terminal.
In other words, as my flight attendant told me on Monday, “If they don’t like it, let them fly another airline.”
Many will.
I’m proud that Medjet is sponsoring Sunday Morning Coffee. I spent 20 wonderful years with Medjet in Birmingham, Alabama, and can tell you unequivocally they are the standard-bearer for medical assistance membership programs. A talented staff, who cares about its members, is at the forefront of the company’s success. Whether you are traveling for business or pleasure, domestic or international, a Medjet membership should be an important part of your travel portfolio before you leave home. Check out the Medjet website at medjet.com or just tap on the Medjet logo and you’ll be able to get a look at Medjet’s services, rules and regulations, pricing, and an overview of the organization. And remember, any opinions expressed in Sunday Morning Coffee content or comments belong to the author and not the sponsor. Safe travels with your Medjet membership! — Roy Berger
Nice article, Roy. I hate the new Southwest changes and have no reason to fly them ever again. Open seating allowed me to control who i sat next to, and you know who I never sat next to on a Southwest flight? Offensive lineman and linebackers. I have, however, sat next to countless petite women. Surprisingly, most of the people I've spoken about the Southwest changes seem to like them, but i take that with a grain of salt because they're not what I consider travelers.
Stay tuned . . . I will be flying the “new COKE” (. . . I meant Southwest) on March 15th. I buckled under the fees I encountered when booking, including priority check in, afraid of the chaos I might experience. As far as overhead luggage space . . . at my age (75) I’ve opted to protect my limited strength and look for a strapping young man to help me (lol).