Half the Seats Were Empty, Yet Passengers Couldn't Switch Seats? U.S. Airline Rule Sparks Debate

Denied after asking flight attendant to change seats
Open seating discontinued... Different fees introduced by seat category
"An extra fee is required to use them"... Sparking debate online

A passenger on a Southwest Airlines flight in the United States made headlines after being denied permission by a flight attendant to move to an empty seat. About half the seats in the cabin were vacant, but the passenger was not allowed to move because the seats required an additional fee. The incident has sparked debate online.

On November 7 (local time), U.S. online outlet BroBible and others reported the story of a male passenger who was denied a seat change on a Southwest Airlines flight. The story came to light after the man shared his experience on social media.

According to the reports, a man named Kelly Wisner boarded a Southwest Airlines flight from Los Angeles to Reno, Nevada, and asked a flight attendant if he could move to an empty seat. At the time, many seats in the cabin were vacant, and a video he filmed showed several empty seats.

A passenger on a flight in the U.S. with roughly half its seats empty was denied permission by a flight attendant to move to an empty seat. Screenshot from social media.

However, the flight attendant did not allow him to change seats. In the video, Wisner explained, "After the plane took off, I asked if I could change seats, and the flight attendant said I couldn't because those seats require an additional fee." He added that he was told he would have to pay an additional fee to upgrade to a wider, more comfortable seat.

In January 2026, Southwest Airlines ended its previous open-seating system and introduced assigned seating. Passengers must now select a seat when booking a ticket. Seats are divided into categories such as Standard, Preferred, and Extra Legroom, with separate fees required for Preferred and Extra Legroom seats.

Opinions online were divided over the incident. Those who said the airline's rules should be followed argued that passengers who paid an additional fee should not be treated the same as those who did not. Others said it was an overly rigid response to prevent a passenger from moving to an empty seat when about half the seats were vacant.

Southwest Airlines previously operated an open-seating system that allowed passengers to choose any available seat after boarding. However, as part of its efforts to improve profitability, the airline switched to assigned seating and introduced a fare structure based on seat categories.

BroBible said it had asked Southwest Airlines for comment on the incident, but the airline had not issued an official response by the time of publication.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.