Southwest Airlines Pilots New Family Pre-Boarding Program

This Atlanta pilot program will allow families to board before the “A” group

If you’ve ever shopped around for cheap flights, you know that Southwest offers some pretty good deals, especially when you have to buy tickets for the whole family. The tricky part is Southwest doesn’t pre-assign seats, leaving families to fend for themselves at boarding. Talk about stressful. To combat this issue, Southwest is launching a pilot program in 2023 where families can congregate at the gate in a predesignated area and then pre-board before the start of the normal boarding process.

The Southwest program will debut in Atlanta, the largest airport in the U.S., and is anticipated to have a number of iterations, according to Travel + Leisure. This change comes after the Office of Aviation Consumer Protection (OACP) issued a notice this past summer encouraging U.S. airlines to change policies to ensure that children 13 and under can sit with an accompanying adult without having to pay an additional fee.

Currently, Southwest Airlines offers open seating and assigns travelers a boarding group of A, B, or C along with a numerical position, and boarding is done in that order. Travelers can pay extra at check-in to upgrade their positions to A1-A15, or they can purchase “EarlyBird Check-In,” which will automatically check them in before the 24-hour traditional check-in period, ensuring a more desirable boarding position.

Under the current Southwest boarding system, families can take advantage of “Family Boarding,” which allows them to board after the A group and before the B group. Up to two adults with a child six years old or younger may board during this time period. The pilot program will give families an even better boarding position by allowing them to board before the A group.

Traveling with kids is a challenge; there’s no way around it. Any time an airline takes families into consideration, it is much appreciated. This change will allow families time to get situated before other passengers board and will also allow those who wish to sit away from families to choose a different area of the plane.